Perkins Coie Welcomes Patent Litigation Partners

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (February 3, 2014) - Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that Joseph P. Reid and Thomas Millikan have joined the firm’s San Diego office as partners in the firm’s Patent Litigation practice.  Before spending two years at a small boutique IP firm, Millikan was a partner at Fish & Richardson and Reid was a partner at Perkins Coie.  With the addition of Reid and Millikan, Perkins Coie’s San Diego office now has 20 intellectual property attorneys and a total of 27 professionals.

“Joe and Tom bring a wealth of patent litigation and trial experience in district court and the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”).  They also have substantive knowledge of the complex business and legal issues faced by technology companies today,” said Thane Bauz, Office Managing Partner of the San Diego office.  “We are delighted to have them join the Perkins Coie San Diego office and add to the exceptional depth of the firm’s IP capabilities.”

Reid has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in district courts nationwide, as well as the ITC and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  He has extensive experience in multi-defendant cases and cases involving industry standards.  Reid has worked on dozens of cases, including ten that culminated in a jury or bench trial.  Of particular note, he had a significant role in defending Microsoft Corporation against Lucent Technologies and the Multimedia Patent Trust in a series of trials that forged new damages law and were named among the “Top 10 Litigation Wins of 2008” by IP Law and Business.

Millikan has represented technology leaders, established and emerging companies, and small inventors in district courts nationwide and in the ITC.  He also provides strategic intellectual property counseling, including tactical patent prosecution, and advice on patent infringement, validity, reexaminations and due diligence.  He has worked on cases involving video compression, audio compression, speech compression, bio-chemical decontamination, unified communications, video conferencing, gaming systems, image enhancement and distributed databases.  Millikan’s achievements include forcing favorable settlements for both plaintiffs and defendants, and originating winning liability defenses for a software company in a series of trials named among the “Top 10 Litigation Wins of 2008” by IP Law and Business.

Mike Warnecke, co-chair of Perkins Coie’s Patent Litigation practice, said, “Joe and Tom are outstanding lawyers with solid experience in high-stakes patent litigation that is a hallmark of the firm’s nationally recognized IP practice.  They have handled every aspect of a patent case and have considerable experience in understanding client’s perspectives and challenges, adding to an already vast team of IP professionals.  We are very pleased to welcome them into Perkins Coie.”

Reid received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School, his B.S. from Duke University and his M.S. in physiology from the University of California at Davis.  Reid has handled cases involving a wide variety of technologies, including: computer software and hardware; consumer electronics; image, video and audio processing; pharmaceuticals; medical devices; semiconductors; wireless networking; automotive systems; and e-commerce.

Millikan received his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Cincinnati.  Prior to law school, Millikan worked at Texas Instruments as a digital signal processing engineer where he designed software and systems for MP3 players, mobile phones, GPS systems and video players.  His engineering career led to six patented inventions related to digital audio and media players. 

Perkins Coie has one of the largest Patent practices in the country according to Law360 and IP Law & Business.  The firm is ranked nationally as the most hired law firm for Section 337 Actions in the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) by Corporate Counsel, as well as the fourth most-hired law firm for patent litigation on behalf of the defense and within the top 10 for overall patent litigation.  U.S. News - Best Lawyers® has named Perkins Coie the Patent Law Firm of the Year, and it is the only AmLaw 100 firm ranked in the Top 10 for patent quality by Ocean Tomo and Intellectual Asset Management Magazine.  The firm represents the “who’s who” of the world’s leading semiconductor, software, computer, mobile device, Internet, telecommunications, pharmaceutical and medical device companies in patent cases in district courts throughout the United States and in the ITC.

About Perkins Coie: Founded in 1912, Perkins Coie has more than 900 lawyers in 19 offices across the United States and Asia.  We provide a full array of corporate, commercial litigation and intellectual property legal services to a broad range of clients, from FORTUNE 50 corporations to small, independent start-ups, as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.