Williams & Connolly

Firm overview:

An active player in bet-the-company litigation at trial and appellate level, Williams & Connolly handles major disputes involving global brands. The firm is particularly known for its representation of brand-name pharmaceutical companies in Hatch-Waxman and BPCIA patent litigation against companies looking to launch generics and biosimilars. Pfizer, Genentech, Merck, Bayer, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly have all sought Williams & Connolly’s counsel on patent matters.

The firm has also litigated disputes for some of the world’s biggest technology companies, listing Samsung, Google, Dropbox, Acer, Motorola, AOL and Intel among its clients. It has handled a significant volume of inter partes review proceedings with its lawyers serving as lead counsel to both patent owners and petitioners before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

Team overview:

Thomas Selby, former co-chair of the Patent Litigation practice group, has represented clients in IP disputes over software, biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device and communications technologies. Selby has served as lead counsel in patent or licensing matters to clients including Pfizer, Medtronic and Dropbox. His practice also focuses on professional liability defence.

Partner David Krinsky’s specialities lie in patent and high-technology litigation. He has particular expertise in Hatch-Waxman pharmaceutical patent disputes and draws on his background as a software engineer to litigate matters involving computer technology.

Key matters:

• Merck Sharp & Dohme v Aurobindo Pharma

Williams & Connolly is part of the team representing Merck Sharp & Dohme in Hatch-Waxman patent infringement litigation originally against 16 generic drug maker defendant groups. The case raised the issue of calculating patent term extension and final judgment was entered in favour of Merck in June 2023; the case is currently on appeal to the Federal Circuit.

Plaintiff-Appellee: Merck Sharp & Dohme represented by Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum: Alan Littmann, Doug Winnard and Shayna Cook of Chicago, Illinois; Jones Day: Andrea Jeffries, of Los Angeles, California, Anthony Insogna of San Diego, California, Sarah Geers of New York; Williams & Connolly: David Krinsky of DC, Sarah Harris, Shaun Mahaffy and Stanley Fisher of DC.

• The firm represented Teva Pharmaceuticals in patent litigation over its steroid inhaler asthma treatment Qvar. Williams & Connolly served as lead trial counsel and the New Jersey district court issued a ruling for Teva on every issue.
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals v Amgen

Williams & Connolly represents Regeneron in its suit against Amgen over a proposed copy of blockbuster eye-care drug Eylea. In September 2024, a West Virginia judge said Regeneron could not immediately block US sales of the biosimilar, which the company said had infringed dozens of its patents.

Clients:

AstraZeneca, Dropbox, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Google, Medtronic, Merck, Pfizer, Regeneron, Teva.