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Sebaly, Shillito & DyerA Legal Professional Association

Toby Henderson Named Superachiever Under 40
The Dayton Business Journal has selected Toby Henderson, shareholder, as a Superachiever Under 40 for 2007. Toby concentrates his practice in the area of complex business litigation. He also takes pro-bono assignments from the Public Defender's office to stay connected with the courts and to represent those who might not otherwise have a criminal defense attorney.

Toby's involvement in the community includes serving on the Associate Board of the Dayton Art Institute and being an active new member in the Dayton Tool and Manufacturing Association. He is also a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Toby will be honored in a celebration at the Schuster Center on Thursday, April 5. Previous members of the firm honored with this award are Karl Ulrich, Michael Booth and Danyelle Wright.

03-29-2007

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Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik LLP

Stryker Unit Wins Summary Judgment In Patent Case
In a move that could mark the resolution of a patent infringement suit over hip implant technology that has lasted almost five years, a court has granted summary judgment to a subsidiary of orthopedics company Stryker Corp.

U.S. District Judge Allen Sharp on Wednesday signed off on an order granting summary judgment of noninfringement to plaintiff Howmedica Osteonics Corp., rejecting a summary judgment motion by Tranquil Prospects Ltd.

Judge Sharp’s ruling could be appealed, but at the district court level, the case is essentially over, said William L. Mentlik, managing partner of the firm Lerner, David, Littenberg, Krumholz & Mentlik, LLP and lead counsel for Howmedica.

“We feel pretty good about it,” Mentlik said of the decision, adding that he was confident that the ruling would hold up if appealed.

Judge Sharp held that Tranquil’s assertions of infringement, which were backed by an unsworn expert declaration and “virtual surgery” geared toward demonstrating that implanting Howmedica’s stem implants would infringe on Tranquil’s patented methods, weren’t up to snuff.

“This curt declines the apparent invitation to engage in a fishing expedition and issue a catchall opinion,” Judge Sharp wrote, after noting that Tranquil’s expert failed to identify specifically which Howmedica prostheses infringed the patents-in-suit.

Judge Sharp goes on to quote from a Seventh Circuit decision from 1991, in a case captioned United States v. Dunkel: “A skeletal ‘argument,’ really nothing more than an assertion, does not preserve a claim…Judges are not like pigs, hunting for truffles buried in briefs.”

Howmedica asked the court for summary judgment of noninfringement of four claims of the ‘985 patent and one claim of the ‘214 patent, while Tranquil sought summary judgment of direct literal infringement of four claims of the‘985 patent. Tranquil also argued that it was entitled to summary judgment that the asserted claims of the ‘985 patent were not anticipated by putative prior art.

In May 2002, Howmedica filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment of noninfringement and invalidity with respect to two patents owned by British Virgin Island-based Tranquil Prospects. Tranquil prospects countersued for infringement.

At issue in the suit are U.S. Patent No .,636,214 and 5,222,985—both of which are entitled “Implantation of Articulating Joint Prosthesis.”

Tranquil contended that a variety of Howmedica’s “hip stems,” which connect the femur to the hip socket, encroached on its intellectual property. More than 20 Howmedica’s hip stems, including the “Omnifit” and “Strata, infringed, Tranquil alleged.

The case stretched on as long as it did in part because of an appeal by Tranquil, which followed the district court’s January 2004 finding that the asserted claims of the ‘985 and ‘214 patents were invalid. The U.S. Court of Appealsfor the Federal Circuit breathed new life into the case in 2005, reversing the lower court’s ruling that the Tranquil’s patent claims were indefinite and invalid, vacating the lower court’s ruling that the ‘985 patent was not infringed because that ruling was based on an “erroneous claim construction,” and remanding the case back to the northern Indiana district court.

Attorneys for Tranquil Prospects Ltd. could not be immediately reached for comment.

Tranquil is represented in this matter by Stadheim & Grear Ltd. and Hunt Suedhoff Kalamaros LLP.

Howmedica is represented by Lerner, David, Littenberg, Krumholz & Mentlik, LLP.

The case is Howmedica Osteonics Corp. v. Tranquil Prospects Ltd., case number 02-321,in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

03-29-2007

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Harter Secrest & Emery LLP

HARTER SECREST & EMERY LLP EXPANDS TRUSTS & ESTATES PRACTICE IN NAPLES Christopher G. Price, Esq. Joins the Firm
The law firm of Harter Secrest & Emery LLP is pleased to announce that Christopher G. Price has joined the firm as an associate in the Trust & Estates practice group.

