Knobbe Martens has once again been recognized by Legal Media Group (LMG) Life Sciences. In the 2017 LMGLife Sciences rankings, the firm ranked as “highly recommended” in the categories of Patent Prosecution, Patent Strategy & Management and Hatch-Waxman Patent Litigation (Generic). The firm was also recognized for its General Patent Litigation practice.

Eleven of the firm’s partners were named “Life Sciences Stars” in LMG’s annual rankings, including: Dan Altman, Christy Lea, Sabing Lee, Joseph Mallon, Ph.D., Salima Merani, Ph.D., Kimberly Miller, Ph.D., Joseph Re, Joseph Reisman, Ph.D., John Sganga, Gerard von Hoffmann, and William Zimmerman.

The firm was noted in the publication as having “very strong attorneys”, with Gerard von Hoffmann leading the firm’s medical device practice. Over the past year, Mr. von Hoffmann led the IP diligence in 16 equity financings cumulatively valued at $356 Million, two acquisitions valued at $680 Million, and an IPO with a current market cap in excess of $900 Million.  A client described the firm’s group of trial lawyers as “engaged, informed, coordinated, organized, passionate, and talented”. Christy Lea and John Sganga were commended for leading a trial team that convinced a federal jury in Boston to award client, Edwards Lifesciences CardiAQ $70 million for trade secret misappropriation against its former service provider, Neovasc. In September 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the judgment, which had grown to a $112 million win after the district court added an additional $21 million in enhanced damages plus interest for CardiAQ. The client specifically pointed out that Mr. Sganga has “outstanding strategic insights, preparation, team organization, and skills in the courtroom.” The publication recognized Mr. Sganga as a “Litigation Star”.

On the prosecution side, Dr. Salima Merani was praised for helping her clients build patent portfolios for transactional deals valued at over 1 billion dollars in just the last three years as well as her role as lead IP counsel in successfully representing clients in contentious Patent Office proceedings. Dr. Joseph Mallon was acknowledged for his extensive experience in prosecution and counseling for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Furthermore, Dr. Joseph Reisman was recognized for prosecution and counseling for pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. He was quoted by a client as being “personable, clear, and easy to consult”.

In the Hatch-Waxman space, peers and clients have said that William Zimmerman is “one of the very excellent lawyers on the generic side” and that he is “an exceptionally decent and professional trial attorney with excellent judgment and talent in court”. Mr. Zimmerman and his team achieved a favorable settlement for client Lupin Pharmaceuticals in an ANDA litigation against Eisai Co and Novartis, seeking to invalidate the companies’ patents for branded anti-epileptic Banzel.

Click here for more information on our LMG“Life Sciences” rankings.  

About Knobbe Martens

Knobbe Martens is a law firm that has been practicing exclusively in the area of intellectual property law for over five decades. Knobbe Martens focuses on all aspects of intellectual property and technology law including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, rights of publicity, client counseling, due diligence, and related litigation and licensing. 

The firm is comprised of over 275 lawyers and scientists, with over 100 working in life science fields. The combination of law and deep technical knowledge makes Knobbe Martens attorneys uniquely qualified to represent a diverse array of clients in a broad spectrum of intellectual property matters. The firm is internationally recognized across the spectrum of life science disciplines and is considered an authority on related intellectual property issues. More information about the firm can be found at www.knobbe.com.

Knobbe Martens is pleased to announce that it has been named the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel’s (AMEC) 2018 Media & Entertainment Law Firm of the Year. AMEC, the leading trade association for general counsel and business affairs attorneys in the entertainment industry, honored the firm for its overall excellence and measurable success in representing clients in the entertainment and media industries.  

Tirzah Lowe, a former Knobbe Martens attorney and current Vice President of IP for 21st Century Fox, presented the award to firm partner Susan Natland at the 2018 Counsel of the Year awards on January 25 at the Manhattan Beach Country Club in Manhattan Beach, California.

“This award represents years of dedication and expertise on the part of all of our attorneys working with clients in media and entertainment,” said Natland said. “We’re pleased to be recognized for our track record of success and look forward to seeing it continue.”

Knobbe Martens’ Media & Entertainment practice group is comprised of 62 attorneys who help clients protect their brands, rights of publicity, and entertainment content by registering and enforcing trademarks and copyrights and by obtaining and enforcing patents in both the U.S. and abroad. The firm represents clients in nearly every aspect of pop culture, including film, music, and professional sports, amongst others. The group also works with professionals in video games, interactive entertainment, amusement parks, multimedia development, and colleges and universities.

