Law Firm News

---

Law Firm News

Firm Name

News Title

News

News Date

25383 matches |  9780-9786 displayed

1  1396 1397 1398 1399 1400  3627

---

Robinson & Cole LLP

American Heart Association’s “Wear Red to Work Day” a Success at Robinson & Cole
Robinson & Cole participated in the American Heart Association’s drive, “Wear Red to Work Day.” The $1,115 collected from R+G1412obinson & Cole will help raise awareness of heart disease and stroke and support ongoing research and education about women and heart disease.

02-26-2007

---

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Jeh Johnson Featured in New York Times
An article on the fund-raising efforts of litigation partner Jeh Johnson on behalf of 2008 presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama was featured in Saturday's New York Times. The article notes that Jeh is one of Mr. Obama's leading fund-raisers in Manhattan, and is a "linchpin in uphill efforts to build a donor base for Mr. Obama in New York, where many potential supporters have at some time in the last 16 years aided the Clintons." The paper reports that the Obama campaign has attracted a number of prominent fund-raisers with ties to Mrs. Clinton or her husband, and the campaign seeks to draw from pools that barely existed during last year's election, including hedge fund and private equity principals. Jeh noted that he had expected to wait for the outcome of the 2008 primaries before choosing a candidate, but after seeing Mr. Obama at a book signing in Manhattan in the fall, he signed on to the Obama campaign. Jeh and his wife, along with about a dozen other couples or individuals will serve as gala "chairs" at a March 9 fund-raiser for Mr. Obama at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan.

02-26-2007

---

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP

Paul Hastings Advises Citigroup Property Investors on $1.29 Billion Asia Real Estate Fund
Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, a leading international law firm, has advised Citigroup Property Investors (CPI), the real estate investment business of Citigroup Inc., in the formation and final closing of a $1.29 billion fund to invest in real estate and related assets in the Asia-Pacific region.

The new fund, CPI Capital Partners Asia Pacific L.P., is Citigroup Property Investors' first fund to invest in real estate in Asia. The fund will primarily focus on real estate investments in China and India. Citigroup has committed $200 million to the fund, which will be managed by a Hong Kong-based team.

The final closing of the Asia fund comes on the heels of the creation of a €1.163 billion Europe Fund that Paul Hastings advised CPI on, which had its final closing in November 2006.

The Paul Hastings team on the Asia Fund was led by Joshua Sternoff, partner, and included partners Joe Opich, Neil Torpey and Scott Saks, and associates Lung-Chi Lee, Debbie Nwaobi, Donna Yip and Friedemann Thomma. The Europe Fund was also led by Joshua Sternoff, partner, and included partners Justin Hamer, Mark Eagan, Andy Short and Scott Saks, and associates Carl Pastars, Jonathan Shenkman, Donna Yip, Debbie Nwaobi and Freidemann Thomma.

About Citigroup Property Investors. Citigroup Property Investors (CPI) is the real estate investment management business of Citigroup. A unit of Citigroup Alternative Investments, CPI invests its clients' capital in private market real estate investment strategies designed with the objective to produce attractive absolute and risk-adjusted returns in North America, Europe and Asia, along with liquid public market domestic and global real estate securities investment strategies.

About Paul Hastings' Private Investment Fund Practice: Paul Hastings has a sophisticated practice in representing sponsors of and investors in private investment funds, including real estate, venture capital, buyout, distressed debt, hedge funds and other sophisticated alternative investment strategies. This practice group is integrated with the Firm's global tax, securities, lending, ERISA and other regulatory practices to provide clients with full service expertise on legal and market issues associated with private funds.

02-26-2007

---

Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.

Fulbright Assists Transocean in Litigation and Licensing of Drilling Technology
Transocean Deepwater Drilling Company, a subsidiary of Transocean Inc., settled its claim for patent infringement by granting Global Santa Fe Corporation a license for its offshore dual activity drilling technology. The agreement follows a final judgment entered by a federal district court last month in favor of Transocean, represented by Fulbright & Jaworski’s experienced intellectual property attorneys.

