Cooley

Firm overview:

Cooley has one of the largest global patent groups among any of the AmLaw 20 law firms, with 100+ lawyers and patent professionals worldwide.

While it covers both non-contentious and contentious patent services, the firm’s patent litigation prowess is noteworthy. Regarded as one of the top PTAB firms, it has more than 300 inter partes reviews and covered business method review proceedings under its belt. Cooley employs post-grant proceedings as a key strategy for patent litigation defence, and regularly obtains stays of concurrent litigation pending PTAB proceedings.

Its team of patent lawyers carry decades of experience drafting, prosecuting, defending and opposing patents at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), with a track record of  swiftly knocking out competitor and third-party patents across a broad range of industries.

Cooley also pairs with its internal litigation teams to defend its clients’ patent positions across federal courts, and is experienced at leading inter partes review, PTAB and re-exam proceedings at the USPTO.

Team overview:

Heidi Keefe is a first chair trial lawyer with two decades’ experience representing some of the biggest tech companies in the world in complex patent litigation. A former astrophysicist and registered patent attorney, she has more than 260 patent cases under her belt.

Keefe regularly leads Markman hearings and trials in district courts across the US, as well as briefings and oral hearings at the PTAB. She also represents clients before the Federal Circuit and the International Trade Commission (ITC). She has handled 50+ Federal Circuit patent appeals in recent years – the majority as appellee – and played a lead role in securing winning jury verdicts in each of Facebook’s two patent trials to date. Her clients include Absolute Software, Box, CoolIT Systems, Meta Platforms, Niantic and Snap.

Partner Reuben Chen litigates both patent and trade secret cases and counsels clients across a wide range of technologies, including mobile, web and communications technologies, as well as medical devices and biotech. He has a proven record of success in US district courts and at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the ITC) and the USPTO.

His extensive litigation experience includes serving as lead trial counsel in high-stakes competitor-on-competitor cases, as well as winning and defending against suits filed by non-practising entities. Chen has represented Absolute Software, BitTorrent, Box, C3Nano, Canto Software, CheckVideo, ClickUp, CoAdna Photonics, Cooler Master, CoolIT Systems, Eero, Events.com, Google, HTC, LocoNav, Meta, Particle Industries, Netgear, Quorum, Resilio, Snap, Tencent, Uber, Varian Medical Systems and Wyze, among other clients.

Key matters:

Prosecution:

• Cooley advised Arvinas Operations of New Haven, Connecticut, on a US patent application for “Tetrahydronapthalene and Tetrahydroisoquinoline Derivatives as Estrogen Receptor Degraders”.
• Cooley advised Sight Sciences of Menlo Park, California, on a US patent application for “Intraocular Implants and Related Kit and Methods”.
• Cooley advised Andrey Abramov of Foster City, California, on a US patent application for a “Wearable Smart Watch with a Control-Ring and a User Feedback Mechanism”.
• In December 2024, Cooley advised Vance Street Capital, a Los Angeles-based middle-market private equity firm on its acquisition of System Seals, a designer and manufacturer of custom fluid seals for various industrial applications. System Seals serves a range of industries, including oil and gas, wind energy, mining, metal processing, and pulp and paper.
• Lawyers Bram Couvreur, Sonny Allison, Logan Tiari, Kaycie Benesch-Rupp, Joshua Allen, Galen Pham, Todd Gluth, Rick Jantz, Patrick Flanagan and Michelle Schulman led the Cooley team advising Vance Street.

Litigation:

• United Therapeutics v Liquidia Techs, US No. 23-1298, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2024

Cooley represented biotech firm United Therapeutics Corporation (UTC) in a patent litigation dispute with biopharma company Liquidia. The dispute concerned a UTC-owned patent related to treprostinil, an inhalation solution used for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension.

After Liquidia announced its intention to launch its version of the drug, Yutrepia, once UTC’s patent had expired, UTC sued UTC sued Liquidia in Delaware for alleged infringement. A battle over patent validity ensued, which involved inter partes review at the PTAB and two Federal Circuit decisions, before culminating at the Supreme Court.

In its October 2024 ruling, the US Supreme Court denied the UTC’s petition for certiorari, clearing the way for Liquidia to launch its Yutrpia drug product once the UTC’s newly granted FDA exclusivity period expires in May 2025.

Cooley’s counsel for Liquidia Techs was Kathleen Hartnett.

Counsel for United Therapeutics were attorneys from McDermott Will & Emery and Goodwin Procter.

• Alnylam Pharmaceuticals v Moderna, US No. 23-2357

In a patent infringement suit centred on COVID-19 vaccine technology, Alnylam appealed the district court’s interpretation of the terms “branched alkyl” and “branched C10-C20 alkyl”. The district court narrowly interpreted these terms to exclude structures with two-carbon groups, and the parties agreed to a judgment of non-infringement. Should the Federal Circuit remand the case, Alnylam may still have an infringement claim against Moderna given a new claim construction.

Moderna was represented by Cooley’s Michael Farnan, Chad Shear and Geoffrey Bieglar, and Elizabeth “Betsy” Flanagan.

Alnylam was represented by attorneys from McDermott Will & Emery: Ethan Townsend, William Gaede, Ian Brooks, Sarah Columbia, Sarah Fischer, Paul Hughes, and Bhanu Sadasivian.

• Asetek Danmark v CoolIT Systems, US No.  22-1221, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2024
  Cooley represented CoolIT Systems — which specialises in liquid cooling technology for data centres, servers and desktops — in a successful appeal to protect one of its liquid cooling patents.
• In a decision issued in March 2024, a three-judge Federal Circuit panel reversed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) partial claim construction on the scope of a key claim term, and issued a new construction that captured Cooley’s arguments at the PTAB and on appeal for CoolIT.

The Federal Circuit also vacated the PTAB’s invalidity determination and remanded proceedings for further consideration under its new construction.Partner Reuben Chen argued for CoolIT at the Federal Circuit; the team was also led by partner Heidi Keefe and associate Dustin Knight. 

This appeal follows Cooley’s 2022 summary judgment victory for CoolIT in district court.

Clients:

24 Technologies, Absolute Software, Andrey Abramov, Arvinas Operations, Babson Diagnostics, Box, CoolIT Systems, Ibex Sciences, Liquidia Techs, Niantic, Meta Platforms, Sight Sciences, Vance Street Capital, BitTorrent, Box, C3Nano, Canto Software, CheckVideo, ClickUp, CoAdna Photonics, Cooler Master, Eero, Events.com, Google, HTC, LocoNav, Particle Industries, Netgear, Quorum, Resilio, Snap, Tencent, Uber, Varian Medical Systems and Wyze.