The firm has helped diverse clients such as the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation protect and enforce public performance rights; World Poker Tour in preparing for an internationally televised gaming and entertainment program; Warner Brothers to protect their digital rights; NBC Universal in protecting and enforcing trademarks for television programming and merchandising; Japanese toy company MegaHouse Corp. in trademark and copyright litigation regarding the famous game Othello; and professional athletes with the licensing of rights of publicity to major companies.  

On January 31, two Seattle biotech companies, Seattle Genetics and Cascadian Therapeutics, announced a merger agreement under which Seattle Genetics will acquire Cascadian Therapeutics for $614 million.[1] The announcement catapulted Cascadian Therapeutics shares to a 16-month high, and a 69% increase over the previous day’s closing price.[2]

Under the agreement terms, Seattle Genetics has commenced tender offer to acquire all outstanding common stock shares of Cascadian Therapeutics at $10 per share on February 8.  The board of directors of Cascadian Therapeutics unanimously recommends that the stockholders tender their shares.[3] Seattle Genetics is preparing a public offering of $550 million in shares of its own common stock to help fund the acquisition, and it has secured $400 million in financing from Barclays and JPMorgan Chase.  The companies expect the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2018.[4]^,[5]

Seattle Genetics focuses on targeted, antibody-based therapies for treating cancer.  Its one marketed product, ADCETRIS^® (brentuximab vedotin), is sold worldwide to combat relapsed classical Hodgkin lymphoma and relapsed systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma.[6] Sales of ADCETRIS^® exceeded $480 million in 2017.[7]

Cascadian Therapeutics’ lead drug candidate, tucatinib, is an orally bioavailable tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is highly selective for HER2, a growth factor receptor overexpressed in many cancers.  Phase 1b trials demonstrated that tucatinib co-administered with capecitabine and trastuzumab exhibits clinical activity in patients with and without brain metastases, and is generally well tolerated.[8]  Currently, Cascadian Therapeutics is conducting a global pivotal trial comparing the tucatinib-capecitabine-trastuzumab combination with placebo in patients with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.  Its portfolio also includes a preclinical immune-oncology agent targeting TIGIT.[9]

President and CEO of Seattle Genetics, Clay Siegall, stated that the acquisition of “[t]ucatinib would complement our existing pipeline of targeted cancer therapies, provide a third late-stage opportunity for a commercial product in solid tumors, and expand our global efforts in breast cancer.”  Siegall “believe[s] there may be opportunities for tucatinib in other tumor types, such as HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer.”  Scott Myers, President and CEO of Cascadian Therapeutics, declared that the “agreement represents a very positive outcome for patients with HER2-expressing cancers, our employees and for our stockholders.”  He added “Seattle Genetics has the development and commercial capabilities and the resources needed to more fully realize the potential of tucatinib as a new best-in-class treatment option for metastatic breast cancer, colorectal cancer and potentially for other indications.”[10]

The merger was the second biotech acquisition in January in the Seattle area.  On January 22, Seattle’s Juno Therapeutics agreed to be acquired by Celgene for $9 billion.[11]  These two deals follow several other life science mergers and acquisitions in 2018: Celgene’s purchase of Impact Biomedicines for up to $7 billion, Sanofi’s purchase of Bioverativ for $11.6 billion, Sanofi’s purchase of Ablynx for $4.8 billion, and Takeda Pharmaceutical’s purchase of TiGenix for $630 million.[12]^,[13]  Industry analysts have forecasted a significant rise in biotech mergers and acquisitions for 2018, fueled by pressures to find high-value replacements for aging drug products and supplement dry research pipelines in many of the large companies.  Some analysts predict that recent U.S. tax reform will further drive this trend, particularly the lowered levy on repatriated corporate cash.[14]^{,[15],[16],[17]}

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Knobbe Martens is pleased to announce that partners Salima Merani, Ph.D., Douglas Muehlhauser, Joseph Re, and John Sganga have been selected by the Daily Journal for inclusion in its annual ranking of the “Top IP Lawyers in California.” This year, only 75 IP attorneys statewide were selected for this prestigious honor.

