District of Columbia

Firm overview

Williams & Connolly’s reputation for handling “bet-the-company” civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels applies equally to the firm’s thriving Intellectual Property Practice. Major corporations including Google, AstraZeneca, Dropbox, Roche/Genentech, Samsung, Pfizer, Intel, Eli Lilly, and many others place their trust in Williams & Connolly litigators to handle major intellectual property matters, particularly in patent litigation and related licensing disputes.

About 50 Williams & Connolly attorneys devote a substantial portion of their practice to patent cases, including fourteen former clerks of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Many of our lawyers practicing in this area have science degrees, and thirteen have been admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

A major part of Williams & Connolly’s patent litigation practice is representing pharmaceutical companies in Hatch-Waxman pharmaceutical patent litigation.

Williams & Connolly has handled over 100 IPR proceedings, including numerous concurrent with district court proceedings in Hatch-Waxman cases.

Firm overview

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

Leaders in intellectual property law for 100 years.

We are the trusted IP partner of choice for organizations around the world. We provide sound legal guidance and inventive IP solutions to power business—for start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, and everything in between.

Banner Witcoff’s Shared Values Statement

Banner Witcoff is a law firm dedicated to providing premier intellectual property services to clients of all sizes and across all sectors. We seek to create and enforce, and—in the process—enhance, the value of our clients’ IP assets. The firm believes that its clients, from marquee corporations to start-ups, all deserve creative and strategic guidance in developing and protecting the brand equity of their IP assets.

To achieve the goal of being the firm of choice for innovative companies that understand and seek to maximize the value of their intellectual property, Banner Witcoff commits to values that attract and foster attorneys and staff who share in clients’ quests for market leadership.

To that end, we are committed to:

• recruiting and empowering attorneys and staff of the highest caliber, who value diversity and inclusion for the expanded creative thinking and contributions those attributes foster;
• attracting self-starters seeking a meritocracy that rewards creativity and loyalty with opportunity and the support of collaborative, like-minded people, while encouraging participation in the life and culture of the firm beyond simply producing billable hours;
• delivering service that is satisfying, flexible and customized to its individual client’s needs;
• using appropriate technology to maximize the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of its service delivery processes; andmaintaining an open, transparent and participatory workplace, one to which attorneys and staff happily make career-long commitments.

PROTECTING IP. PROPELLING BUSINESS.

Our tagline is a direct reflection of our brand promise. We use our extensive knowledge of IP law to better our clients’ businesses, and we work in partnership with them, our success becoming theirs.

Leadership

Banner Witcoff is led by our board of directors made up of attorneys representing diverse backgrounds, practice areas and geography. Members of the board are elected by the shareholders and serve three year terms. The firm’s officers, including the president, are elected by the board on an annual basis. Led by the president, our board oversees the firm’s strategic direction. The day-to-day operations of the firm are overseen by the firm’s executive director and senior administrative leaders.