For the fifth consecutive year, Partner Bill Lee has been named as an Intellectual Property MVP of the Year by Law360. This title recognizes elite attorneys in a wide range of practice areas who have had the most impressive success navigating clients through high-stakes litigation, record breaking deals and complex global matters. Working with Apple to secure major victories in its patent infringement litigation against Samsung and representing Ford in its win in the company's largest patent litigation in its history helped earn Lee a spot on the competitive list.
Lee serves as Apple’s lead counsel in its ongoing patent infringement battle against Samsung Electronics, a case that has garnered international attention. Lee and his team have had numerous victories against Samsung, including a recent ruling by the Federal Circuit, which upheld the patent infringement verdict that Apple won in its 2012 and 2013 trials. The appeals court remanded the case, which included $548 million of the verdicts affirmed on appeal, to the district court.
When interviewed by Law360, Lee described his experience handling high-profile clients, “In trials of cases like these, you have great lawyers on the other side...doing the very best they can for their clients, and as a consequence, you're going to encounter some unexpected challenges during the course of the trial and if you expect the unexpected, you're going to be better able to address them and deal with them."
In the past year, among others wins, Lee represented Ford Motor Co. in its defeat of a $275 million patent infringement suit and successfully defended the appeal of Syntrix Biosystems Inc’s $96 million verdict against DNA analysis company Illumina Inc.
During his career, Lee has tried more than 100 cases to verdict, argued more than 75 cases in the Federal Circuit and earned nearly 181 victories. He has received numerous accolades, including recently being named a “Trial Ace” by Law360, receiving the 2014 and 2015 title of "Lawyer of the Year" for litigation/patent by Best Lawyers in America®, being counted among the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” by The National Law Journal in 2013, and being chosen as one of eight finalists selected by The American Lawyer as "Litigator of the Year" in 2012.