Husch Blackwell Sanders Welsh & Katz Adds Two Litigators to Intellectual Property Group
CHICAGO – Husch Blackwell Sanders Welsh & Katz announced today that Daniel R. Cherry and Thomas L. Gemmell have joined the firm as Partners in the Intellectual Property practice area. Cherry and Gemmell are experienced litigators of patent infringement and other complex intellectual property cases. Mr. Cherry most recently was a Partner in the Chicago office of Duane Morris and Mr. Gemmell was a Partner with the Chicago office of Bell, Boyd & Lloyd.
"Handling complex patent litigation is a key component of our national practice," states A. Sidney Katz, National Chair of Husch Blackwell Sanders' Intellectual Property practice and Managing Partner of the Chicago office. "To add trial counsel the caliber of Dan and Tom enables us to continue to meet the needs of our clients in this vital area," he explains.
Both Cherry and Gemmell have previous ties to Husch Blackwell Sanders Welsh & Katz. Mr. Cherry was a partner at Welsh & Katz from 1987-2007, while Mr. Gemmell was an associate and then a partner at Welsh & Katz from 1998 to 2005.
While at Welsh & Katz, Mr. Cherry was involved in several successful patent litigations, including Minebea Co. v. Papst Licensing, 444 F.Supp.2d 68 (D.D.C. 2006), a successful defense against a $500 million claim of patent misuse involving computer hard-disk drives. Other successful patent cases have involved truck transmissions, computer modems, hay balers, ribbon cassettes, jet engine parts and digital noise reducers. In the last few years, Mr. Cherry has been heavily involved in helping generic pharmaceutical companies in patent litigation pursuant to the Hatch-Waxman Act.
Mr. Cherry earned his J.D., with honors, from Harvard Law School and holds a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is admitted to practice in Illinois and Ohio and before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Mr. Gemmell focuses his practice in patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and commercial litigation. As a former fighter pilot and combat veteran, Mr. Gemmell handles complex intellectual property and commercial matters involving aerospace and weapon system technologies. He also has litigated intellectual property cases involving in-flight entertainment systems, automotive airbag covers, oil exploration software, power tools and other products. He has extensive experience in a variety of commercial contexts as well, including mass tort class action relating to iodine-131 release, products liability related to a brake-shift interlock device and other matters. His clients include major aerospace and defense corporations, the world's largest automotive OEM, North America's leading upstream energy producer, the world's leading manufacturer of mirrors and float and fabricated glass, medical product manufacturers, toy manufacturers and other companies.
He earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his B.A. from the University of Colorado. He is admitted to practice in Illinois and before the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.