New York

Firm overview

Desmarais LLP is a premier intellectual property litigation firm with approximately 75 attorneys across its New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. offices. The firm has successfully tried and won several of the industry’s most high-profile patent cases in recent years, representing some of the world’s largest companies.

The firm works on complex, often technology-focused disputes, handling every step of the litigation process. The breadth of Desmarais LLP’s work spans a wide range of subjects and technologies, and the firm has obtained successful trial results for clients – both plaintiffs and defendants – in dozens of patent infringement cases and other intellectual property areas.

Litigation

Desmarais LLP handles all patent litigation stages and has significant trial experience in every major forum for technology and life sciences in the United States and elsewhere. The firm has successfully tried cases before judges and juries throughout the U.S., before administrative bodies (including the International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board), and in front of arbitration panels. Desmarais LLP’s patent infringement successes include winning trials across a host of district courts, preserving both offensive and defensive victories on appeal, obtaining reversals of adverse results, and steering the development of substantive law in clients’ interests in a variety of subject matter areas.

The firm’s patent litigation experience spans numerous industries covering technologies including biotech innovations, chemicals, consumer electronics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, software, telecommunications, and transportation. The firm’s High-Tech Practice, International Trade Commission Practice, Life Sciences and Medical Device Practice, and Post-Grant Practice also litigate in areas beyond patent disputes, including antitrust, contracts, counterfeiting, fraud, trade dress, trademarks, trade secrets, and unfair competition.

Additionally, the firm’s Pro Bono Practice is committed to serving the community, partnering with organizations such as the SDNY Pro Se Clerk’s Office, the Veterans Consortium, Immigration Equality, and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Each year, Desmarais LLP recognizes attorneys and paralegals who make substantial contributions as part of its Pro Bono Challenge.

Innovative Fee Structures

Desmarais LLP is an industry trailblazer in alternative fee arrangements (AFAs). The firm has abandoned the traditional (and frequently inefficient) billable-hour model in favor of fee arrangements more closely tailored to clients’ interests. This flexible and innovative approach sets it apart from other top-tier firms that litigate similarly large, complex cases.

For clients who prefer predictability, the firm provides flat-fee arrangements negotiated at the outset of the matter, and for those seeking a shared-risk approach, the firm is open to contingent fee arrangements and hybrid structures tailored to the client and the case. Additionally, the firm offers flat-fee billing for expenses. This gives clients clearer budgeting for the duration of the matter (though monthly fees can vary based on the stage of the litigation).

Benefits and Compensation

Desmarais LLP is a leader in benefits and compensation – paying associates salaries that top the New York scale and year-end bonuses for high performers that significantly exceed the market rate. The firm covers 100% of health insurance premiums for all employees and their dependents, meaning attorneys and staff having no monthly costs, except when they receive medical services (e.g., copays). The firm also contributes 4% annually to employees’ 401(k)s – not as a match but as an automatic contribution, even if employees are not paying into their retirement accounts. In addition to short-term disability for birth mothers, Desmarais LLP also provides 12 weeks of paid parental leave for all lawyers and staff, regardless of gender or whether they are adoptive parents.

Diversity

Desmarais LLP is committed to maintaining a workplace that respects all cultures, backgrounds, beliefs, and identities. The firm believes its attorneys’ and staff’s diverse set of experiences play a valuable role in helping achieve creative and effective solutions when dealing with clients’ most challenging cases. The firm’s Diversity Committee promotes an inclusive work environment and focuses on recruiting and retaining lawyers from diverse backgrounds. Desmarais LLP also regularly sponsors student organizations dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion at law schools and sponsors the annual ChIPs Global Summit dedicated to the advancement of women in technology, law, and policy.

Firm overview

With extensive global reach and deep local expertise, we offer an unparalleled
blend of skills to help our clients navigate the complexities and seize the
opportunities of doing business in Singapore and across the Asia Pacific region. Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, a joint law venture between Baker McKenzie and
Wong & Leow LLC, stands at the forefront of legal excellence.

