Jeffrey Karr

Cooley advised ViaCyte, a biotechnology company focused on delivering novel stem cell-derived cell replacement therapies as a functional cure for Type 1 diabetes (T1D), on its definitive agreement to be acquired by global biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals for $320 million in cash. Partners Rowook Park and Carlos Ramirez, along with associate Lindsey O’Crump, led the Cooley team advising ViaCyte.

Cooley achieved a significant victory for longtime client Qualcomm when US District Judge Paul G. Byron of the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted the firm’s motion for summary judgment in a contested patent infringement lawsuit, ParkerVision v. Qualcomm. Lawyers Stephen Smith, Matthew Brigham, Eamonn Gardner, Dena Chen, Jeffrey Karr, Priya Viswanath and Benjamin Lin led the Cooley team advising Qualcomm. Brigham and Gardner argued the motion for summary judgment, with assistance from the larger team.

Cooley secured an arbitration win for Javo Beverage Company in a contractual dispute against its former co-founder Stephen Corey involving theft of Javo’s intellectual property. The arbitrator, retired Judge Jay C. Gandhi, issued an interim arbitration award on July 6, following a five-day remote hearing that involved live testimony from 10 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits. Partners Steve Strauss, Jeffrey Karr and Erin Trenda led the Cooley team representing Javo.

When F. Hoffmann-La Roche sought to strip Gilead of its rights to a blockbuster drug, Gilead turned to Cooley. At stake were Gilead's exclusive rights to sofosbuvir (Sovaldi), approved by the FDA in 2013 as a breakthrough drug for the treatment of hepatitis C. Within the first six months of going to market, Sovaldi earned nearly $6 billion in sales, making it one of the most successful drug launches in history.

Roche alleged exclusive rights based on an earlier collaboration agreement. Cooley presented this "bet the company" case before a panel of three arbitrators during a two-week arbitration hearing. In August 2014, the arbitration panel issued its award, ruling in favor of Gilead and finding that Roche failed to establish any of its contract or patent-based claims to sofosbuvir. This was a huge win for Gilead, with Sovaldi generating billions of dollars in revenue each year.

The Financial Times, The American Lawyer and its sister publications The Recorder and National Law Journal all profiled the victory when announcing Cooley as the winner of multiple litigation awards, including AmLaw's recent selection of the case as "Global Dispute of the Year: Commercial Arbitration."