Intellectual Property

Goodwin's appellate litigators have briefed and argued hundreds of high stakes appeals, securing victories for clients in federal and state appellate courts throughout the United States. Lawyers in our Appellate Litigation practice are experts at working cooperatively as part of a team — alongside trial counsel and subject-matter experts — to preserve and present the best possible case on appeal and maximize our clients’ chances for success.

Our work begins well before a case goes on appeal: preparing dispositive motions in trial court; preserving error for appellate review; handling post-verdict motions practice; and even initiating litigation, to set aside arbitrary decisions by administrative agencies or to enjoin unconstitutional or invalid laws on legal grounds. Members of the practice have argued more than twenty cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and have briefed scores of others.

Copyrights give businesses across a range of industries critical control of their creative works. Goodwin’s team is particularly adept at applying copyright law to new technologies and is among the most sought after in the industry for counseling, licensing and other transactions, as well as high-profile copyright litigation matters ranging from U.S. District Courts to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Whether clothing or cable television, software or songs, Goodwin has been at the forefront of copyright practice, helping companies with emerging technologies navigate the copyright law and helping more established companies to protect and monetize their copyrighted works.

Pharmaceutical companies need experienced counsel to protect their regulatory interests. Goodwin’s Administrative Law and FDA Litigation practice provides counsel, representation and strategic advice that covers all aspects of our clients’ interactions with the Food and Drug Administration. Our lawyers regularly advise clients on regulatory issues, engage with the FDA and other federal and state agencies through Citizen Petitions, comments, meetings and other petitioning, and represent drug manufacturers in Administrative Procedure Act challenges. 

Litigation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry can be particularly complex, requiring counsel that is as well versed across scientific disciplines as it is in the law. Goodwin has made servicing the needs of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries a strategic priority for more than two decades, and we have one of the largest and most active life sciences practices in the United States. Our IP litigation team is among the most experienced in the country, successfully representing both brand and generic companies in Hatch-Waxman litigation. Our portfolio of clients includes some of the largest innovator and generic companies in the world, and we have represented our clients in patent cases involving some of the world’s biggest blockbuster drugs.

Our firm is also a leader in the emerging field of biologics and biosimilars litigation. Our lawyers were involved in the legislative process that resulted in the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA), and our work counseling clients as they advance their biologic and biosimilar development programs has been a natural outgrowth of our extensive work on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry. Clients consistently praise our blog, BigMoleculeWatch.com, for its timely and relevant posts on biosimilar-related litigation, legislation and regulatory developments. In addition, our team authored Guide to Biosimilars Litigation and Regulation in the U.S., 2019-2020 ed., a first of its kind publication that explores the BPCIA.

Unfair competition claims at the U.S. International Trade Commission are powerful and specialized in form. They are also on the rise in number. Goodwin is poised to help.

Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 gives the ITC the authority to address alleged unfair competition practices tied to products imported into the U.S. Companies (both foreign and domestic) may utilize Section 337 to request that the ITC prohibit the importation of any articles of manufacture that are tied to “unfair competition” (e.g., through IP infringement, trade secret misappropriation, antitrust violations, false advertising, and other common law torts) so long as they have sufficient U.S. investments in the relevant industry. Today, nearly all products, or at least some of their components, spend a portion of their life cycle abroad and are, therefore, subject to the ITC’s jurisdiction. If the ITC finds that an article should be banned from importation, its exclusion order goes into effect almost immediately and is almost never put on stay during appeal.

Clients rely on our experienced attorneys and science advisors to help them make sound business decisions.

Lawyers in our patent opinions and counseling practice provide strategic advice to domestic and international companies. We work closely with clients to determine offensive and defensive patent strategies. Issues we routinely address include patent infringement, invalidity, unenforceability, licensing and freedom to operate.

As the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) becomes an increasingly popular venue for resolving patent validity disputes, having experienced counsel familiar with the PTAB’s intricacies is essential. Leveraging decades of USPTO and federal court trial experience, Goodwin’s more than 75 registered patent attorneys and agents have pioneered cutting-edge and cost-effective approaches to achieve success in all three types of America Invents Act (AIA) post-grant proceedings: inter partes review (IPR), covered business method review (CBM), and post grant review (PGR).

Goodwin has one of the most comprehensive, technology-focused trade secret and employee mobility practices in the nation. Our team is comprised of intellectual property, employment law, patent, antitrust, and privacy and cybersecurity specialists. We have advised and represented hundreds of cutting-edge companies, entrepreneurs, investors and startup founders facing these critical issues and disputes in innovation hubs around the world.