Christopher concentrates his practice in the area of trusts and estates with an emphasis on estate planning, estate and trust administration, estate tax planning, and probate and litigation. Christopher received his LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida College of Law, his J.D., cum laude, from the St. Thomas University School of Law and his B.S from Florida State University.

03-29-2007

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Downey Brand LLP

Three Associates Join Downey Brand
Perry K. DeLay joins the firm's corporate, securities and tax practice group as an associate. He received his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 2000 and his B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1986. DeLay also received a Master of Laws in Taxation from Villanova University School of Law in Pennsylvania in 2005 and a Master of Arts in Philosophy in 2001 from the University of Chicago. Prior to joining Downey Brand, he was an associate with Chang, Ruthenberg & Long in Folsom, California. DeLay is admitted to practice in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Frank E. Noey joins the firm's litigation group as an associate. He received his J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 2006 and his B.A. from California State University, Hayward in 2003. Prior to joining Downey Brand, Noey was a judicial extern to the Honorable Ronald Boyd Robie, California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District.

Adam M. Friedman joins the firm's environmental law practice group as an associate. He received his J.D. from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College in 2006 and his B.S. from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1999. Prior to joining Downey Brand, Friedman was a legal contractor for the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division in San Francisco.

03-29-2007

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Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, L.L.C.

Bell Boyd Expands IP Practice in DC Office
Kevin R. Spivak, an experienced patent attorney noted for his representation of domestic and global technology corporations, has joined Bell, Boyd & Lloyd as a partner in the Intellectual Property Group, resident in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. He concentrates his practice in patent prosecution, licensing and counseling for a variety of telecommunications, electronic and computer companies.

Mr. Spivak comes to Bell Boyd from Morrison & Foerster LLP's Northern Virginia office where he was Of Counsel. He is known for his expertise in managing and securing intellectual property rights in a wide array of technical fields, including semiconductors, networks, switching systems, Internet applications and computer hardware and software. He has processed thousands of foreign and domestic patent applications for technologies involving mobile devices, VoIP, Internet telephony, optics, display and DVD applications and business methods. He managed over 1,000 patent applications for just one of his client portfolios.

Licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, he has filed numerous patents under the Patent Cooperation Treaty and provided support for clients on patent litigation and licensing negotiations, including cases before district and federal courts and the International Trade Commission.

Before completing law school, he served as a Patent Examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, specializing in computer-related technologies. He earned his J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law and his B.S. in computer engineering from The George Washington University, School of Engineering.

03-29-2007

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Willman & Silvaggio LLP

Defense Verdict in Illinois Vioxx Trial
A seven-woman and five-man jury in Edwardsville, Illinois unanimously decided that Vioxx maker Merck was not liable for the fatal heart attack of 52-year-old Patricia Schwaller. Ms. Schwaller's husband, Frank Schwaller, had sued the pharmaceutical company alleging that Vioxx was defectively designed, inadequately tested, dangerous to human health, and had lacked proper warnings. The defense argued Ms. Schwaller's heart attack was not a result of her use of Vioxx by pointing to her medical history of morbid obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and sedentary lifestyle, as well as her family history of heart disease.

03-29-2007

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Troutman Sanders LLP

Bernard G. Pike Joins Troutman Sanders’ Richmond Office
Troutman Sanders LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Bernard G. Pike as an associate to its Intellectual Property practice group in Richmond, Va.

Pike comes to Troutman Sanders from the law firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he was an associate from 1999 to 2007.

During his tenure at K&L Gates, Pike represented numerous clients with intellectual property related issues, including an extensive trademark and patent practice. Specifically, he obtained domestic and foreign patents for clients in the chemical, material science and mechanical arts, including polymerization processes and polymers, organic chemicals, alloys, cemented carbides, cutting tools, and drug delivery devices.

Additionally, Pike drafted noninfringement and freedom to operate opinions, analyzed patent validity, and conducted U.S. Reexaminations and European Oppositions. He also provided litigation support, and drafted agreements and intellectual property licenses.

Pike is a patent attorney registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Pike was a chemical engineer at several companies across the United States, including Albright & Wilson Americas Inc., Bayer Corp. and Belcan Corp.

Pike received his B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering (dual degree program) in 1984 from Drexel University, and earned his J.D. in 1999 from the University of Richmond.

03-29-2007

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