Peter Curtin, J.D. | Partner

Email: pete_curtin@archlakelaw.com

Phone: 312-558-1369

Fax: 312-614-1873

Education and Honors

Georgetown University Law Center, Washington,D.C.,

J.D.,magna cum laude,

Order of the Coif; Dean’s List.

University of Cincinnati,

Cincinnati, OH.,

B.A., summa cum laude,

Phi Beta Kappa; Dean’s List.

Bar and Court Admissions

District of Columbia

Illinois

U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth and Federal Circuits

U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Colorado, District of Columbia, Maryland, N.D. Illinois, E.D. Texas, and E.D. Wisc.

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association

American Immigration Law Association

American Intellectual Property Law Association

D.C. Bar Association

Illinois Bar Association

Certifications

Northwestern Univ. – Mediation Skills Training
Certificate of Completion

Peter Curtin is an experienced litigator and trial lawyer who has appeared in federal trial courts across the country in civil and criminal cases for more than thirty years. He has repeatedly proven his ability to:

develop strategies, claims, and defenses to meet client’s legal and practical goals;
analyze and understand complex facts, law, and technology; and
communicate effectively with stakeholders, judges, and juries.

Peter has represented plaintiffs and defendants in hundreds of complex civil cases from pre-filing investigation through trial and appeal. He has served his clients as lead counsel and trial counsel in civil and criminal cases.

Peter has litigated and tried patent infringement cases involving many different technologies, including handheld “smart” jump starters; digital voice mail; digital high-frequency battery chargers; LED flashlights; electronic micro-balances; secure mobile networking technology; software patents; telephony; earthquake-resistant building design and technology; manufacturing processes; pharmaceuticals (small molecule active ingredients, molecular synthesis, polymorphs, drug formulations and methods of use); chemistry; medical devices; nutraceuticals; nutritional supplements; and various business methods. He has also represented clients in arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association and in IPR proceedings before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Peter has significant experience litigating trademark infringement, Lanham Act false advertising, state deceptive trade practices, unfair competition, and other complex civil cases in federal and state courts. He has represented clients in matters before administrative agencies including the Federal Trade Commission, the Food & Drug Administration, and the Patent & Trademark Office; in the Amazon.com dispute resolution process; and before self-regulating bodies such as the National Advertising Division (NAD).

Peter’s litigation and trial experience includes appearances in nearly two dozen federal trial courts from California to the District of Columbia, from the Southern District of New York to the Southern District of Florida, and from the Eastern District of Texas to the Eastern District of Wisconsin. His appellate experience includes appearances before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, and Federal Circuits, and several appearances on amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Peter began his legal career as an officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Army, where he served as a command legal advisor and military prosecutor with the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina and prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases in that district.

Work Experience

Arch & Lake LLP, Chicago, IL
Rakoczy Molino Mazzochi Siwik LLP, Chicago, IL
Venable LLP, Washington, DC
U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps

Representative Experience and Technologies

Inter Partes Review

Peter Curtin has represented petitioners in Inter Partes Review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenging patents in technologies including handheld “smart” jump starters, pharmaceuticals, and electronics.

Electronics/Computer-Related Patent Litigation

Lead counsel for a leading manufacturer of automotive-related power products and several distributors accused of infringing patents covering lithium battery-powered handheld “smart” jump starters in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. Led the litigation team in the U.S. cases filed in the Northern District of Ohio and helped coordinate international defense strategy in parallel with a successful petition for Inter Partes Review and a product redesign. The IPR ultimately invalidated 22 of 23 challenged patent claims.

Lead trial counsel for a consumer electronics/tool manufacturer accused of infringing a patent covering LED flashlight technology in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. After a bench trial, the court declared the asserted patent unenforceable and awarded the defendants their attorney fees and costs.

Lead trial counsel for plaintiff in the District of Delaware in a case involving systems and methods for preparing and processing tax returns using automatic downloads of tax information. The case settled on the eve of trial.

Represented distributors of high-frequency digital battery chargers against patent infringement charges brought in the Eastern District of Texas by a non-practicing entity. Negotiated an early settlement for far less than the cost of discovery.

Represented plaintiffs and defendants in other patent infringement cases involving high-frequency digital battery chargers, software for transforming and exchanging data between heterogeneous computer systems, secure mobile networking technology, digital voice-mail technology, and telephony filed in courts including the Eastern District of Texas, the Northern District of Illinois, and the Southern District of California.

Pharmaceutical Patent Litigation

Represented a generic pharmaceutical company in the District of New Jersey challenging multiple patents protecting NEURONTIN® (gabapentin). The court declared the asserted patents invalid.

Represented a generic pharmaceutical company in the District of New Jersey challenging multiple patents protecting CLARITIN® (loratadine). The court declared the key patent claim invalid, which was upheld on appeal.

Represented generic pharmaceutical companies accused of patent infringement in various courts including the U.S. District Courts for the District of Delaware, the Eastern District of Texas, the District of Maryland, the District of New Jersey and the Southern District of New York in cases involving patents directed to drug products including RESTASIS®, ATRIPLA®, VIREAD®, TRUVADA®, APRISO®, and SPRYCEL®.

Other Representative Patent Litigation

Co-lead counsel for defendant in a breach of contract and patent infringement suit brought in the Eastern District of Virginia involving compositions and methods for manufacturing candies. Case settled very favorably shortly after the Markman hearing.

Lead counsel in the Eastern District of Texas for a coffee company accused of infringing patents on methods for processing and packaging freshly ground roasted coffee. After discovery and mandatory mediation, case settled for less than the cost of trial.

Lead counsel for defendants in breach of contract and patent Inventorship suit filed in the District of Nevada involving Inventorship of a patent on methods and a composition for treating HIV/AIDS. Case settled just before the final pretrial conference.

Represented various medical device manufacturers in patent infringement suits in courts including the U.S. District Courts for the District of Delaware, the District of New Jersey, the District of Minnesota, the Northern District of California, and the District of Utah involving patents directed to medical devices including cryosurgical devices, suture anchors, and devices to treat benign prostate hypertrophy using radiofrequency energy.

Representative Regulatory/Commercial Litigation

Lead counsel for defendant in lawsuit alleging trademark infringement, other Lanham Act violations, and design patent infringement in a case involving hydration backpacks pending in the Southern District of Texas.

Lead counsel for defendants in a Lanham Act unfair competition lawsuit pending in the Northern District of Ohio. Defeated plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction and motion for expedited discovery.

Represented a nutritional supplement company in civil contempt proceedings in the Southern District of Florida after the Federal Trade Commission accused it of violating the FTC Act and a prior consent decree. The court found no violation, which was upheld on appeal.

Lead counsel for plaintiff in trademark infringement suit in the District of Delaware involving marks for the provision of riverboat cruises and related services.

Represented clients including a marketer of weight loss products, a mortgage loan modification company, and a law partnership accused of false advertising in courts including the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois, the District of Maryland, and the Northern District of Ohio after the Federal Trade Commission had secured ex parte TROs and asset freezes.

Represented clients in Lanham Act unfair competition and false advertising cases involving “smart” high-frequency digital battery chargers, other consumer electronics and consumer goods, pancreatic enzyme supplements, and weight-loss products in courts including the U.S. District Courts for the District of Minnesota, District of New Jersey, the Northern District of Illinois, and the Southern District of New York.