Court Lauds Pillsbury for Defense of Atlas Copco in $200+M High-Stakes Patent Suit

“After defeating the astronomical damages claim accompanying the patent infringement charge, trade secret, unfair competition, and breach of contract allegations through a jury trial and on appeal, this order for attorney’s fees is a particularly fulfilling win for our client,” said Pillsbury IP partner William P. Atkins, who represented Atlas Copco. “Already vindicated and having been previously awarded $200,000 in expenses, receiving this attorney’s fees judgment helps recover part of our client’s costs associated with this suit.”

Atkins, along with Pillsbury senior associates Benjamin L. Kiersz and Robert M. Fuhrer, defended Atlas Copco when ATT first filed suit in a dispute over patents covering precision grinding tools, alleging patent infringement, false advertising, breach of contract and other charges and seeking more than $200 million in damages in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Atlas Copco prevailed, defeating the infringement claim on summary judgment and in a lengthy jury trial in 2003 and winning in a subsequent appeal which ATT brought before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Atlas Copco then sought to recover its attorney’s fees and legal expenses from ATT in the district court, pursuant to language in a contract between the company and ATT the contract at issue in ATT’s breach complaint. A contract provision awarded “legal costs and expenses” to the prevailing party in any litigation arising out of charges of breach of contract. On remand, the district court ruled that “legal costs and expenses” excluded attorney fees and provided for some, but not all, legal costs. Atlas Copco appealed. Atkins successfully argued Atlas Copco’s case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which reversed the Florida district court’s definition of “legal costs and expenses,” to include attorney’s fees on April 24, 2009 and remanded the case back to the district court for calculation of an award.

In its September 29, 2010 order awarding $1 million in attorney’s fees to Atlas Copco for Atlas Copco's defense against ATT's contract and breach of confidential relationship claims, the court called plaintiff ATT’s initial damages claim “ridiculously inflated,” saying the $200 million demand “set the tone for the manner in which the litigation would be conducted.”

“The defendants in this case, having received a complaint filed by competent counsel … had no choice but to defend the case vigorously,” the order continued. The court noted the efficiency and effectiveness of Pillsbury’s IP team:

"After carefully reviewing the time records in this case, the Court finds that the time expended by counsel for [Atlas Copco], as reflected on [Atlas Copco's Exhibits], were all reasonable and were reasonably necessary for Defendant to defend this case. The Court reemphasizes the fact that Plaintiff initiated this suit pursuing an inflated claim for damages which required a vigorous defense. The Court also notes that Defendant was completely successful, and Defendant’s counsel could not have achieved a better result for their client."

“Pillsbury has done a great job supporting us all the way through this case. Very rarely have we been able to get any legal fees and costs back in litigation in the U.S. and we see this as almost ground breaking,” said Atlas Copco AB's General Counsel Operations Vice President Håkan Osvald. “Let us hope it sends a strong message to the plaintiff bar to think twice before they file suit in the U.S. against any company within the Atlas Copco group."

Pillsbury’s Intellectual Property practice advises clients on developing successful and comprehensive IP strategies by protecting, managing, asserting, defending, and leveraging their IP assets. Pillsbury’s IP practice includes more than 70 attorneys, technical consultants and patent agents, in Northern Virginia, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, New York, San Diego, Sacramento, Tokyo, London, and other offices around the country and abroad. Pillsbury’s IP team has a wide range of advanced scientific and technical degrees in areas including electrical and mechanical engineering, chemistry, biology, physics, and a number of other technical disciplines.

About Pillsbury
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is a full-service law firm with market-leading strengths serving the energy, financial services, real estate and technology sectors, and increasingly healthcare and education. Based in the world's major financial and technology centers, Pillsbury counsels clients on global corporate, regulatory and litigation matters. We work in multidisciplinary teams that allow us to anticipate trends and bring a 360-degree perspective to complex business and legal issues helping clients to take greater advantage of new opportunities and better mitigate risk. This collaborative work style helps produce the results our clients seek.