District of Columbia

Firm overview

Kilpatrick is trusted counsel to the world’s most innovative companies. To serve our groundbreaking clients, we are at the forefront of client service, a leader in DE&I, and on the cutting edge of law and technology. With recognized strength in the technology sector and a full range of service offerings, we deliver practical, business-centric solutions built upon strong and enduring connections.

Firm overview

Weil offers a comprehensive, national IP practice, comprising Patent Litigation, Technology and IP Transactions, IP/Media (which encompasses trademark, copyright, music licensing, privacy, and false advertising matters), and our cross-disciplinary IP Counseling Practice.

Weil’s national Patent Litigation practice offers strong platforms in Silicon Valley, New York, and Washington, DC, with more than 30 practitioners nationally. We have earned a reputation as a go-to firm for high stakes patent litigation in all of the major venues, including in federal district courts, at the United States International Trade Commission, on appeal at the Federal Circuit, or before the Patent Office. Our patent litigators regularly handle matters where the rulings are game-changing and where the law, facts, and technology are complex. In many instances, these cases often have far-reaching impacts across entire industries. Importantly, many of our attorneys have degrees in chemistry, biology, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and physics. These technical and scientific backgrounds allow us to identify critical issues and quickly understand the technology at the forefront of a case. With the majority of our team licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent Office, our team has unique strategic advantages in being able to navigate the interplay of district court cases and IPR/post-grant proceedings. Indeed, our lawyers are leaders in inter partes review and covered business method review proceedings, having handled more than 300 of them since 2012.

Our Technology and IP Transactions group comprises 33 lawyers in New York, Silicon Valley and London who spend 100% of their time on technology and intellectual property transactions—a distinguishing feature of Weil—bringing deep expertise to client matters. We represent our clients in all stages of development, from start-ups to Fortune 50, across a broad range of industries. We are well known for our cutting-edge work across all forms of stand-alone technology and intellectual property transactions such as patent acquisitions, licensing agreements, joint ventures, strategic alliances, research and development collaborations, internet/e-commerce arrangements and other types of cross-border technology transactions.

Our IP/Media practice, which boasts nearly two dozen lawyers with IP expertise and courtroom experience, has a leading reputation for success dealing with and litigating cutting-edge IP issues. Leading social media platforms, digital music streaming companies, major media and entertainment companies, global e-commerce platforms and international financial services companies regularly turn to Weil’s IP/Media practice to manage: cutting-edge secondary liability issues; DMCA safe harbors and compliance requirements; music licensing; trademark and copyright licensing requirements; trademark strategy, enforcement and litigation; IP matters arising in the transactional context; false advertising claims; development of terms of service, fair use and assessment of infringement risks (both direct and secondary); and strategies associated with the clients’ service offerings and product development initiatives. Weil also has the nation’s pre-eminent service-side music copyright practice, and has litigated more than a dozen royalty rate-setting proceedings—far more than any other law firm. We work closely with our broad base of clients to coordinate these issues on a global basis, and over the last several decades, our lawyers have participated in many of the most significant trademark and copyright cases.

Weil’s clients benefit from our deep bench of leading practitioners with the full spectrum of IP capabilities. Clients of the group include: AbbVie; AIG; Alibaba; BASF; BBC Studios; Bio-Rad; Brookfield; CareDx; CBS; Comcast; eBay; Eli Lilly; Getty Images; General Electric; GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc.; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; HP, Inc.; Illumina; Intel; Johnson & Johnson; Kroger; Lenovo Group; Meta Platforms; Nuance Communications; Oracle; Pacific Biosciences; Palo Alto Networks; Pandora Media; Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; S&P Global; Samsung; Sanofi; SiriusXM; and Tesla; among others.

Firm overview

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a premier firm of more than 1,000 lawyers with diverse backgrounds, personalities, ideas and interests who provide innovative and effective solutions to our clients’ most complex legal and business challenges. With 11 offices across North America, Europe and Asia, and a robust international network, the firm represents many of the world’s largest and most important asset managers, public and private corporations, and financial institutions, as well as clients in need of pro bono assistance. We consistently earn high praise for our collaborative, commercial approach, providing novel and efficient solutions to otherwise intractable situations.

The firm is widely recognized as having market-leading practices in private equity, public company M&A, litigation, white collar and regulatory defense, and restructuring. Within these broad practices, we also offer numerous elite specialized practices, including finance, capital markets, investment funds, antitrust, tax and executive compensation, among others.

Litigation:

No other law firm can approach Paul, Weiss’s experience and record of success in the most complex, high-stakes litigation in U.S. federal and state courts. Our renowned trial team is a particularly powerful advantage, both in the courtroom and at the settlement table.