Transocean grants Global Santa Fe a nonexclusive patent license for approximately $15 million and an ongoing royalty of three to five percent of future revenue. The license allows Global Santa Fe to utilize Transocean’s dual activity drilling technology on its three Development Driller offshore drilling rigs and future acquired rigs incorporating the patented technology.

The initial payment includes a $4 million fee for each of the three Development Driller rigs and approximately $3 million for prior use by the two rigs already in operation. Global Santa Fe also must pay a royalty when operating in countries with a Transocean patent equal to three percent of revenue received on the three Development Driller rigs and five percent of revenue received on later acquired rigs covered by the dual activity patents.

The settlement ends worldwide disputes between the parties over Transocean’s dual activity patents. Global Santa Fe will withdraw from several proceedings challenging Transocean’s dual activity patents, including any appeal of the recent final judgment. Transocean will dismiss its Singapore lawsuit against the shipyards that built the Development Drillers I and II.

The settlement follows a final judgment entered in favor of Transocean. United States District Judge Sim Lake entered an amended final judgment on January 19, 2007 awarding Transocean approximately $5.1 million in damages and a permanent injunction against further infringement.

In August, a federal jury found in favor of Transocean after almost a two week trial in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas before Judge Lake. The jury upheld the validity and enforceability of the Transocean patents, and awarded reasonable royalty damages of five percent of the revenue received by Global Santa Fe for its infringing rigs.

The court had previously ruled in April 2005 that Global Santa Fe’s two Development Driller semisubmersible drilling rigs infringe Transocean’s U.S.patents.

Transocean developed its dual activity drilling design in 1996 as part of a project to construct wells more efficiently in deepwater. Compared to conventional rigs, the patented design saves time drilling in deepwater by using two drilling systems for parallel drilling operations on a single well.

Transocean (NYSE: RIG) is the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor with a fleet of 82 mobile offshore drilling units and a current equity market capitalization in excess of $22 billion. The company’s mobile offshore drilling fleet consists of a large number of high-specification deepwater and harsh environment drilling units. It is considered to have one of the most modern and versatile drilling fleets in the world.

“This ruling underscores the importance Transocean has placed on protecting its technology and innovations,” Fulbright partner Charles Walker said. “As a leader in deepwater drilling, Transocean has a long history of technological firsts, and here it took the necessary steps to protect its intellectual property.”

Walker was lead counsel for Transocean. He concentrates his practice on intellectual property and technology litigation. Walker has tried cases involving patents, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks and other commercial disputes. He also has handled state and federal appeals, including oral arguments before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Walker has an engineering background and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Fellow Fulbright partner Winn Carter served as trial counsel for Transocean. Carter has more than 25 years experience trying complex commercial cases in federal and state courts. He has tried over 80 cases to verdict and represented a wide variety of corporations and individuals in the aviation, energy, health and telecommunications industries. Carter has handled cases involving patent infringement, trade secrets, shareholder disputes, air carrier disasters, products liability and general commercial disputes.

“Transocean has been and will remain a leader in deepwater drilling in part based on the help of those who are not only well-versed in the law, but also in the intricacies of our business,” said Eric B. Brown, Transocean’s Senior Vice President, Corporate Secretary and General Counsel. “We view protecting our current patents and safeguarding our future innovations as a necessary component of our operations. We are thankful for the legal skills and experience of the entire Fulbright team.”

The Fulbright team was led by partners Charles Walker and Winn Carter and senior associate Mike McCoy, all of the Houston office. The Fulbright team also included partner Warren Huang, associate Reid Bumgarner and legal assistants Annette Devereux and Laurie Horowitz.

02-26-2007

---

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP

First MedImmune, Now What?
At the Licensing Executives Society winter meeting in San Francisco, Brian Kacedon of Finnegan Henderson spoke about the MedImmune v. Genentech case. The U.S. Supreme Court “left unanswered almost as many questions as they answered” he said. The MedImmune case gives patent licensees the power to challenge the validity of patents they’ve licensed, even as they continue to make payments to the licensor. Among the unanswered questions are what the ruling means for existing and future license agreements, and what parties can do to protect themselves. For existing agreements, licensees are in a better position than before to renegotiate their license agreements because they now have the ability to sue “in their back pockets,” said Kacedon. However, it’s still not the easiest thing in the world for a licensee to challenge a patent. It’s costly, the case must be a good one, and the licensee may risk burning bridges with a company it may need to work with in the future. Patent holders, for their part, can prepare for any licensees “pulling a MedImmune on them” by looking at which of their patents are the most susceptible to challenge. It may help to ask which ones have the largest amounts of licensee payments remaining, and whether the licensor can use other patents and agreements as leverage in renegotiation discussions.

