Intellectual Property

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Business clients recognize the importance of retaining experienced trial lawyers to enforce and defend their intellectual property rights.

Clients choose Williams Montgomery & John, a firm of trial lawyers, to protect their valuable intellectual property assets because we have a substantive grasp of the technical issues, are able to synthesize and simplify complicated concepts, and have the trial skills necessary to present our clients' cases to judges and juries in a compelling manner. Our attorneys combine strong academic and practical backgrounds in engineering, mathematics and science with honed public speaking and advocacy skills.

In the intellectual property area, the firm has successfully prosecuted and defended infringement, misappropriation, and unfair competition claims involving patents, trademarks, trade dress, copyrights and trade secrets. We have taken many cases to verdict as lead trial counsel in both jury and bench trials nationwide and have argued appeals in the Illinois appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh and Federal Circuits. Our trial attorneys are equally experienced in designing risk management and case resolution strategies to minimize the risk and likelihood of litigation.

Our clients range from individual entrepreneurs and startup companies to established mid-sized businesses and Fortune 500 companies,  Our services have addressed IP issues in the fields of advertising, authorship, arts and entertainment; radio and television broadcasting; computer security devices; environmental technologies; financial technologies; industrial turbine technology; medical, dental, orthopedic and orthodon­tic products; medical and clinical testing devices; trucking and transportation, including air-ride and leaf-spring suspension technology; the publishing industry; and Internet domain names.

Attorneys in our intellectual property practice group have both prosecuted and defended patent infringement, inventorship,and validity claims on behalf of clients in the trucking and transportation suspension systems industry; represented MTV Networks in licensing and copyright disputes related to the Chicago Bears "Super Bowl Shuffle" video; defended Jennifer Lopez and her producers in a federal Lanham Act trademark litigation; defended copyright infringement claims against the Nielsen Company; and prosecuted international trademark infringement claims on behalf of Sears Roebuck and Co. and Westinghouse Electric Corporation in the United States, Europe, and China.

A more descriptive list of representative matters can be found by clicking on the "Representative Matters" link above.

The firm's intellectual property practice is led by partner David Applegate, who is President of the Chicago Lincoln Inn of Court, a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, and a Member Emeritus of the Richard Linn American Inn of Court, part of the nationwide intellectual property Linn Inn Alliance.  Mr. Applegate has been consistently selected by his peers for inclusion in Illinois Leading Lawyers and Super Lawyers for both commercial and intellectual property litigation.

For more information about the firm's intellectual property litigation practice, please contact Mr. Applegate at 312.855.4851 or dla@willmont.com.

      


Partners Practicing in this Area




Representative Matters

  • Beckman Instruments v. Kallestad Laboratories, Inc.

    U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
    Prosecution of patent infringement, copyright infringement, and trade secrets lawsuit between competitors in the scientific instrumentation field involving nephelometric inhibition analysis techniques.  Resolved following final pretrial conference and two years of protracted discovery and trial preparation.

  • Boler v. ArvinMeritor

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Prosecution of patent infringement suit on behalf of innovator in the trailer suspension systems industry against industry competitor ArvinMeritor.  Resolved following filing of cross-motions for summary judgment.

  • Boler v. Watson & Chalin

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
    Vacated adverse judgment against innovator in the suspension systems industry in patent infringement lawsuit against industry competitor brought by prior firm.

  • Boston Scientific Corp. v. Cordis Corp.
    U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
    Favorably settled patent litigation lawsuit against client involving medical devices used to treat aneurysms.
  • Molon Motors, Inc. v. Merkle-Korff Industries, Inc.
    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Favorably settled patent litigation lawsuit against client involving compact DC-powered gear motors for specialized applications.
  • Moves, Inc. v. MTV Networks and Jennifer Lopez, et al.

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Defense of trademark and copyright infringement action against entertainment clients MTV Networks and Jennifer Lopez.

  • Nielsen Media Research, Inc. v. Truck Ads, LLC

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Defense of mobile advertising startup against copyright infringement claims based on "Designated Market Area" territory maps.

  • Novissar v. Rollprint Packaging Products

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Defense of trade secret and employment discrimination claims brought by terminated former employee in the flexible packaging industry. Jury trial taken to verdict.

  • Paullin v. PMIC

    Circuit Court of Lake County, Ill.
    Defense of innovator in the medical coding business against breach of contract and unfair competition claims by terminated former telemarketing manager.  Extended bench trial taken to verdict.

  • Project Leadership Associates v. Telepathy, Inc.

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Defense of established internet domain name business in trademark infringement and domain name case.

  • Recycling Sciences International v. Four Seasons Environmental Services

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Defense of patent infringement cases versus multiple defendants involving environmental soil cleanup system patents.  Obtained dismissals on lack of jurisdiction grounds.

  • Renaissance Marketing Corp. v. MTV Networks
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  • Renaissance Marketing Corp. v. Viacom and Viacom International

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Defense of international entertainment company over "fair use" rights with respect to Chicago Bears "Super Bowl Shuffle" video.

  • Rotary Systems, Inc. v. Hendrickson USA, LLC

    U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
    Defense of innovator in trucking suspension systems industry against wrongful inventorship claims.

  • Sears Roebuck and Co. v. Sears PLC

    U.S. District Court, District of Delaware
    Prosecution of international trademark infringement litigation brought involving aggressive multinational discovery

  • Tonerhead, Inc. v. Retail Inkjet Solutions

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Defense of manufacturer and distributor of inkjet toner refill cartridgesagainst patent claims by an inventor.

  • U.S. Ring Binder, LP. v. Staples, et al.

    U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
    Briefed and orally argued appeal of summary judgment entered against manufacturer of three-ring binders in patent infringement lawsuit.

  • United Financial Technologies v. British American Island Holdings

    Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill.
    Defense of international syndicate of real estate investor entrepreneurs in rescission lawsuit involving breaches of licensing agreements for rights to use patent-pending financial technologies.

  • Westinghouse Electric Corporation v. George Elevator

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Prosecution of international trademark infringement action in the United States and China based on extraterritorial application of U.S. trademark law.