With a deep bench that includes many of the country’s most accomplished trial lawyers and former senior government officials, our Litigation Department is uniquely positioned to handle multifaceted crises, from sprawling cross-border, multi-regulator enforcement actions to parallel private litigation. We are regularly entrusted with fast-moving, franchise-threatening matters because of our ability to develop and execute a winning strategy, no matter the problem or adversary, and to see the matter through to the ultimate resolution, whether at trial or before the Supreme Court.

The Litigation Department includes dozens of former federal prosecutors and senior U.S. government officials, including a former U.S. Attorney General; former U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern District of New York and the Northern District of California; a former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; former senior leaders in the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division; numerous senior counsel from the SEC, the CFPB, the FTC and other key U.S. regulatory agencies; and former senior members of the White House Counsel’s office.

White Collar & Regulatory Defense:

Clients facing white collar and regulatory enforcement challenges look to Paul, Weiss to protect their businesses and reputations and manage the behind-the-scenes interplay among competing regulatory and enforcement agencies. We have experience handling a vast range of regulatory and enforcement inquiries and internal investigations, including involving multiple jurisdictions. Our lawyers are adept at conducting internal investigations on behalf of companies, boards, audit committees and special litigation committees. Within the litigation and white collar and regulatory defense practices, we are widely recognized for our expertise in many specialized areas, including:

• Antitrust
• Anti-Corruption & Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
• Anti-Money Laundering
• Artificial Intelligence
• Bankruptcy Litigation
• Congressional Investigations
• Crisis Management
• Cryptocurrency & Blockchain
• Cybersecurity & Data Protection
• DEI Strategic Advisory
• Digital Technology
• E-Discovery
• Employment, Workplace Investigations & Trade Secrets
• ERISA, Pension & Benefits Litigation
• False Claims Act & Qui Tam Litigation
• Financial Services Litigation & Investigations
• Insurance Litigation
• Intellectual Property Litigation
• Internal Investigations
• International Arbitration
• Investigations
• Investment Management Litigation
• Mergers & Acquisitions Litigation
• National Security, CFIUS & FARA
• Product Liability & Mass Torts
• Civil Rights & Racial Equity Audits
• Sanctions
• Securities Litigation
• Supreme Court & Appellate Litigation
• Sustainability & ESG Advisory

Firm overview

Founded in 1978 and based in Washington, DC, Sterne Kessler is a premier law firm dedicated to intellectual property, focusing on the full range of IP services globally, including litigation, patent and trademark prosecution, design patents, IP strategy, post-grant proceedings, opinions, and transactional support.

The firm works with some of the most innovative clients in the world, including Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, start-ups, inventors, venture capital firms, and universities. Whether prosecuting a patent or trademark, managing a worldwide portfolio, or litigating a bet-the-company case at trial, Sterne Kessler is committed to delivering practical solutions and excellent client service.

Sterne Kessler delivers innovative solutions that are tailored to its clients’ businesses. With deep technical knowledge and IP experience, the firm develops targeted and effective strategies to protect and enforce valuable IP assets. The team includes more than 200 lawyers, patent agents, and technical specialists who hold over 100 advanced degrees, including 60+ Ph.D.s, in science and engineering disciplines. The firm supports clients across a broad range of industries and technologies, including biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, electronics, artificial intelligence, software, innovative materials, consumer products, food & beverage, medical devices, automotive and heavy equipment, manufacturing, and industrial products, amongst many others.

In the last five years, Sterne Kessler has served as litigation counsel in 200+ patent cases across more than two dozen federal district courts. The firm is one of the top five most active firms for patent cases at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and among the top 10% of most active firms at the U.S. International Trade Commission. The firm is particularly skilled at coordinating across multiple venues, representing clients in patent litigation in district court, before the ITC, and at the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), pivoting between venues to efficiently and favorably resolve disputes.

The PTAB Trials team has been a leader since the inception of the PTAB and continues to be a dominant force in the industry today. Sterne Kessler has been counsel in more than 1,300 proceedings and counting, and its results are among the very best. Patexia consistently ranks the firm among the top 10 most active overall and the top 25 best performing firm overall in its PTAB Intelligence Report.
FIRM ACCOLADES:
• Band 1, Patent Prosecution, Washington, D.C., Chambers USA (2025)
• Tier 1, Patent Prosecution, PTAB Litigation, and Life Sciences IP, and Tier 3 ITC Litigation, National, Managing IP’s IP Stars (2025)
• “Highly Recommended” Patent Prosecution and Patent Disputes and “Recommended” Trademark Prosecution, District of Columbia, Managing IP’s IP Stars (2025)
• Tier 1, IP Litigation, Patent Litigation, Patent Law, and Biotechnology and Life Sciences Practice (D.C.), U.S. News – Best Lawyers – “Best Law Firms” (2025)
• Highly Recommended, Patent Prosecution and Transactions, IAM Patent 1000 (2025)
• Recognized for Trademark Prosecution & Strategy and Enforcement & Litigation, DC Metro Area, World Trademark 1000 (2025)
• 12 Years in a Row - Top Workplaces Recognition, The Washington Post (2025)