Salima Merani, Ph.D. has over 18 years of experience building extensive global patent portfolios for medtech, biotech, and biopharma companies.  Salima’s in-depth experience, as well as her background in genetics and her doctorate in neuroscience, makes her highly sought after as a strategic advisor for both emerging-growth companies and investment firms in the healthcare field.  She has successfully conducted and defended patent due diligence for multiple US and international companies and venture capitalists, and has led IP deals valued at over $1 billion in just the last few years.

Douglas Muehlhauser’s practice focuses on patent litigation, including trials and appeals, particularly over subject matters involving computer hardware and software, computer networking, laboratory instrumentation and medical devices. Recently, he scored a comeback win in a precedential reversal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a case involving big players in the wireless audio industry for client One-E-Way.

Joseph Re is a nationally recognized trial attorney and appellate specialist, winning numerous high-stakes technology cases before juries and appellate courts throughout the United States. He serves as lead counsel for long-time client and patient monitoring leader, Masimo Corp., enforcing their extensive patient monitoring patent portfolio for the last 20 years, garnering verdicts and settlements worth billions of dollars.

John Sganga is a highly regarded and accomplished trial lawyer who has spent over three decades successfully and exclusively litigating IP and technology disputes. He represents clients from a wide variety of industries in all types of IP disputes, and has diverse experience litigating cases through bench and jury trials, appeals, arbitrations, ITC and PTAB proceedings. John has secured victories for both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes technology litigation cases of over $100 million.

The Daily Journal selects attorneys for the lists based on a number of criteria including hundreds of nominations and staff selections, along with consideration of each nominee’s major intellectual property successes over the last year.

About Knobbe Martens

Consistently ranked among the top intellectual property firms in the nation and worldwide, Knobbe Martens has over 275 lawyers and scientists nationwide and dedicates its practice to all aspects of intellectual property and technology law, including litigation. Knobbe Martens serves a diverse group of clients from multinational corporations to emerging businesses of all stages. The firm is headquartered in Orange County, California, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., and enjoys an international reputation for excellence. More information about the firm can be found at www.knobbe.com.

Congratulations to partners William R. Zimmerman, Jonathan E. Bachand, and Lincoln S. Essig for being included in Super Lawyers’ 2018 Washington D.C. "Super Lawyers" and “Rising Stars” lists.

William R. Zimmerman, Managing Partner of the firm’s D.C. office and co-chair of our Hatch-Waxman and Life Sciences practice groups, has been repeatedly selected as a “Super Lawyer” for his work in intellectual property litigation. Bill served as lead counsel in over 100 pharmaceutical litigations including cases involving “blockbuster” drugs like Lipitor and Nexium. He is well-versed in the Abbreviated New Drug Application process and has collectively litigated over 200 cases involving pharmaceutical products with his team.

Jonathan E. Bachand has for the fifth time been selected for inclusion in the “Rising Stars" list for his work in intellectual property litigation. He represents various pharmaceutical and medical device clients in adversarial patent proceedings and is widely recognized for his experience representing companies in all phases of district court litigation and in 337 investigations before the International Trade Commission.

Lincoln S. Essig has once again been selected as an intellectual property “Rising Star”. In addition to Lincoln’s strong technical background, he has a track record of successfully helping businesses build valuable patent portfolios for inventions in the fields of medical devices, software, electronics and information technology. Aside from portfolio strategy, he also provides advice on patent infringement validity and appeals.                      

About Knobbe Martens

Consistently ranked among the top intellectual property firms in the nation and worldwide, Knobbe Martens has over 275 lawyers and scientists nationwide and dedicates its practice to all aspects of intellectual property and technology law, including litigation. Knobbe Martens serves a diverse group of clients from multinational corporations to emerging businesses of all stages. The firm is headquartered in Orange County, California, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., and enjoys an international reputation for excellence. More information about the firm can be found at www.knobbe.com.

Knobbe Martens is pleased to announce its rankings as one of California’s top intellectual property firms for patent prosecution and life sciences in the Chambers & Partners 2018 “USA” guide.

This year, the firm was ranked Band 1 for Patent Prosecution and was highlighted for being a “highly respected IP boutique” with extensive experience handling PTAB proceedings and trade secrets litigation. The firm was also recommended for IP portfolio management including patent prosecution and due diligence for corporate transactions, specifically among life sciences companies.

