Stephen Holmes focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and international litigation, with an emphasis on patent litigation and technology-related disputes. He is a registered patent attorney licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and has more than fifteen years of experience litigating in the U.S., the U..K. and Europe, including significant trial experience and appellate practice.
Dr. Holmes was Assistant General Counsel, Litigation, at Affymetrix, Inc., a biotechnology company in Silicon Valley. Before working at Affymetrix, Dr. Holmes practiced intellectual property litigation and international litigation with leading law firms in Silicon Valley and London.
Dr. Holmes has cross-examined trial witnesses, successfully argued motions for summary judgment, presented complex technologies at Markman hearings and technology tutorials, and has extensive case management and deposition experience. He has also argued appeals in patent cases before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
In addition, Dr. Holmes has considerable experience with pre-litigation investigations, TRO and preliminary injunction procedures, arbitration and ADR proceedings, and multinational litigation. In the field of patent litigation, he has represented clients across a wide range of technologies including DNA arrays, hard disk drives, IP telephony and Java software. His trade secret representations include stock trading systems, Internet advertising and electricity trading software. He has also counseled on trademark, copyright and design, and antitrust matters. Additionally, he has experience with interferences and European Patent Office oppositions, settlements and IP licensing.
On a pro bono basis, Dr. Holmes has appeared in medical and social security appeal tribunal cases in the U.K. through the Free Representation Unit. He has also worked with the Silicon Valley Pro Bono Project in the Santa Clara Superior Court.
Representative Matters
- Affymetrix v. Illumina. Represented Affymetrix at trial in the District of Delaware, obtaining a jury verdict of infringement of five Affymetrix patents and a royalty rate of 15 percent, and represented Affymetrix in other related lawsuits in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany; the disputes subsequently settled for a $90 million payment to Affymetrix.
- Agilent Technologies v. Affymetrix. Defending Affymetrix in the Northern District of California and before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an appeal by Agilent from a decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences relating to DNA arrays and mixing technology.
- AMA et al. v. USPTO and Myriad Genetics. Representing various amici curiae in support of plaintiffs in a declaratory judgment patent action in the Southern District of New York concerning patents on gene sequences and correlations.
- Beckman Coulter & Orchid Cellmark v. Sequenom. Defended Sequenom in patent infringement litigation in the Southern District of California over three widely licensed patents relating to the use of “single base extension” methods for SNP genotyping. In the first litigation testing these patents, the plaintiffs agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice after the claim construction hearing. Sequenom was not required to take a license nor to pay any fees.
- Bender v. Seagate Technology et al. Representing Seagate Technology in a patent infringement action in the Northern District of California relating to electrical circuits and amplifiers.
- Chrimar Systems v. Cisco Systems. Defended Cisco Systems in patent litigation in the Eastern District of Michigan relating to IP telephony products alleged to infringe a patent directed to continuously monitoring computer equipment connected to a network. The case settled favorably for Cisco shortly after successful motions for summary judgment of non-infringement and invalidity.
- Digital Envoy v. Google. Represented Google in a trade-secret/breach of contract action in the Northern District of California concerning use of geo-location technology in Internet advertising. The plaintiff's claims were dismissed on summary judgment.
- Eastman Kodak v. Sun Microsystems. Represented Sun Microsystems in patent litigation in the Western District of New York concerning software patents asserted against Sun's Java software platform and products. The case settled favorably to Sun during trial.
- Eltoukhy v. Castagna. Represented plaintiff Eltoukhy in successfully obtaining a TRO and in subsequent litigation concerning a trade secret dispute relating to a stock trading system. The matter settled favorably following mediation.
- Enzo v. Affymetrix. Representing Affymetrix in a nine patent infringement case in the Southern District of New York relating to labeling of nucleic acids.
- LeapFrog Enterprises v. Fisher-Price and Mattel. Represented LeapFrog in a patent infringement case in the District of Delaware relating to electronic learning toys.
- Papst Licensing. v. Quantum Corporation. Defended Quantum and Maxtor Corporation in a multi-district patent action in which Quantum was accused of infringing 26 patents relating to hard disk drive motor technology.
- Sequenom v. Ibis Biosciences. Represented Sequenom in a patent infringement action in the District of Delaware relating to mass spectrometry analysis technology. The matter settled favorably for Sequenom.
Representative U.K. and European Matters
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AB Electrolux v. Dyson Appliances. Represented Electrolux in a trademark infringement/malicious falsehood dispute in the High Court (Chancery Division) concerning comparative advertising by two leading vacuum cleaner manufacturers. After a trial, the High Court ruled that Electrolux had established trademark infringement and the case settled shortly thereafter.
- Assidomain Multipack v. Mead Corp. Represented Assidomain Multipack in a patent action in the High Court (Patents Court) for a declaratory judgment relating to patents on carton technology.
- Callaway Golf v. Howson Sports. Represented Callaway Golf in a design right and passing off dispute in the High Court (Patents Court) relating to golf clubs.
- Grimme Landmaschinen Fabrik GmbH. v. Richard Pearson Ltd. Represented Grimme in separate patent infringement and breach of contract actions in the High Court (Patents Court and Queens Bench Division) relating to agricultural machinery. Both actions settled favorably for Grimme.
- North West Water v. British Gas. Defended British Gas in a patent infringement action in the High Court (Patents Court) relating to pipe swage lining technology.
- Optimum Solutions v. The National Grid Company and Others. Represented Optimum Solutions in an action for breach of confidence in the High Court (Chancery Division) concerning electricity monitoring and smart metering technology in the electricity industry.
- PCME v. Goyen Controls. Represented PCME in patent infringement proceedings in the High Court (Patents Court) and related European Patent Office Opposition proceedings relating to dust monitoring systems.
- PPG v. Pilkington. Represented glass manufacturer Pilkington in antitrust litigation and arbitration proceedings brought against Pilkington regarding trade secret licensing and float glass process technology, culminating in a favorable settlement for Pilkington.
- Process Developments v. Hogg. Represented plaintiff Process Developments in obtaining and executing an Anton Piller order and subsequent litigation relating to trade secret theft concerning high temperature plastics filtering technology, including successfully defending an appeal by the defendant.
- United Distillers and Vintners. Represented UDV in coordinating various passing off and trademark infringement actions around the world concerning a number of UDV wine and spirits brands.