02-26-2007

---

Covington & Burling, P.C.

Covington Advises KKR and Texas Pacific on TXU Corp. LBO
Private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and Texas Pacific Group (TPG) announced today that they have agreed to acquire Texas power company TXU Corp. for $45 billion. Covington & Burling LLP advised KKR and TPG on environmental, regulatory, and other governmental and public policy aspects of the transaction, which is the largest leveraged buyout in history. The Covington team based in New York and Washington was led by Stuart Eizenstat, William Massey, Philip Howard, Ruben Kraiem, and Richard Meserve, and also included Martin Gold, Michael Barnes, William Boyd, Bob Fleishman, Linda Morgan, David Marchick, Bill Wichterman, TL Cubbage, and Carolyn Corwin.

02-26-2007

---

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Patent Litigator from Skadden Moves to Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney: Constance Huttner Brings High-Profile Practice to Firm's New York Office
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC announced today the addition of patent and intellectual property litigator Constance S. Huttner, who will chair the firm's Intellectual Property Litigation Group. Prior to joining Buchanan, Huttner was a partner in the Intellectual Property and Technology Group of Skadden, Arps, where she has focused on patent and technical litigation since establishing Skadden's patent litigation practice in 1990. Huttner is a shareholder in Buchanan's New York office.

The firm expects to add other patent litigation attorneys to Huttner's practice in the coming weeks.

Huttner joins the 120 attorneys and patent agents who already practice in Buchanan's IP and IP litigation groups. Intellectual Property has been a major strategic focus of the firm for years, particularly since 2005 when Buchanan merged with Burns Doane Swecker and Mathis, a top-ranked intellectual property firm. Buchanan is currently ranked among the top 15 law firms in the nation based on annual volume of both the number of patents filed and the number of U.S. trademark registrations issued.

"We've been looking to bring more patent litigators to Buchanan for some time now, and we've found both talent and experience in Connie," said Tom VanKirk, CEO of Buchanan. "Best of all, her practice ties in remarkably well with our firm. Connie's work with pharmaceutical companies fits with our bio/pharma practice. Her experience with medical devices and cosmetics matches up with our health care and FDA practices. And her background providing patent opinions and advice in connection with mergers and acquisitions is in line with our corporate practice."

VanKirk also indicated that Huttner's practice fits into the firm's expanded strategic direction for the New York office. "We're actively recruiting real estate, corporate, litigation and intellectual property attorneys in this market to further grow and develop some of our core competencies," he said.

Huttner has represented major companies such as Honeywell International, Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Valeant Pharmaceuticals and United States Surgical Corporation. Recently, she represented Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in its successful Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) battle with Purdue Pharma L.P., involving OxyContin.

Huttner says she was drawn to Buchanan because of the firm's in-depth understanding of the unique aspects of an intellectual property practice, and its strategic and economic commitment to the growth of its national patent litigation practice.

"I see Buchanan as a firm with a strong commitment to the New York City market and to further developing practices that are already thriving. And, the firm has tremendous resources to apply to that end," she said.

Huttner continued, "Joining Buchanan was an easy decision by every measure. As a pure patent litigator, I add strength and experience to the firm's existing IP litigation practice, and I get the benefit and support of a first-class team with a deep bench of technically trained lawyers."

Ellen Shapiro, managing shareholder of the firm's New York office, described Huttner as a welcome addition to the firm. "Connie is very well-regarded throughout the New York patent world — our office is lucky to have her, and, most importantly, our clients will benefit by having access to someone with her level of experience and talent.

02-26-2007

---

25383 matches |  9780-9786 displayed

1  1396 1397 1398 1399 1400  3627