Clients described Knobbe Martens as a “great firm that provides excellent service” and as “extremely responsive to [client] needs, and executes with skill and efficiency”.

Joseph Re was individually ranked as a “well-respected” leader in his field for his reputation in effectively representing clients in patent infringement disputes and appellate proceedings. Mr. Re serves as lead counsel for long-time client and leader in patient monitoring technology, Masimo Corp., enforcing their extensive patent portfolio for almost the last 20 years, and garnering verdicts and settlements worth billions of dollars. He also represents clients Smith & Nephew and Applied Medical, to name a few.

To review the firm’s Chambers rankings and commentary for Patent Prosecution, please click here and here for Life Sciences. 

About Knobbe Martens

Consistently ranked among the top intellectual property firms in the nation and worldwide, Knobbe Martens has over 275 lawyers and scientists nationwide and dedicates its practice to all aspects of intellectual property and technology law, including litigation. Knobbe Martens serves a diverse group of clients from multinational corporations to emerging businesses of all stages. The firm is headquartered in Orange County, California, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., and enjoys an international reputation for excellence. More information about the firm can be found at www.knobbe.com.

The United States Department of Justiceannounced in a press release that Alere Inc. and its subsidiary, Alere San Diego, reached a settlement agreement with the United States government for $33.2 million over allegations that Alere had violated the False Claims Act.  According to Healthcare Finance, the settlement did not include any admission of actual liability on Alere’s part.

The False Claims Act was passed “to protect taxpayer dollars from fraud and abuse and to allow private citizens to join the effort,” according to Maureen R. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General in Philadelphia. According to the press release, the lawsuit alleged that, between January 2006 and March 2012, Alere caused hospitals to submit false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs by knowingly selling materially unreliable point-of-care diagnostic testing devices under the trade name Triage®.

According to the press release, the devices, which were generally used in time-sensitive emergency room settings, produced erroneous results and had the potential to create false positives and false negatives. Alere allegedly became aware of the erroneous results through customer complaints but failed to take appropriate action until the Food and Drug Administration prompted a product recall in 2012.

The press release also notes that as a result of the settlement, the federal government will receive $28,378,893, and individual states will receive $4,860,779. Amanda Wu, a former senior quality control analyst for Alere, filed the current lawsuit on behalf of the United States under the whistle blower provision of the False Claims Act and will receive approximately $5.6 million, per the provisions of the False Claims Act.

Read the full press release here.

Knobbe Martens is pleased to announce that Mauricio Uribe, an intellectual property partner at the firm’s Seattle office, has been named a 2018 “Washington Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers magazine.

With degrees in both electrical engineering and computer engineering, Mr. Uribe has over 20 years of experience in developing comprehensive intellectual property assets and related business transactions. He provides counsel on patentability, due diligence and infringement mitigation matters and has extensive experience related to global patent and technology licensing in various high tech fields. Mr. Uribe has served as a panelist in a variety of legal and business conferences and has been an author in various legal and business publications discussing topics on standards essential patents and patent licensing, design patents in software, patent damages, legal trends in intellectual property, intellectual property in the gaming industry and intellectual property basics. Mr. Uribe has been a member of the Seattle community for more than 18 years and has actively served on numerous legal, business and philanthropic organizations. 

Super Lawyers recognizes the top five percent of attorneys in a region, selected through a process that includes peer nominations, a blue ribbon review panel and independent research of candidates. For additional information on Super Lawyers, visit www.superlawyers.com.

About Knobbe Martens

Consistently ranked among the top intellectual property firms in the nation and worldwide, Knobbe Martens has over 275 lawyers and scientists nationwide and dedicates its practice to all aspects of intellectual property and technology law, including litigation. Knobbe Martens serves a diverse group of clients from multinational corporations to emerging businesses of all stages. The firm is headquartered in Orange County, California, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., and enjoys an international reputation for excellence. More information about the firm can be found at www.knobbe.com.

Knobbe Martens is pleased to announce that partner Salima Merani, Ph.D., has received top honors at this week’s Legal Media Group’s (LMG) annual Life Sciences Awards in New York City.

