Sarah Chapin Columbia is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is head of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group. Her practice focuses on intellectual property litigation including patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret matters. She also counsels clients on overall intellectual property strategy and positioning, including litigation avoidance. She also has extensive experience in representing clients in private arbitration proceedings under the rules and procedures of the International Chamber of Commerce, Swiss Chamber of Commerce, World Intellectual Property Organization, American Arbitration Association and other organizations.
Sarah has appeared in several state, federal district and appellate courts. She represents clients across several industries including semiconductor, biotechnology, internet, hardware and software, medical device and manufacturing companies.
Sarah is active in her local community. She is an officer on the board of Family Service of Greater Boston, a member of the Boston Athenaeum, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium and has previously served on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Charlestown. She also participates in the Wesleyan University Alumni Association and Alumni Schools Committee.
She is the author of “Irreparable Harm and Injunctions,” 2007 Leadership Forum, PricewaterhouseCoopers, February 2007 and the co-author of “Beware Patent Trolls,” Risk Management Magazine, April 2006.
Sarah has been highly recognized as a leader in her field by Chambers USA and Benchmark Litigation. Sarah earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, her MPP from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and her B.A. in economics from Wesleyan University. She is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Boston Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Federal Circuit, First Circuit, Second Circuit, Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Representative Experience
Patent Litigation
- Represented Ciba Vision Corporation in patent infringement litigation involving contact lenses. Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. v. Ciba Vision Corporation, MD Florida
- Represented Akamai Technologies, Inc. in patent infringement litigation involving live streaming content over the internet. Two-Way Media LLC v. Akamai Technologies, Inc., SD Texas
- Represented Lycos, Inc. in patent infringement litigation involving recommendation software. Lycos, Inc. v. Blockbuster, et al., D Massachusetts
- Represented Infineon N.A. and Infineon A.G. in patent infringement litigation involving wireless LAN technology. Wi-LAN, Inc. v. Westerll, et al., ED Texas
- Represented defendants (now known as GE Water) in patent infringement action involving electrodeionization technology. US Filter v. Glegg Water Conditioning, D Massachusetts
- Represented Teradyne Diagnostics and Teradyne, Inc. in patent litigation involving diesel engine diagnostic test equipment. Teradyne Diagnostic Solutions, Ltd. v. Mission Valley Ford Truck Sales, Inc., ED Michigan; Mission Valley Ford Truck Sales, Inc. v. Teradyne, Inc., ND California
- Represented Furukawa Electric North America and its subsidiary, OFS-Fitel, in patent infringement litigation involving optical fiber products and methods for manufacturing them. Furukawa Electric North America, Inc. v. Yangtze Fibre & Cable Company, Ltd., D Massachusetts
- Represented plaintiff in patent infringement litigation involving systems for laser marking silicon wafers. GSI Lumonics Corp. v. Rofin-Baasel, Inc. and Carl Baasel Lasertechnik GmbH & Co KG, ED Michigan
- Represented plaintiff in patent litigation involving process for ultra violet grafting on non-woven polymer films. Crane & Co. v. Holingsworth & Vose Corp., D Massachusetts
- Represented Akamai in two separate patent litigations involving internet content delivery and traffic management technology. Akamai Technologies, Inc. v. Speedera Networks, Inc., D Massachusetts and Akamai Technologies, Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc., D Massachusetts
- Represented Voice Signal in three separate patent litigations involving speech recognition and mobile communications technology. ScanSoft, Inc. v. Voice Signal Technologies, Inc., D Massachusetts; Nuance Technologies, Inc. v. Voice Signal Technologies, Inc., D Massachusetts; Voice Signal Technologies, Inc. v. Nuance Technologies, Inc., WD Pennsylvania
- Represented defendants in patent infringement litigation involving switching mechanisms for power converters. VLT v. Lucent Technologies, Inc. and Tyco Electronics Power Systems, Inc., D Massachusetts
- Represented defendant in patent infringement litigation involving embroidering methods. Chien-Lu-Lin v. Twins Enterprises, CD California
- Represented Innovasive Devices, Inc. in two patent infringement actions involving orthopedic medical devices. Arthrex, Inc. v. Innovasive Devices, Inc., MD Florida; Bionx, Inc. v. Innovasive Devices, Inc., D Massachusetts
Arbitration
- Represented MicroTouch in action for breach of distribution agreement involving computer touch screens. MicroTouch, Inc. v. Nissha, International Chamber of Commerce arbitration proceeding, London, England
- Represented respondent in arbitration under Share Purchase Agreement. Nitto Boseki Co. Ltd. v. Diego Scari, International Chamber of Commerce proceeding, Milan, Italy
- Represented claimant in action for breach of acquisition agreement an d fraud against sellers of WED. Aseco Corp. v. WED, International Chamber of Commerce arbitration proceeding, London, England
- Represented defendant in arbitration proceeding involving dispute over royalties due to selling shareholders for sales of software incorporating plaintiffs data storage and movement technology. The Shareholders of Dovetail Software v. Ascential Software, American Arbitration Association proceeding, Boston, Massachusetts
- Represented respondent in arbitration under License Agreement. Balazs v. Pharmacia AB, American Arbitration Association proceeding, Boston, Massachusetts
Other Litigation
- Represented declaratory judgment plaintiff in trademark infringement litigation involving wine labeling. JuiceBox Wine Company LLC v. Constellation Wines U.S., Inc., D Massachusetts
- Represented defendant in purported class action alleging failure of insulated glass window units. Wasco Products Inc. v. Southwall Technologies Inc., ND California
- Represented Southwall in District Court and on appeal in action involving insulated glass technology. Four Seasons Solar Products, Inc. v. Southwall Technologies Inc., SDNY
- Represented defendants in theft of trade secrets and breach of non-competition dispute. Cambridge Technology Partners v. Gen3 Partners, Middlesex Superior Court (Massachusetts)
- Represented law firm Lyon & Lyon in multi-district action involving multiple defendants in civil RICO class action case. In re: American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Dealerships Relations Litigation, D Maryland
Education
- Harvard Law School, J.D. (magna cum laude), 1987
- John F. Kennedy School of Government, MPP, 1987
- Wesleyan University, B.A., 1982