We have the capabilities to offer comprehensive advice on both domestic
Singapore law and intricate cross-border issues, ensuring our clients receive
holistic and seamless legal support. As the preferred counsel for numerous
companies leveraging Singapore as a strategic hub for their regional operations,
our lawyers excel in managing multijurisdictional transactions and mitigating
cross-border risks with precision.

Our Singapore office is seamlessly integrated into a global network,
providing on-the-ground expertise across ASEAN countries and access to
Baker McKenzie’s expansive international network. This unique positioning
enables us to adeptly support the diverse domestic and international needs
of our clients, delivering tailored solutions that drive success in a dynamic
global market.

Firm overview

We are an IP Litigation powerhouse for technology, life sciences and health technology in patents, trade secrets and commercial litigation with unparalleled trial success at all levels at each forum and venue. Our approach integrates our practices to provide businesses with comprehensive intellectual property protections. Our litigation expertise and experience also gives us an edge in advising our clients on the likely outcomes of litigation, including in the context of corporate acquisitions and portfolio management. Our approach, which supports “small firm” key partner attention with the “large firm” resources ensures our clients receive effective and efficient representation at every stage of the case. We are committed to helping clients structure the most comprehensive and workable enforcement and defense for all aspects of their intellectual property. 

Bench and Jury Trials at the U.S. District Courts

• We have litigated and counseled on patent and trade secrets issues across a wide range of industries, including software, hardware, electronics, chemical processes, telecommunications, consumer goods, manufacturing, sales, financial services, and pharmaceuticals.
• We are also experts in §101 invalidity challenges with a near-perfect record in district court and the Federal Circuit, pursuing and obtaining attorneys’ fees, and obtaining wins in Federal Circuit appeals.
• We are experts in the nuances of life sciences patent litigation, including Hatch-Waxman Act and biosimilars patent litigation under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, and the intersecting FDA regulatory regime in which these cases operate. 

PTAB Proceedings

• We have handled over 400 post-grant proceedings before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board, on behalf of both petitioners and patent owners across a wide range of industries.
• Our attorneys have been hailed as ones who can be “trust[ed] . . . with crown jewels, and have been described as “PTAB mastermind[s],” “PTAB trial guru[s],” knowing the PTAB “like the back of [their] hands,” and “understand[ing] all the rules and subtleties of IPR proceedings better than anyone I’ve ever worked with.”
• Our attorneys worked on the first ever PTAB proceeding on the technology side and also led the first ever successful defense of a pharmaceutical patent.

ITC Section 337 Investigations

• We represent both complainants and respondents, and have been at the forefront of recent cutting-edge decisions at the ITC. 
• We have served as counsel in more than 60 Section 337 Investigations, and have appeared before each of the Presiding Administrative Law Judges (ALJs), including multiple successes before Customs in ensuring our clients’ products are not excluded from the United States. 

International Arbitrations

• We represent clients in all aspects of litigation related to arbitration, including bringing and defending motions to compel arbitration, obtaining and opposing interim and protective measures in aid of arbitration, seeking and opposing recognition of arbitral awards, seeking and opposing the annulment of arbitral awards, and disputes over the taking of evidence in the US in aid of international arbitrations and foreign litigation.
• We regularly draft, advise, and teach courses on the drafting and interpretation of arbitration and forum-selection agreements in circumstances ranging from simple two-party deals to complex commercial transactions involving multiple parties, jurisdictions, and applicable laws. We recognize that each matter is unique and strive to meet our client’s objectives in the most cost-effective manner.

Supreme Court and Appellate Review

• We have top-notch appellate capabilities and can handle an IP litigation matter from start to finish. 
• Our lawyers are skilled in the art of written and oral advocacy, as well as in simplifying technical arguments for generalist Federal Circuit judges.
• We devote our practice to the craft of conceiving and presenting argument on complex, law-intensive issues, bringing to bear our many years of experience in areas of law that cut across traditional legal disciplines, such as constitutional interpretation, damages, procedure, and jurisdiction. 

Firm overview

A&O Shearman is one of the pre-eminent legal practices in the US, advising domestic and international corporates, financial institutions, investment funds and government bodies on their most complex and strategic matters.