Intellectual Property Litigation Partner Edward G. Poplawski to Receive 2009 CLAY Award.

LOS ANGELES -- Edward G. Poplawski has been named a 2009 recipient of the California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year Award (CLAY) by the publication. In its 13th year, the CLAY Award honors lawyers throughout California whose achievements had a significant impact in 2008 or whose work is expected to have such an effect in the coming years. The Award recipients will be featured in the March issue of California Lawyer.

Mr. Poplawski, who serves as head of the firm's West Coast Intellectual Property and Technology Practice, is global co-chair of the firm's Intellectual Property Litigation practice and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. He was recognized for leading a trial team to victory in the high-profile case Cornell University and Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. v. Hewlett Packard Co. in which Sidley represented Cornell University and its subsidiary, Cornell Research Foundation (CRF). Mr. Poplawski led the team that won a $184.1 million jury award last May against Hewlett-Packard (HP) for patent infringement.

"I am deeply honored to receive this distinguished award for a case that has made a significant impact in the world of intellectual property, and grateful to my fellow team members who worked so hard with me for over six and a half years," said Mr. Poplawski. "I extend a hearty congratulations to all of the other recipients of this award for their achievements in their respective fields."

The complex case, which began in December 2001, involved a patent on a computer processor architecture which greatly boosts computer speed. Cornell and CRF charged HP with infringement arising out of the sale of billions of dollars worth of "heavy lifting" servers embodying the accused microprocessors. The case encompassed nearly every type of defense that can arise in a patent trial, including laches, patent exhaustion and implied license, and complicated damages issues.

"This is a well-deserved recognition of Ed's talents as a patent litigator. He has been instrumental in building our California IP team as well as a great leader of our global practice," said Charles W. Douglas, chair of the firm's Management Committee. "We are very pleased that the California Lawyer has bestowed this award on Ed."

For over 23 years, Mr. Poplawski has devoted his practice exclusively to intellectual property with primary emphasis on complex, high stakes patent litigation encompassing a wide technological spectrum from electronics to biotechnology and software. Both national and international surveys of companies and lawyers have consistently identified him as one of the top intellectual property lawyers in California and the United States. He has been recognized as a Distinguished AIPLA (American Intellectual Property Law Association) Fellow which is an honor given to a select group of top IP lawyers across the Country and is a past president of the Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association (LAIPLA) and a former AIPLA Board of Director. He chairs PLI's annual institute on patent litigation and has published widely recognized articles on a variety of patent litigation and other intellectual property topics.

Sidley's global Intellectual Property Litigation practice provides a full range of litigation in the fields of patents, trade secret and unfair competition, false advertising, copyright and theft of idea and trademark litigation. Sidley's West Coast offices are particularly active in this area, with approximately 40 IP litigators in the firm's Los Angeles and San Francisco offices.

For more information regarding the CLAY Awards, please visit: www.callawyer.com.

Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world's largest full-service law firms, with more than 1800 lawyers practicing in 16 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Every year since 2003, Sidley has been named to Legal Business' Global Elite, its designation for the 18 firms "that define the pinnacle of the legal profession." BTI, a Boston-based consulting and research firm, has named Sidley to their Client Service Hall of Fame as one of only two law firms to rank in the Client Service Top 10 for seven years in a row, and to the BTI Power Elite as one of only seven law firms demonstrating the best client relationships for the fourth consecutive year.

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