Dr. Salima Merani was awarded "Patent Strategy & Management Attorney of the Year” (California) for her outstanding intellectual property work in the life sciences industry. She has 18 years of experience in building global patent and trademark portfolios for international medtech and biotech companies. In addition, her vast experience and reputation in conducting complex patent due diligence investigations makes her highly sought out among venture capital and investment firms. With her degrees in Genetics and Neuroscience, clients consistently praise Dr. Merani for her unique combination of technical and legal acumen. Dr. Merani has been successful in leading high stakes deals valued at nearly $2 billion in just the last few years and is considered by many tech entrepreneurs as one of the “go-to” tech lawyers in life sciences.

LMG Life Sciences is the only publication dedicated to the comprehensive analysis of the life sciences industry. Click here for more information about this year’s award winners.

About Knobbe Martens

Knobbe Martens is a law firm that has been practicing exclusively in the area of intellectual property law for over five decades.  Knobbe Martens focuses on all aspects of intellectual property and technology law including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, rights of publicity, client counseling, due diligence, and related litigation and licensing. 

The firm is comprised of about 275 lawyers and scientists, with over 100 working in life science fields. The combination of law and deep technical knowledge makes Knobbe Martens attorneys uniquely qualified to represent a diverse array of clients in a broad spectrum of intellectual property matters.  The firm is internationally recognized across the spectrum of life science disciplines and is considered an authority on related intellectual property issues. More information about the firm can be found at www.knobbe.com.

Knobbe Martens has once again been recognized by Legal Media Group (LMG) in their 2018 LMGLife Sciences rankings. The firm was “highly recommended” for Patent Prosecution, Patent Strategy & Management and Hatch-Waxman Patent Litigation (Generic). The firm was also recognized in the General Patent Litigation category.

Thirteen of the firm’s partners were named “Life Sciences Stars” in LMG’s annual rankings, including:

Dan Altman, Mike Fuller, Christy Lea, Sabing Lee, Joseph Mallon, Ph.D., Salima Merani, Ph.D., Kimberly Miller, Ph.D., Joseph Re, Joseph Reisman, Ph.D., John Sganga, Sheila Swaroop, Gerard von Hoffmann, and William Zimmerman.

In the publication, the firm’s litigation group was described by clients as “cost-effective” and able to “deliver results”. Pharmaceutical clients have commended the firm’s ability to apply business strategy to patent litigation and described attorneys as “consistent in advising clients’ best interests in regards to settlement”. As the firm’s co-chair of the Hatch-Waxman and Life Sciences practice groups, William Zimmerman was noted for developing a national reputation as a litigator for generic drug makers and for his recent success in dismissing all claims of patent infringement against client Lupin Pharmaceuticals. Bill was praised for being “a highly experienced litigator, who can always be relied on to give solid, practical advice”. Firm litigator, Joseph Re, was also highlighted for bringing “more than three decades of experience as an IP attorney, and [being] well-versed in handling jury trials and Federal Circuit appeals”.

The firm’s patent prosecution and strategy team was described by the publication as being able to “set a high standard in thoughtful communication, both in understanding [client] needs and sharing relevant knowledge.” Biotechnology practice group chair Michael Fuller was recognized for the first time as a “Life Sciences Star” for his skill as an advisor to life sciences clients related to portfolio management, due diligence and licensing agreements. One client stated, Mike “knows the field and is great at communicating”.  Dr. Salima Merani, lead counsel and patent strategist for life sciences clients in a series of successful high-stakes deals, received the California “Patent Strategy & Management Attorney of the Year” award for the second time by LMG Life Sciences.

Click here for more information on our LMG“Life Sciences” rankings. 

About Knobbe Martens

Knobbe Martens is a law firm that has been practicing exclusively in the area of intellectual property law for over five decades. Knobbe Martens focuses on all aspects of intellectual property and technology law including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, rights of publicity, client counseling, due diligence, and related litigation and licensing. 

The firm is comprised of close to 275 lawyers and scientists, with over 100 working in life science fields. The combination of law and deep technical knowledge makes Knobbe Martens attorneys uniquely qualified to represent a diverse array of clients in a broad spectrum of intellectual property matters. The firm is internationally recognized across the spectrum of life science disciplines and is considered an authority on related intellectual property issues. More information about the firm can be found at www.knobbe.com.

At a recent Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Webcast, Partners John Sganga and Joshua Stowell presented an informative 1-hour discussion on Bolierplate Contract Provisions alongside Paul Bokota, VP & Division General Counsel of Spectrum Brands.

View and download the full presentation here.