Winner, of the Year - Winston & Strawn · 2016. 11. 15. · texaslawyer.com November 11, 2016...
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texaslawyer.com ❘ November 11, 2016 LITIGATION DEPARTMENTS OF THE Y EAR LITIGATION IN THE OIL AND GAS industry usually centers on a disput- ed lease or the environmental impact of a new drilling technique. But Winston & Strawn’s work for energy- sector clients involves a more sur- prising domain: intellectual property. The firm’s Texas office won two key rulings in oil field patent cases in 2015, as well as one of the National Law Journal’s top verdicts of the year in a case involving a multicontinent trade-secret conspiracy. Winston’s client M-I LLC had two new patents related to Screen Pulse, a system for recovering drilling fluid. M-I had previously worked with FPUSA, a subsidiary of Canada- based FP Marangoni, which was planning to enter the U.S. market. But FPUSA decided to instead com- pete with M-I, offering a product called Vac-Screen. M-I alleged patent infringement, and Winston filed suit. Winston asked the trial court for a preliminary injunction preventing FPUSA from marketing Vac-Screen— relief seldom granted in patent cases. But both the trial judge and a panel at the Fifth Circuit agreed that, because M-I was likely to prove infringement at trial, an injunction was warranted. FPUSA later filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11. Winston’s most significant victory followed a three-year battle over alle- gations of the theft of trade secrets, copyright infringement, breach of contract, tortious interference and unfair competition. Winston’s cli- ent Suncoast alleged that entre- preneur Sandeep Patel, founder of the Sterling Engineering Group of Companies, secretly approached a Suncoast employee, Peter Scoppa, in 2012 to form a competing firm, PT USA. The new firm snatched up four jobs previously awarded to Suncoast. But Suncoast didn’t know its intel- lectual property rights had been violated until it mistakenly received a set of drawings from a contractor on one of those jobs. Suncoast engi- neers recognized that the drawings had been made with their com- pany’s proprietary software. The only change: the drawings now were attributed to PT USA. Suncoast sued, alleging that Scoppa took engineering drawings and soft- ware when he left the company. At trial, Winston’s lawyers proved that the defendants had destroyed email evidence and had lied dur- ing depositions. The jury awarded $24.5 million to Suncoast—more than half in punitive damages. WINSTON & STRAWN WINNER, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THE LEGAL & LITIGATION TEAMS OF THE YEAR Reprinted with permission from the November 11, 2016 edition of the TEXAS LAWYER © 2016 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. For information, contact 877-257-3382 or [email protected]. # 651-11-16-03
Transcript of Winner, of the Year - Winston & Strawn · 2016. 11. 15. · texaslawyer.com November 11, 2016...
texaslawyer.com ❘ November 11, 2016
Litigation Departments of the Year
Litigation in the oiL and gas industry usually centers on a disput-ed lease or the environmental impact of a new drilling technique. But Winston & Strawn’s work for energy-sector clients involves a more sur-prising domain: intellectual property.
The firm’s Texas office won two key rulings in oil field patent cases in 2015, as well as one of the National Law Journal’s top verdicts of the year in a case involving a multicontinent trade-secret conspiracy.
Winston’s client M-I LLC had two new patents related to Screen Pulse, a system for recovering drilling fluid. M-I had previously worked with FPUSA, a subsidiary of Canada-based FP Marangoni, which was planning to enter the U.S. market. But FPUSA decided to instead com-pete with M-I, offering a product called Vac-Screen. M-I alleged patent infringement, and Winston filed suit. Winston asked the trial court for a preliminary injunction preventing FPUSA from marketing Vac-Screen—relief seldom granted in patent cases. But both the trial judge and a panel at
the Fifth Circuit agreed that, because M-I was likely to prove infringement at trial, an injunction was warranted. FPUSA later filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11.
Winston’s most significant victory followed a three-year battle over alle-gations of the theft of trade secrets, copyright infringement, breach of contract, tortious interference and unfair competition. Winston’s cli-ent Suncoast alleged that entre-preneur Sandeep Patel, founder of the Sterling Engineering Group of Companies, secretly approached a Suncoast employee, Peter Scoppa,
in 2012 to form a competing firm, PT USA.
The new firm snatched up four jobs previously awarded to Suncoast. But Suncoast didn’t know its intel-lectual property rights had been violated until it mistakenly received a set of drawings from a contractor on one of those jobs. Suncoast engi-neers recognized that the drawings had been made with their com-pany’s proprietary software. The only change: the drawings now were attributed to PT USA.
Suncoast sued, alleging that Scoppa took engineering drawings and soft-ware when he left the company.
At trial, Winston’s lawyers proved that the defendants had destroyed email evidence and had lied dur-ing depositions. The jury awarded $24.5 million to Suncoast—more than half in punitive damages.
Winston & straWn
Winner, intellectual ProPerty
the
legal & litigation
teams of the year
Reprinted with permission from the November 11, 2016 edition of the Texas LawyeR © 2016 aLM Media Properties, LLC. all rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. For information, contact 877-257-3382 or [email protected]. # 651-11-16-03
