Duane Morris LLP - Michael R. Gottfried, Partner

Michael R. Gottfried

Michael R. Gottfried
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
100 High Street, Suite 2400
Boston, MA 02110-1724
USA
Phone: +1 857 488 4212
Fax: +1 857 401 3030
Email: MRGottfried@duanemorris.com

Michael R. Gottfried is the managing partner of Duane Morris' Boston office and a member of the firm's national governing Partners Board. Mr. Gottfried is an active trial lawyer with nearly 30 years of experience handling cases in state and federal courts and before arbitration panels. He has argued appeals in the United States Courts of Appeal for the Federal, First and Third Circuits and in the appellate courts of Massachusetts and Maine.

He regularly tries trade secret disputes, unfair and deceptive trade practice cases brought under M. G. L. c. 93A, patent, trademark and copyright infringement matters and licensing disputes. Mr. Gottfried has litigated more than 25 cases involving noncompetition agreements, many of which were successfully resolved in their earliest stages after preliminary injunction hearings. He defends class actions and represents clients in contract and business tort disputes, including minority shareholder and director and officer cases. His experience also includes multiple cases for health care providers and vendors in a variety of contexts ranging from DOJ and FTC matters to payer disputes.

In 2009, 2010 and 2011, Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business included Mr. Gottfried in its listing of leading IP lawyers in Massachusetts. He has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the field of commercial litigation in Boston Magazine in 2004-2012.

Admitted to practice in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, he is a member of the Boston Bar Association and The District of Columbia Bar. Mr. Gottfried is a 1983 graduate of The National Law Center of The George Washington University with honors and a magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University.

Areas of Practice

Commercial Litigation
Intellectual Property Litigation

Representative Matters

Banking and Class Action Defense - Counsel to a regional bank in multiple matters including defense of a class action and lender-liability claims and enforcement of loan agreements and recovery of collateral.
Class Action Defense - Represented a federally chartered savings bank and obtained a dismissal of claims in a putative class action in federal court in Boston when the court agreed that the state law purporting to limit the amount of insurance a bank can require is preempted by the Federal Homeowners Loan Act.
Class Action Defense - Represented a national manufacturer of cleaning equipment in the settlement and approval by the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts of a TCPA class action.
Copyright Litigation - Obtained on behalf of Brooks-Cole, a college textbook publisher, a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts that its use of a written psychological test borrowed from another publication was a "fair use."
Environmental Litigation - Lead trial and appellate counsel that represented Louis Guyott, the seller of a $100 million business, against a $20 million indemnification claim brought by the buyer, Bardon-Trimount, for the cleanup of a Massachusetts Superfund site. At the case's conclusion, obtained a defense verdict and an award of $3.9 million in fees and costs after a 10-day trial in the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court. Judgment was affirmed by the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
Health Care Arbitration - Obtained a multimillion-dollar settlement for a network of healthcare providers during arbitration with third-party payor in dispute over claims.
Licensing and Bankruptcy Litigation - As lead trial counsel, obtained an order from the Delaware bankruptcy court sustaining Multimodal Technologies' objection to the assignment and assumption of its license to Nuance Communications, a direct competitor. The order was issued after an evidentiary hearing.
Licensing Litigation and ADR - Lead counsel at mediation for Fortune 250 biotech company in patent-license dispute with a research institution which was resolved after mediation.
Minority Shareholder Litigation - Lead trial counsel in a minority shareholder in a closely held corporation in a breach of fiduciary duty/excessive compensation claim, obtaining a seven-figure judgment.
Minority Shareholder Litigation - Lead appellate counsel for a minority shareholder in a closely held corporation in a breach of fiduciary duty/excessive compensation appeal affirming a seven-figure judgment.
Patent and Employment Litigation - Represented an inventor on his claim of inventorship and wrongful termination, obtaining a lucrative settlement package for client after litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Patent Litigation - Represented Amgen Inc. at trial against rival F. Hoffmann-La Roche in its patent infringement battle over the anemia drug Epogen. Obtained a permanent injunction for Amgen that was upheld on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Real Estate and M. G. L. c. 93A Litigation - Represented a seller of a commercial property on claims of fraud and breach of the unfair and deceptive trade practice suit in Massachusetts through summary judgment and appeal.
Theft of Trade Secret and Trade Dress Litigation - Counsel to a Florida-based restaurant chain in resolving suit for trade-dress infringement and theft of trade secrets in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida without making any changes to its trade dress.
Trade Secret and Patent Litigation - Represented a manufacturer of turn-key multilayer injection molding equipment in a series of patent infringement and theft of trade secrets cases litigated in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, obtaining a settlement the client found favorable after mediation.
Trade Secret Litigation - Counsel to a national entertainment company in trying and sustaining an appeal claim of theft of trade secrets and obtaining attorneys' fees pursuant to the Massachusetts Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practice Statute.
Trade Secret Litigation - As lead trial counsel, represented an independent packaging company in obtaining injunctive relief in connection with the theft of confidential and proprietary information by former employees after a two-week evidentiary hearing.
Trade Secret Litigation - Led the Duane Morris team which, on the eve of trial, obtained a $65 million plus settlement on behalf of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. Tekmira had sued Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. and AlCana Technologies, Inc. in the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court alleging that Alnylam and AlCana had violated M. G. L. c. 93A and misappropriated Tekmira's trade secrets related to gene-silencing therapeutics. In addition to the payments, the settlement also assigns control to Tekmira over its leading systemic RNAi Therapeutics delivery technology, and brings clarity around the ownership of the intellectual property that protects its lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology. Mr. Gottfried also represented Tekmira in a patent infringement case Alnylam brought in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, which was dismissed as part of the settlement.

Professional Activities

Boston Bar Association
Massachusetts Bar Association
International Trademark Association
- Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee
-- Education and Information Subcommittee, 2002-2003

Admissions

District of Columbia
Massachusetts
Supreme Court of the United States
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Education

George Washington University Law School, J.D., with honors, 1983

Experience

Duane Morris LLP
-Managing Partner, Boston Office 2012-present
-Partner, 1999-present
Burns & Levinson LLP, Boston, Massachusetts
- Partner, 1990-1999
-- Chairman, Business Litigation Department
- Associate, 1985-1990
Thompson, Hine and Flory, Washington, D.C.
- Associate, 1983-1985

Civic and Charitable Activities

Mock Trial Advisor Phillips Academy-Andover, 2008-2011
Cub Master, Pack 89, Boy Scouts of America, North Andover, MA, 1994-2000

Honors and Awards

Listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2009, 2010 and 2011
Named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the field of commercial litigation by Boston magazine, 2004-2012
Listed in Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition for Business Litigation, 2009 and 2010
AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

AV® Preeminent™ and BV® Distinguished™ are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies.