Even by the standards of appellate powerhouse Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, the second week of June in 2011 was a standout. The firm racked up victories in two closely watched patent cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. The first was on behalf of affiliates of pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding Ltd., which had been sued by Stanford University for infringing a patent for measuring the levels of HIV in a patient’s blood. Days later, the Court ruled for i4i L.P., which had sued Microsoft Corp. for infringing its patent on a method for editing computer documents. In both cases, the Court upheld Federal Circuit rulings in favor of Wilmer clients.
“That was a big deal,” said Seth Waxman, chairman of the appellate and Supreme Court practice. “The Federal Circuit has been the whipping boy of the Supreme Court, in particular with patent cases where the Federal Circuit has ruled for the patent owner. We were unlikely to win either case, and we won both.”
