Current Employment Position(s)

Chair, Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group; Chair, Associates Committee

Lawyer Overview

David Bassett is a partner in the firm's Litigation/Controversy Department, and chair of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group and the firm's Associates Committee. He joined the firm in 1989.

Practice

Mr. Bassett's practice concentrates on intellectual property litigation, particularly on biotechnology patent disputes. He also represents clients in a wide variety of other business disputes, including breach of contract, Lanham Act and Internet-related claims. Mr. Bassett's intellectual property litigation clients have included Biogen, Dynatech, Procter & Gamble, Raytheon, Genetics Institute, Calgene, Cephalon, Kurzweil Music, RSA Security, Transkaryotic Therapies, Braintree Laboratories and many others. His practice has covered all facets of litigation, including discovery, settlement, alternative dispute resolution, trials and appeals. He has appeared before the Courts of Appeals for the First and Federal Circuits.

Recent Highlights

During the last several years, Mr. Bassett has handled cases for numerous clients, including:

• A major biotechnology company in one of the largest biotech patent litigations in the country
• A global communications equipment company in a patent dispute involving a radar detector patent
• A major wireless broadband Internet access provider in patent litigation involving Internet access technology
• A well known fashion designer in a Lanham Act dispute
• An agricultural biotechnology company in litigation involving a patent on genetic "antisense" technology
• Various clients, in a series of highly publicized litigations, seeking, among other things, to obtain the identities of individuals who had posted confidential company information or harassing material in Internet chat rooms and through private email
• One of the world's largest furniture companies in a trade dress dispute
• A leading biopharmaceutical company in a series of patent and patent licensing litigations
• An integrated business consulting service company in litigation to enforce a noncompete agreement with a former employee

Professional Activities

• Co-chair, Intellectual Property Litigation Committee of the Boston Bar Association
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, Massachusetts Bar Association

Honors and Awards

• Selected for inclusion on the "New York Super Lawyers 2009" list for his intellectual property litigation practice
• Highly recommended in the PLC Cross-border IP in Business Transactions Handbook 2008/09
• Recognized as one of the world's leading life sciences lawyers in Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Life Sciences Lawyers 2008
• Recognized for his exceptional intellectual property practice in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 editions
• Selected as a "patent law expert" in Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Patent Law Practitioners 2007
• Recommended in the 2006-07 edition of the PLC IP & IT Cross-Border Handbook
• Named a "New England Super Lawyer" (formerly "Massachusetts Super Lawyer") in intellectual property litigation in the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 issues of Boston Magazine

Publications

• Bassett (co-author), "When An Exclusive License is not an Exclusive License: The Standing of 'Exclusive' Patent Licensees to Sue After Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp. v. Genetics Institute, Inc.," 7 Fed. Cir. Bar.J. 1 (1997).

Community Involvement

• Elected representative, Town of Boxford, Massachusetts
• Chair, Masconomet Regional School Committee

Areas of Practice

• Litigation/Controversy
• Intellectual Property Litigation
• Litigation

Representative Cases

• Amgen, Inc. v. Genetics Institute, Inc. and Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. , (US District Court for the District of Massachusetts)
• Anadigics, Inc. v. Raytheon Company , (US District Court for the Southern District of New York)
• Biogen, Inc. v. Berlex Laboratories, Inc. , (US District Court for the District of Massachusetts)
• Cashmere & Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute, et al. v. Saks Fifth Avenue, et al. , (US District Court for the District of Massachusetts)
• Cincinnati Microwave, Inc. v. Whistler Corporation and Dynatech Corporation
• Datapoint Corporation v. Olicom Corporation, et al. , (US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit)
• Digital Equipment Corp. v. Systems Industries, Inc. , (US District Court for the District of Massachusetts)
• Enzo Biochem v. Calgene , (US District Court for the District of Delaware)
• Genentech, Inc. v. The Wellcome Foundation Ltd. and Genetics Institute, Inc. , (US District Court for the District of Delaware)
• GFI, Inc. v. Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc., et al.
• Metacorp Strategies, Int'l v. Wang Laboratories, Inc. , (US District Court for the District of Massachusetts)
• Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp., et al v. Genetics Institute, Inc. , (US District Court for the District of Massachusetts)
• Stambler v. RSA Security, Inc. et al. , (US District Court for the District of Delaware)
• T-Mobile USA and Cisco Systems
• WilmerHale Obtains Important Victory for Braintree Laboratories

West Practice Categories

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Intellectual Property Law, Litigation & Appeals

Bar Admissions

• New York
• Massachusetts
• Indiana

Education

• Harvard Law School, 1987
  JD
  Honors: cum laude, Editor,Harvard Law Review; Finalist, Ames Moot Court Competition
• Indiana University, 1984
  BA
  Honors: with Honors and Distinction, National Merit Scholarship, Phi Beta Kappa

Published Works

• Federal Circuit Decision in In re Bilski Has Far-Reaching Implications, 2008

Address

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Websites

www.wilmerhale.com