Former IP Defense Superstars Turn Patent Enforcers

IP Litigation heavyweights John Desmarais and Matt Powers have made a name for themselves defending giant corporations against so-called NPEs ("nonpracticing  entities" also often referred to by aggrieved defendants as "patent trolls").   But as noted in a WSJ article, the two Lawdragon 500  finalists have switched sides and have now brought their super power litigation skills to serve IP plaintiffs.  The two superstar litigators have actually earned their place in the 2011 Lawdragon list for tapping into this growing litigation niche.

Desmarais, who used to be a partner at Kirkland and Ellis and has repped such companies as IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, Boston Scientific, Alcaltel-Lucent and Verizon Wireless, founded a nonpracticing entity of his own, Round Rock Research LLC. The firm is based in Mount Kisco, New York.  While former Weil Gotshal & Manges partner Powers, who defended corporate giants such as Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Oracle, and Apple, abandoned his $5 million partnership to start his own firm Tensegrity Law Group LLP.  Powers' new firm represents IP plaintiffs exclusively, according to its website.