Sidley Austin Expands in New York

New York – Sidley Austin LLP announced today that three partners have joined its Intellectual Property Litigation practice and will be based in the New York office. Bradford J. Badke (Jim) is a first-chair patent trial lawyer with extensive experience representing life sciences companies and a pioneer in medical device patent litigation. Sona De and Ching-Lee Fukuda are both highly skilled trial lawyers with significant patent litigation experience. Ms. De focuses her practice on issues related to life sciences, while Ms. Fukuda focuses her practice on the technology sector.

“We are pleased to welcome Jim, Sona and Ching-Lee to Sidley,” said David Pritikin, co-leader of Sidley’s IP Litigation practice. “This cohesive group of talented lawyers has worked together for many years, and their combined knowledge and experience will enhance our IP and life sciences resources, and add immediate value for our clients.”

Mr. Badke is an established lead trial counsel who has overseen numerous bet-the-company intellectual property cases in courtrooms nationwide. He also has extensive experience arguing in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. His trial and litigation practice includes all technologies, but is primarily focused in the medical device, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. He has litigated cases involving medical device patents for more than 25 years, with cases involving a wide range of technology, including blood glucose devices, surgical staplers and coronary stents. He has been featured as The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” for work on a landmark case that created a new legal standard for the inequitable conduct doctrine.

Ms. De is an experienced patent litigator who has helped lead a range of cases at trial and on appeal before the Federal Circuit. Her work spans a wide range of technology sectors, with a focus on Hatch-Waxman litigation and medical devices, as well as cases involving biologics, chemicals and consumer products. In addition, she has handled multiparty litigations, has argued before the Multidistrict Litigation Panel and has represented clients in arbitration. Ms. De was also featured as The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week,” on the same landmark case with Mr. Badke.

Ms. Fukuda has obtained significant patent litigation victories both in the courtroom and at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). She focuses on cases involving medical devices, electronics, software, telecommunications and chemicals. Ms. Fukuda has served as lead counsel in district court cases and in PTAB proceedings, appearing in more than 40 PTAB proceedings. She was named by IAM Patent 1000 as one of the world’s leading patent practitioners in 2015.

“Jim, Sona and Ching-Lee are exciting additions to our New York office, where their wealth of IP litigation knowledge and courtroom experience complements the high-level work our IP lawyers are already doing for clients,” said Michael Schmidtberger, managing partner of Sidley’s New York office. “Our clients facing patent issues in the life sciences space will benefit from this group’s top-tier skill and experience representing clients in the courtroom and in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.”

“Having witnessed Sidley’s tremendous success in both life sciences and technology patent litigation, Sona, Ching-Lee and I are excited to join the firm’s powerhouse team of IP litigation lawyers,” said Mr. Badke. “We look forward to working with our new colleagues to tackle new and challenging cases for clients.”

With 1,900 lawyers in 19 offices worldwide, Sidley has built a reputation as a premier legal adviser for global businesses and financial institutions. Sidley has for the sixth year in a row received the most first-tier national rankings in the U.S. News – BestLawyers® “Best Law Firms” survey. On Law360’s list of Global 20 Firms, Sidley was ranked among the top law firms “with the greatest global reach and expertise.” To stay up to date with the latest Sidley news, please follow us on Twitter at @SidleyNewsroom.