Brett J. Williamson
Partner
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Brett Williamson is one of O’Melveny’s most seasoned IP litigators, with over 25 years of experience handling patent and technology litigation in a wide variety of industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, electronics, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. Brett helps both established and emerging technology companies solve their most critical legal challenges through a practical approach that prioritizes fundamental “big picture” advice over procedural tactics that can obscure the client’s ultimate business goals, while maintaining the sharp adversarial edge required to ensure the best outcome possible.
Brett is routinely recognized among the most skilled IP litigators in the country. He was named a 2018 Top Intellectual Property Lawyer in California by the Daily Journal, the same publication that listed his trial victory for client Allergan, Inc. as a Top Verdict of 2012. Brett has been named a “Super Lawyer” in Intellectual Property Litigation for twelve consecutive years (2007-2018) in a survey conducted by Law & Politics Media Inc. and published in Los Angeles magazine, and he has been described as “a skilled and very practical patent litigator” and a “notable trade secret lawyer” by Legal 500.
Brett is also a longtime member of the firm’s administrative leadership team, and currently serves on the firm's Partner Admissions Committee. He co-founded O'Melveny's Intellectual Property and Technology practice group, and currently heads that group in the Newport Beach office. Brett served a five-year term (2006-2011) as Managing Partner of the Newport Beach office, and chairs the office's Community Legal Services Committee as part of an active pro bono practice that recently included major victories in the areas of electronic data privacy, homeless rights, and equal protection in criminal prosecutions.
Honors & Awards
- Named a Top Intellectual Property Lawyer in California by the Daily Journal in 2015 and 2018
- Named a “Super Lawyer” in surveys conducted by Law & Politics Media Inc. and published in Los Angeles magazine (2007-2018)
- Trial victory for client Allergan, Inc., named as a Top Verdict of 2012 in California by the Daily Journal
Admissions
Bar Admissions
- California
- District of Columbia
- New York
Court Admissions
- US District Court, Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Central Districts of California, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the District of Colorado
- US Court of Appeals, Federal, Second, and Ninth Circuits
- US Supreme Court
Education
- University of Southern California, J.D., 1989: Order of the Coif; Articles Editor, Southern California Law Review
- University of California, Irvine, B.A., 1986: cum laude
Professional Activities
Member
- American Bar Association
- Federal Circuit Bar Association
- American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)
- Howard T. Markey Intellectual Property Inn of Court (President, 2016-2017)
- Orange County Bar Association; Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL), Orange County Chapter
Board of Directors
- Public Law Center of Orange County
- University of California, Irvine— Center for the Study of Democracy
Lawyer Representative
- Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference (2009-2012)
Author
- “Enhanced Infringement Damages in a Post-Seagate World,” Daily Journal, co-author (June 17, 2016)
- “Rethinking Seagate At The Supreme Court” Law360 (March 17, 2016)
- “Is The Seagate Test For Willful Infringement Here To Stay?” Law360 (April 7, 2015)
- “Maintaining the Standard of Proof on Invalidity,” Law360 (February 9, 2011)
- “IP in a downturn,” IP Review, co-author (Summer 2009)
- “Post-Seagate: Advice of Counsel in Patent Defense,” Intellectual Property Litigation, co-author (Fall 2008)
- “Struggle for Ownership,” The Recorder (April 11, 2007) (discussing KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc. case)
- “Remedying Injury to Goodwill and Reputation: Beacon Mutual and 'Public Confusion' Under the Lanham Act,” Intellectual Property Litigation, American Bar Association (Winter 2005)
Speaker
- “The Future of Medical Diagnostic and Treatment Patents,” O’Melveny Corporate Counsel Seminar (September 2010)
- “Improving Patent Adjudication Through ADR and Court Reform: International Mediation and Arbitration of Patent Cases,” Thomas Jefferson School of Law Patent Law Symposium (April 3, 2009)
- “Patents and The Real-World: How Recent Supreme Court Cases and Proposed Legislation Will Impact You and Your Business,” O’Melveny & Myers LLP Special Patent Law Presentation (Sept. 18 and 20, 2007)
- Brett is lead trial counsel for Par Pharmaceutical in a federal trade secrets and unfair competition case pending in the District of New Jersey. After conducting expedited discovery on the misappropriation claims, Brett and his team obtained a major victory when the court issued a preliminary injunction barring the defendant, a competing pharmaceutical company, from launching its version of Par's most profitable product (the cardiopulmonary drug Vasostrict®). The injunction is effective through conclusion of the trial in the case, and the case remains in active litigation.
