Better bovines, striped sweats enable Pruetz to burnish bio.When Adrian Mary Pruetz was in law school at Marquette University Marquette University at Milwaukee, Wis.; Jesuit; coeducational; chartered 1864, opened 1881. The school achieved university status in 1907. Among its graduate programs are those in business, engineering, and law. , she wasn't thinking about representing clients in cases dealing with cow hormones. She wasn't thinking about the number of stripes on Nike warm-up pants or diagnosing HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. . But in her 12-year career at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol , one of L.A.'s pre-eminent law firms This list of the world's largest law firms by revenue is taken from The Lawyer and The American Lawyer and is ordered by 2006 revenue:[1]
"What's so engaging about IP is that you get to explore new things in every case," Pruetz said. "It's not just about law. You're usually learning new science or new technology. It's a great way to combine two things that you love." She recently represented Monsanto Co., which had been sued by the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). in a patent dispute over a growth hormone growth hormone or somatotropin (sōmăt'ətrō`pən), glycoprotein hormone released by the anterior pituitary gland that is necessary for normal skeletal growth in humans (see protein). used to increase milk production in cows. Monsanto agreed to pay UC $100 million and to make royalty payments on future sales. In return, the suit was dropped and the company was granted an exclusive license to manufacture the product. The amount the firm agreed to pay was far less than the $600 million the university had sought. Pruetz said that while personally she was disappointed not to argue the case in court (the hearing was to begin the day after the settlement was reached), she was more than satisfied. "The client is very happy about it," Pruetz said. "We as lawyers are always disappointed when we can't go to trial, but whatever is in the client's best interest is in our best interest." The fact that Monsanto admitted no liability and was able to close the book on the dispute was important as well, Pruetz said. "Businesses like certainty rather than uncertainty and there was a range within which they were willing to pay." Quinn Emanuel didn't become a major player in IP law overnight, and Pruetz is one of the main reasons it has. Quinn Emanuel partner A. William Urquhart and firm founder John Quinn John Quinn or Jack Quinn can refer to:
"What we were tying to do was peer into a crystal ball and predict what were going to be the hot practice areas," Urquhart said. "The decision was for intellectual property." Quinn and Urquhart interviewed dozens of candidates over two years before they found their star. Quinn had encountered Pruetz, who was head of intellectual property at Morrison & Foerster LLP, as opposing counsel in several trials and was impressed. When five partners in her firm left, Pruetz started looking herself. Urquhart remembers the call from a headhunter headhunter A popular term for a person–or employment agency who recruits physicians, upper echelon executives or other professionals, matching potential employees with employers and how he and Quinn wasted little time. "We got the call on a Thursday and had a breakfast meeting Friday at the Pacific Dining Car," Urquhart said. "We made our decision in five minutes and she made hers in less than a day. It's been wonderful for our firm--and wonderful for her." She brought two associates to jumpstart the practice, Steven M. Anderson and Susan L. Wines, both of whom have risen to partner at the firm. Pruetz is currently representing Roche Diagnostics Corp. in a patent infringement patent infringement n. the manufacture and/or use of an invention or improvement for which someone else owns a patent issued by the government, without obtaining permission of the owner of the patent by contract, license or waiver. suit brought by Stanford University over Amplicor, an HIV diagnostic kit that measures the viral load viral load n. The concentration of a virus, such as HIV, in the blood. viral load, n a measure of the number of virus particles present in the bloodstream, expressed as copies per milliliter. . She is also involved in a number of non-biotech-related cases, including a defense of Nike Inc. in a trial scheduled for April in which Adidas-Salomon AG claims that Nike's use of two vertical stripes on warm-up pants infringes on its patented three-stripe design. Pruetz has focused on IP since she graduated in 1982, and although biotech is a specialty, she's led the firm in major cases outside of that realm. Quinn Emanuel represented Napster Inc. in several cases, for example. "They're a bunch of bulldogs," Napster in-house counsel Bill Growney said with a smile, "and they're the kind of firm that likes being called that." Frederick Lorig, a recent addition to the IP department focuses will focus on tech and mechanics. He's currently in trial on a case involving "smart batteries" and laptop computers. Urquhart said the scope of future patent cases is difficult for him to comprehend. "Looking ahead it's almost mind-boggling," he said. "I've read for example that there are more drugs in Phase 3 testing than have been approved in the history of the FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. . You read about the gene mapping gene mapping n. The determination of the sequence of genes and their relative distances from one another on a specific chromosome. . You don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what the change is going to be, but it's going to be explosive and it's going to create opportunities for law firms." Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP L.A. lawyers: 165 L.A. IP lawyers: About half IP as portion of firm revenues: 65 percent High flyers: A. William Urquhart, partner; Adrian Mary Pruetz, partner, co-chair intellectual property; Frederick A. Lorig, partner, intellectual property litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. ; Fred G. Bennett, partner, intellectual property litigation; William C. Price, partner, intellectual property litigation Honor Roll for Biotech Robert C. Weiss Partner, Intellectual Property Jones Day Clients: Davis Intermedics and Primary Surgical, Mag Instrument Inc., Rapiscan Security Products, Simpson Race Products, Sempra Energy's Southern California Gas This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Co. Good to Know: Specializes in mechanical equipment, medical devices, biotech and computer circuitry. He's litigated cases on auto-racing helmets, implantable heart devices, flashlights and baggage scanners. Wayne Barsky Partner, Intellectual Property Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP Clients: Serono International SA, Ethicon Inc. Good to Know: He's represented Columbia University in litigation against Amgen Inc. and Immunex Corp. on life science patents that have brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties for the university in the past decade. Mike K. Lindsey Partner, Corporate Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP |
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