NEW YORK (Sept 15, 2005) – Full-service international law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP today announced that Paul D. Ackerman has joined the firm as a partner in the firm’s intellectual property and patent practice, which is based in its New York office.
“We’ve been aggressively building our IP and patent practice internationally,” said Bob Dwyer, partner in charge of the Dorsey New York office. “Paul is an outstanding addition to our team here in New York, which includes Gary Abelev, Lile H. Deinard, Sandy Edelman, Bruce Ewing and Janet MacLeod.”
Dorsey Managing Partner Pete Hendrixson added: “As we continue to grow, it has been a strategic objective to build the practice with top-flight IP talent like Paul, adding to our already significant bench strength.”
Ackerman comes to Dorsey from Baker Botts, where he practiced in all areas of intellectual property law, including litigation, prosecution and client counseling in patent, trademark and copyright matters. His broad patent litigation experience has included cases involving semiconductor processing, Internet technology and the mechanical arts. Ackerman has also successfully represented clients in UDRP domain name arbitration proceedings.
In another important area of his practice, Ackerman represents clients in interference proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has more than 10 years of experience in the electronics industry, having worked as an electrical engineer designing sophisticated radio frequency and microwave data communications systems.
Ackerman’s writings on IP and patent law include: “How Far Does Best Mode Extend?” Bayer v. Schein and Current CAFC Trends,” New York Intellectual Property Law Association. He has also been a faculty member at the Practicing Law Institute’s “Fundamentals of Patent Prosecution: A Boot Camp for Claim and Amendment Writing.”
Commenting on joining the firm, Ackerman said: “Dorsey has stellar IP, patent and trial groups. The firm offers me the platform to continue serving my existing clients and significantly expand my practice by working with many new biotechnology, life sciences and technology clients.”
With approximately 40 lawyers focused on intellectual property litigation from offices in California, Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis, New York, Washington D.C. and London, Dorsey
litigates complex cases around the country and the world. The firm has experience litigating cases not just where its offices are based, but in all forums known for intellectual property litigation, including the Eastern District of Texas, Delaware, the Northern District of California, the International Trade Commission, and the Patent and Trademark Office.
Nearly one-fourth of Dorsey lawyers are involved in some form of intellectual property practice, from drafting and prosecuting patent and trademark applications, to exploiting IP rights through licenses and other agreements, to protecting and defending those rights through litigation. Clients hire Dorsey to litigate patent, trademark, false advertising, unfair competition, copyright, cybersquatting and trade secret cases. In the patent area, Dorsey combines real trial experience with deep technical expertise, which enables the firm to understand and present complex technical issues comprehensibly and persuasively.
More than 20 percent of Dorsey IP litigators hold technical and advanced degrees (including Masters and Ph.D. degrees). Dorsey attorneys understand the technology, the substantive law, and the courtroom, and have the ability to present complex technical issues to a judge or jury in a clear and persuasive manner. Dorsey is committed to helping clients maintain their competitive edge, advising them on the most effective methods for protecting their technology and assisting them in patent preparation, prosecution and related activities in patent offices around the world.
Dorsey partner and IP and Patent Group chair, Lee R. Osman (Denver) has provided IP legal services for more than a decade to a broad range of Dorsey clients in Denver and along Colorado's Front Range. For the past five years, Osman’s practice has expanded to include clients from New York to California and Asia, corresponding to the firm's geographic reach. Commenting on the addition of Paul Ackerman, Osman said: “Paul’s broad-based knowledge and experience in intellectual property, especially his trial and interference experience, complements our practice well and helps us advance our goal of bringing together the best IP legal talent in the country in order to continually deliver a full range of services to our clients.”
The Dorsey IP and patent practice has received many accolades. Intellectual Property Today ranked Dorsey & Whitney 18th among firms in the United States for the number of U.S. trademarks registered in 2004. This places Dorsey 18 out of 330 U.S. law firms overall and 10th among general practice firms. According to NameProtect Trademark Insider, Dorsey has been ranked #8 nationwide based on U.S. trademark filings in 2004. According to PatentRatings which published its findings in IP Law & Business, Dorsey ranked among the top-ten U.S. firms for prosecuting the highest quality computer/software and electrical patents in 2004. Dorsey ranked the highest among general practice firms in each category. Dorsey's patent litigation practice earned a spot in the top-20 firms based on combined plaintiff and defendant filings in 2004, according to IP Law & Business, July 2005. Dorsey has the 15th largest group of patent attorneys among general practice firms based on 2004 rankings in Intellectual Property Today. Finally, Dorsey represents four of the top-five ranked universities listed by the Patent and Trademark Office for receiving the most utility patents during 2004.
Representative List of Dorsey IP and Patent Clients: Hunter Douglas, Inc., Micron Technology, Inc., Samsonite, Water Pik Technologies, Inc. Nautilus/Schwinn Fitness Group, Clinical Micro Sensors, Inc., Stanford University, The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc., Dionex Corporation, Nippon Steel, Massachusetts General Hospital, Olympus and Osteotech., Inc.