- Brett represents Hulu, LLC, a leading video streaming service, in defense of patent infringement litigation involving technology for delivering multimedia content using a network of distributed servers. Brett's team has successfully obtained dismissal of one of the patents-in-suit, and is currently engaged in discovery and claim construction proceedings relating to the remaining patents.
- Brett is lead counsel for a major consumer electronics company in parallel district court litigation and inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) involving power supply identification technology. He obtained a final written decision from the PTAB finding unpatentable all claims of a patent being asserted against the client in the district court, and then argued the appeal from that decision at the Federal Circuit. That court then summarily affirmed the PTAB.
- Brett represented Google against plaintiff ART+COM InnovationPool (ACI) in a five-day jury trial involving Google Earth products, conducting all direct and cross examination of the technical expert witnesses on infringement and validity. After only an hour of deliberation, the jury found that none of the accused Google Earth products infringe and that Google had proven by clear and convincing evidence that all asserted claims were anticipated or obvious, and thus invalid. The verdict put to rest claims seeking US$106 million or more in alleged damages.
- Brett and his team prevailed in a three-week trial for Allergan, a global leader in the development of innovative pharmaceutical and medical device products, in a case involving misappropriation of trade secrets against a major competitor relating to the marketing of the client's leading pharmaceutical product. The court entered an injunction preventing the competitor from selling or marketing its product anywhere in the United States for an entire year following the judgment, an extraordinary remedy in a trade secrets case. Brett also represented the company in a Lanham Act case against the same competitor.
- Brett served as lead counsel for an international consumer electronics company in defense of a series of patent infringement actions filed in the “rocket docket” Eastern District of Virginia, collectively alleging infringement of eight patents directed to smartphone technology and a system for processing and transmitting multimedia content received via wireless networks onto alternative display devices. In the first phase of litigation at the trial court, Brett and his team obtained final judgments of non-infringement on all patents-in-suit, after which all cases settled on favorable terms to the client.
- Brett represented a global leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of computerized gaming machines and systems in defending a patent infringement claim involving multi-line slot machines. Following a favorable claim construction after the Markman hearing, the client prevailed on a motion for summary judgment resulting in a full dismissal of all claims, which was affirmed by the Federal Circuit on appeal (521 F.3d 1328 (2008)). Brett also served as lead litigation counsel for the client in other major patent cases, including successful infringement claims against a competitor in the District of Delaware, and prevailing on antitrust claims brought in the District of Nevada.
- Brett was lead trial counsel for the successor-in-interest to a pioneering Internet services company in enforcement of a patent covering web-based video conferencing systems and methods against multiple defendants. Following district court rulings that effectively precluded our client from establishing infringement of any valid claims, Brett argued the appeal to the Federal Circuit which resulted in a reversal of the non-infringement judgment and remand to the district court.
- Brett represented plaintiff, a subsidiary of B. Braun Medical Inc., in a case involving a patent for intravenous pharmaceuticals used during open heart surgery to minimize heart muscle damage caused by the interruption of blood flow. At trial, Brett successfully proved willful infringement, and defeated counterclaims alleging false advertising under the Lanham Act and Walker Process monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The Court entered a permanent injunction, estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars in recovered sales revenue.
- Brett represented the largest Southern California retail banking and lending institution in multi-defendant patent infringement litigation involving patents on a process for evaluating the credit of prospective home mortgage borrowers, obtaining a dismissal with prejudice on all claims.
- Brett represents a leading retailer of office supplies in defending an infringement complaint on a patent that claims a method for authentication of Internet-based transactions. He has previously defended several other companies in similar cases, all of which settled on favorable terms for the clients.
- Brett represented a leading provider of infrastructure solutions for wireless communications networks in the enforcement of patents covering an innovative method of connecting components to a multi-layer printed circuit board while minimizing power demands.
- Brett serves as lead litigation counsel for FutureLogic, a leader in thermal printer design and technology. In bi-coastal patent litigation brought by FutureLogic’s principal competitor, Brett successfully defeated a motion for a preliminary injunction at the outset of the case and, after defeating a renewed request for a preliminary injunction a year later, the case settled on very favorable terms with FutureLogic obtaining a worldwide, perpetual license to the patents at issue and all related applications, patents and foreign counterparts. Brett also represents FutureLogic in other litigation, including cases to enforce the client’s innovative “dual port” promotional printing patent against another competitor.