Lawrence C. Drucker, Partner

Lawrence Drucker is an intellectual property and commercial litigator whose practice focuses on patent, copyright, trademark, unfair competition and other business disputes.

Larry has more than 30 years of trial experience in federal district courts throughout the United States. He has represented patent owners and those accused of infringement in the most active district courts in the nation including those in Texas, Delaware, California, Illinois, Georgia and Florida. He has successfully handled dozens of high-stakes patent litigations and resolved disputes involving a wide variety of technologies including automotive, semiconductor, LED lighting and displays, smartphones, microphone arrays, medical devices, electronic ratings systems, consumer electronics, copy protection and anti-piracy technology, radio frequency identification systems, robotics, internet commerce, data transmission, optical systems and manufacturing processes for consumer goods. Larry has also represented clients in investigations before the International Trade Commission, both enforcing patents and defending accusations of patent infringement. He is also experienced at both challenging and defending patents subject to inter partes and post-grant review before the US Patent Office.

Larry is also an experienced commercial litigator who has represented clients in a wide variety of cases involving breach of contract, fraud, antitrust, bankruptcy, trusts and estates, and other business disputes. He has tried numerous jury and non-jury cases in the federal and state courts of New York and has argued appeals in the Appellate Division, First Department.

Larry has handled a large number of cases that have been financed by litigation funders and is experienced at guiding clients through the litigation funding process. He is particularly experienced in the management and monetization of IP portfolios. He also frequently represents litigation funders as outside diligence counsel and is often recommended by them to represent claimants in litigation.

In addition to his litigation experience, Larry routinely acts as a legal counselor and advisor in the negotiation and drafting of patent, trademark and copyright license agreements, joint venture and funding agreements and other business contracts.

Practice Areas

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Commercial Litigation
• Copyright and Anti-Piracy Litigation
• International Judgment Enforcement and Asset Recovery
• Litigation Funding and Alternative Fee Arrangements
• Patent Litigation
• Professional and Business Ethics

Notable Work Experience

• Successfully defended Puma against allegations that it had infringed 10 of Nike’s patents covering several types of athletic shoe technology.
• Obtained a jury verdict of non-infringement on behalf of a manufacturer of robotic systems accused of infringing two patents by McKesson, the nation’s largest hospital supplier.
• Obtained judgment that an adversary’s patent relating to RFID microchipping of pets was unenforceable due to inequitable conduct in a case tried to verdict in the Eastern District of Texas.
• Brought an action on behalf of TV and radio ratings giant Nielsen that stopped a nationally syndicated radio host from tampering with Nielsen’s survey.
• Successfully defended Nielsen Audio against claims by several states Attorneys General that its newly introduced ratings system unfairly discriminated against minority-owned broadcasters.
• Represented Nielsen in numerous copyright infringement and breach of contract actions, preventing the unauthorized use of its audience estimates.
• Obtained a consent injunction for his client in a patent case involving audio encoding and decoding technology in which the opponent agreed to stop practicing the asserted patents and conceded validity and enforceability in a case in the Eastern District of Texas.
• Obtained a multimillion-dollar jury verdict for an independent film production company against a large entertainment and publishing company in a case tried in the Southern District of New York.
• Represented a US-based LED display panel manufacturer in an ITC investigation against more than 20 foreign manufacturers to prevent the importation and sale of infringing products.
• Represented a developer of software and apps that allow for remote location tracking and location sharing on mobile devices in patent infringement actions against smartphone manufacturers in the Eastern District of Texas.
• Obtained judgment of non-Infringement in a patent case tried to verdict concerning television remote control devices against one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers.
• Obtained dismissal of all claims against the nation’s largest chain of amusement parks, accused of infringing patents covering the design of a state-of-the-art roller coaster.
• Represented a prominent non-profit organization in an action that stopped a rival start-up organization from infringing its trademarks and misappropriating its trade secrets.
• Defeated a preliminary injunction sought by one of the country’s largest mobile phone companies in a trademark and unfair competition case.

Credentials

Education

• Columbia Law School (J.D., 1988); Member of the Columbia/VLA Journal of Law & the Arts
• Queens College of the City University of New York (B.A., Economics and Political Science; Summa Cum Laude, 1985)

Bar Admissions

• New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

Community Leadership and Public Service

• Greenpoint Shul board of directors
• Founder and board member of NOLO Historic Block Association
• Brooklyn Community Board 1 participant
• North Brooklyn Neighbors (member of Environmental Justice working group)