“I prepare intellectual property cases for trial in order to put clients in the best position to achieve their goals – either by winning in court or leveraging a favorable resolution short of trial.
Eric has tried more than 50 trials (including more than 47 jury trials) in courtrooms across the country and was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2018. His cases have involved a wide variety of technologies - including software, drug compositions, antibodies, medical devices, ultra-short pulse lasers, camera-based object recognition systems and atomic force microscopes – and significant stakes for clients.
For instance, in the high-profile SCO v. Novell case, following a three-week trial, the jury affirmed our client Novell’s ownership of the copyrights to the UNIX software code and rejected SCO’s claim for damages of $100 to $200 million. Eric received a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award for his defense of Novell. In the Chugai v. Alexion case involving recycling antibody technology, he helped secure a $775 million settlement for Chugai hours before jury selection and opening statements. He has recently tried intellectual property cases in district courts in seven different states.
Eric was named the Best Lawyers in America San Diego Litigation Patent Lawyer of the Year in 2014 and San Diego Litigation - Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year in 2018 and was named a “California Local Litigation Star” in the 2015-2018 and 2022 and 2023 issues of Benchmark Litigation.
Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Eric spent 10 years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Columbia and the Southern District of California.
Experience
(Southern District of California and San Diego Superior Court). Represented Shoreline – an early-stage cellular therapy company developing iPSC-derived natural killer cell therapies to treat cancer and autoimmune disease – against claims of patent infringement and related business torts. Prevailed on summary judgment with a ruling of non-infringement in the patent case and reached a favorable settlement after selecting a jury and hours before opening statements in the related state court action.
(District of Delaware). Represented Chugai in patent litigation involving Chugai’s revolutionary antibody recycling technology. The team secured a $775 million settlement for Chugai hours before jury selection and opening statements at trial.
(Middle District of Tennessee). Represented MicroPort, a worldwide manufacturer of orthopedic implants, in a five patent action against a competitor that was inducing infringement of MicroPort’s patented minimally-invasive hip surgery procedures. Case settled favorably for MicroPort short of trial.
(Southern District of California). Represented the San Diego County Regional Airport in patent litigation involving camera-based parking guidance technology installed at the Airport. After two years of litigation, plaintiff dismissed all claims of infringement with prejudice.
(Central District of California and District of Utah). Represented Entrata in six-year long trade secret, copyright and antitrust cases. We reached a favorable settlement for Entrata after a jury was selected and just hours before opening statements at trial.
(Central District of California). Represented Alcon in patent litigation regarding Alcon’s femtosecond lasers used for LASIK and cataract surgery. Prevailed on summary judgement that the three asserted patents were not infringed by the accused Alcon lasers.
(District of Nevada). Represented the manufacturer of a generic injectable oncology drug in Hatch-Waxman litigation. After a five-day trial, the district court found clear and convincing evidence of obviousness and invalidated the asserted claims.
(Eastern District of Texas). Represented the manufacturer of a generic version of the glaucoma treatment Lumigan.01 in a week-long trial under the Hatch-Waxman Act.
(Northern District of California). Represented the manufacturer of a generic version of the acid reflux disease treatment Prevacid in a week-long trial under the Hatch-Waxman Act.
(District of Massachusetts). Represented Nikon Metrology in a two-week jury trial in a patent case involving laser line scanner and articulated arm metrology solutions.