Intellectual Property Litigation

When your intellectual property assets are under attack — assets at the core of your business — it is time to call on seasoned professionals. It is not the time to experiment or leave the matter in untrained hands. It is the time to pick IP trial lawyers to stand up for you. It is the time to turn to IP trial lawyers to advise and protect your company. Our Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group was established just for this time.

Armstrong Teasdale lawyers have long been involved in intellectual property litigation. The IP Litigation Practice Group consists of trial lawyers experienced in trying IP cases. Armstrong Teasdale staffs IP litigation with trial attorneys capable and able to try a case to completion. Our trial attorneys are professionals with years of courtroom experience. Using a team approach, we integrate patent and other IP specialists as members of the trial team. These technically-skilled team members help with the necessary analysis for the case, but also provide a strategic resource for the legal issues that arise.

Having our trial attorneys work closely with our IP lawyers has proven to be the best approach for our clients. Blending skilled trial attorneys with knowledgeable IP lawyers, combines the best of the two talents, and it adds significant efficiency. History has shown that our work is accomplished best when clients take an active role in the case. We urge such involvement and cooperative effort, because the bottom line is to achieve the client’s goal.

A team approach permits us to analyze the often changing strengths and weaknesses of each case, and to communicate those elements clearly to our client. The best results in IP disputes come when the opposition understands that our team is fully prepared to try the case to verdict. Even though most cases settle before trial, and even though we work actively with the client to achieve good settlements, having a capable team prepared to go to trial is an important factor for adversaries to consider. Conducting discovery aimed at trial also develops the best information for ADR and other settlement options. We pride ourselves not only in the cases that we have tried to verdict, but also in those matters that were resolved short of trial, either though settlement, licensing, summary judgment or dismissal.

Practice Highlights

• On January 17, 2006, U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel entered an order granting summary judgment to defendants in several cases relating to the Hatch-Waxman Act.. Our firm's client, EON Labs, was one of those defendants.  Judge Sippel found U.S. Patent 5,001,161 and U.S. Patent 5,081,154 invalid on several grounds - obviousness type double patenting on the basis of claim 8 of U.S. Patent 4,780,318, anticipation for the '161 patent - and unenforceable based on inequitable conduct in the prosecution of those patents in the USPTO.  Judge Sippel's Memorandum and Order can be found on the link at the end of this paragraph. Lead counsel for EON Labs were William Alper and Richard Margiano of Cohen, Pontani, Lieberman & Pavane in New York.
  Judgment     Memorandum and Order

• On Friday, November 12, 2004, Judge Henry Autrey, US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, dismissed a 20 count Complaint and dissolved a TRO against Armstrong Teasdale clients, National Mulch, National Sales and Service, and Jay Schragher, as well as against another defendant. More...

• Jerry King, Teresa Cauwels and Tom Stahl prevailed for the second time in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for clients Applied Concepts, Inc., and John Aker. More...

• Multiple patent matters relating to glyphosate and to glyphosate resistant seeds.

• Obtained an injunction for the owner of the bebe® trademark against The May Company’s use of the mark be. (Read News Article)

• Successful Representation of the owner of the mark Dream Team® against NBA Properties.

• Defending of a private planned community against multiple infringers of its Bonita Bay® trademark.

• A multi-million dollar jury verdict for an inventor who was underpaid license royalties arising from his license agreements and trade secrets.

• Participation in patent, trademark and copyright cases throughout the country. Members of the group speak to business and legal groups on enforcing and protecting intellectual property rights.

• Obtaining injunction for the owner of the Synergizer trademark against a competitor's use of a similar name used in the agricultural chemical business.

• Successfully enforcing client TRG Accessories LLC patents for its swiss army brand luggage.

• Successfully stopped false advertising campaign of competitor in luggage business.

Members of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group

Beulick, John	Nelson, Dan
Campbell, Richard	Noel, Ted
Clifford, Nicholas	Quinn, Jack
Clinkinbeard, Karrie	Schultz, Jeffrey
Davis, Glenn	Schuth, Richard
Goff, Christopher	Summerville, Jay
Longmeyer, Michael	Wendler Modde, Deanna
Lowry, Kent	Wood, Lisa
Mayfield, Andy