Legal Series: Patent Litigation in 2012

Jim Myers is a partner with the intellectual property litigation group at Ropes & Gray LLP. For more than 30 years, Jim has worked with clients on complex civil litigation matters, especially patent litigation involving a wide range of technologies. Since 1997, Jim has been representing major financial services companies, including insurance, banking, credit card, money management, e-commerce, IT and Wall Street companies in patent disputes with sums at stake in amounts ranging from ten million to over one billion dollars. Jim helps clients harmonize patent litigation choices with their business objectives, executing tailored, multi-faceted plans of action, including nationwide federal district court litigation, patent reexaminations, Federal Circuit appeals, Supreme Court and Federal Circuit amicus briefs, collaborative patent defense efforts, multi-district litigation, patent licensing and patent strategy. For more information on Jim, please see his biography:https://www.ropesgray.com/jamesmyers/

Grantland G. Drutchas, a founder and former managing partner of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP, has more than 20 years of experience in the practice of intellectual property law, with a particular emphasis on litigation, licensing, and client counseling. His trial experience includes both jury and bench trials. His appeal experience includes arguing before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. His litigation experience encompasses disciplines ranging from recombinant DNA technology and cell signaling, pharmaceuticals, medical diagnostic instruments, and medical devices to conference phones, lampposts, and injection molds. He has also litigated trademark and trade dress infringement actions. Mr. Drutchas has been involved in many notable and precedent-setting cases. In one, he recently obtained a reversal of claim construction and affirmance of a jury verdict in a breach of contract action before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In another, he obtained the largest jury verdict ever awarded in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He also has had extensive experience in drafting licenses and litigating license disputes.

Chris Larus is a trial lawyer and chair of the Minneapolis intellectual property practice group of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. Chris focuses his practice on helping inventors, developers, authors and brand holders maximize the value of their intellectual property. Chris tries complex patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright and licensing cases in courts throughout the country, and in both national and international arbitration.

Chris holds a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin and a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School.