The Daily Journal named San Francisco partners Mike Bettinger and Vernon M. Winters to its 2020 “Top Intellectual Property Lawyers” list. The annual list recognizes California lawyers based on their work on recent significant cases that had an impact on the larger world of intellectual property or the development of law.
Consistent with the trial focus of Sidley’s national IP group, both Mike and Vern were chosen based on their trial work. Mike was chosen for his role as lead trial counsel for China-based Huawei in a FRAND-related patent infringement lawsuit against South Korea-based Samsung in the Northern District of California. Huawei sued Samsung for patent infringement and Samsung’s refusal to engage in good faith licensing negotiations involving Huawei’s 4G LTE standard essential patent portfolio. The dispute was first of its kind in that it involved foreign competitors in a U.S. District Court.
Vern was selected based on his trial performance as co-lead counsel that defended the world’s largest freestanding biologics company, Amgen, in one of the first cases to be tried under the biologics statute. Amgen’s opponents sought to invalidate patents that protect Enbrel®, one of the world’s best-selling biologics. In the market trading day after the district court announced the result, Amgen’s market capitalization rose by more than US$12 billion.
Mike, who heads Sidley’s elite West Coast Intellectual Property Litigation practice, and Vern each continue to be go-to trial lawyers for bet-the-company cases.
