Sullivan & Cromwell

Firm overview:

New York-headquartered Sullivan & Cromwell (S&C) attributes its success to its deep bench of talent and collaboration between attorneys without geographic division. Clients of the firm are nearly evenly split between US and non-US entities.

The firm’s IP and Technology Litigation Group has cemented its position as a major player in litigating complex patent issues, among other IP rights. The team’s trial experience and favourable dispute resolutions have attracted some well-known clients to the firm over the years, including Ocado, Columbia University, BlackBerry, Dolby International and Dyson. “We’ve been extremely pleased with their performance on patent litigation matters,” says a client.

In May 2024, S&C announced a new AI Practice, in response to what it said was a growing need from clients across all industries for advice on AI-related legal issues. The firm said it had advised a wide range of clients on AI matters including ChatGPT maker OpenAI in its multi-billion dollar partnership with Microsoft, and conversation AI platform Character.ai in its partnership with Google Cloud.

Team overview:

Dustin Guzior, partner in the firm’s Litigation Group and co-head of the IP and Technology Litigation Practice, has had major trial wins in five different matters where he was first chair or co-lead counsel since 2022. These include a nine-figure jury trial win for Columbia University in a patent case and a complete defence win in a multibillion-euro ICC arbitration in Germany.

The firm benefits from the decades of experience of Andrei Iancu, former undersecretary of commerce for IP and director of the USPTO. Iancu divides his time between the LA and Washington, DC offices and represents clients across all the major legal venues in the country.

Two other IP and Technology co-heads—Nader Mousavi and Mehdi Ansari—were announced as leaders of the new AI Practice along with London partner Presley Warner in May 2024.

Key matters:

• An S&C team including Andrei Iancu, Stephen Elliott and Brittany Bruns prevailed in a patent matter for Perfect Day, which develops sustainable protein products using precision fermentation. Following a third-party-requested reexamination of one of the client’s cornerstone patents before the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the team overcame the patent examiner’s initial rejection of all claims of the patent and convinced the examiner to allow them in March 2024.
• S&C played a major role in the global IP litigation strategy for Ocado, which resulted in the settlement of what was dubbed the ‘Robot Wars’ in 2023. Ocado won defensive IP trial matters before the International Trade Commission, UK High Court and USPTO, among other forums. The settlement terms included payments of more than $250 million by AutoStore to Ocado, cross-licensing of certain patents and Ocado retaining exclusive rights to its Single Space Robot.

Clients:

BlackBerry, Columbia University, Dolby International, Dyson, Ocado, Perfect Day.