Lester Savit

Lester Savit is a partner at One LLP and a leading intellectual property attorney with more than three decades of experience working with technology companies to protect and develop inventions, patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and good will.  His clients include leading biotech and pharma companies (Abbott Laboratories, Affymetrix, Celgene, Johnson & Johnson, Merz Pharma) and companies in the medical device, polymer, specialty chemical, semiconductor, electronics, and other industries.  He was the founding partner of the Intellectual Property Practice of Jones Day in Irvine, California.

Whenever possible, Lester works with clients to resolve challenges and commercial disputes effectively without litigation.  He is an experienced negotiator in addition to being a seasoned arbitrator and mediator. He works with the American Arbitration Association in commerical disputes and serves on the National Panel of Patent Arbitrators.

Lester also aggressively represents clients in federal court litigation.   He led a series of 10 patent infringement actions brought on behalf of a major biotech company against generic drug manufacturers with such success that these cases were favorably settled.  Lester also advised a European company prior to its entry into the U.S. market, led a long-term patent enforcement program for another client, and obtained judgments totaling more than $90 million for three others. Savit is the only attorney in the country to have obtained a default judgment against a patent infringer as a sanction for discovery abuses.

As a business-minded expert in biotechnology law, he serves as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University School of Law, where he teaches “Law & Biotechnology.” Lester also is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at the University of California, Irvine Paul Merage School of Business. The Board serves as the Merage School’s primary advisory body responsible for providing perspective and counsel for academic and professional programs and includes top management from companies throughout Southern California. Savit also serves as chair of the Merage School Corporate Partners Program Executive Steering Committee.

Lester served as a board member of the Federal Bar Association, Orange County Chapter for several years, a member of the Phoenix Society of the University of Chicago and is often invited to speak on intellectual property and litigation topics such as the patentability of human genetic sequences, electronic discovery, arbitration/mediation and intellectual property crimes.

Speaking Engagements

• April 4, 2012 –  Lester Savit spoke to over thirty members of the Oregon State Bar, Intellectual Property Law Section, at the Ace Hotel in Portland about Patent Monetization.
• February 17, 2012 – One LLP partner Lester J. Savit addressed 35 faculty members, post-docs, and graduate students at the University of California, Irvine’s Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center.  Mr. Savit’s hour-long lecture was entitled, “Stem Cell Research:  Federal Funding and Intellectual Property Issues.”  The event was part of a course designed for the stem cell research community as well as scientists and students throughout the campus with an interest in this nascent technology.  Invitations were distributed to various departments including MBA students at The Paul Merage School of Business and JD degree candidates at UCI’s Law School.  Mr. Savit serves on the Merage School’s Dean’s Advisory Board and as chair of the Executive Committee of its Corporate Partner Program.  In addition, he is an adjunct law professor at Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California, where he has taught “Law and Biotechnology” since 2004.
• January 17, 2012 – Lester Savit was a guest on The Docket with Evan Simon, a radio program that explores legal topics.
• October 13, 2011 -Expert panelist for “Muscular Arbitration: Trimming the Fat out of Arbitration” co-sponsored by American Arbitration Association and University of California, Irvine Law School
• September 22, 2011 – Featured guest on “The Docket” (KUCI 88.9 FM and internet simulcast) speaking on United States v. Wesley DeSoto and fair use copyright issues and the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act
• January 22, 2010 – Bend or Break: Tailoring the Patent System to Promote Innovation, panel moderator Irvine, California
• November 19, 2009 – Interview with Professor Dan Burk of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, regarding patentability of computer software, “The Docket” ( KUCI 88.9 FM and internet simulcast)
• August 12, 2007 – Who Owns Your Genes? panel with Michael Crichton, author and medical doctor, and Lori Andrews, Director of the Science and Technology Institute of Law in Illinois, ABA National Meeting San Francisco, California
• November 13, 2006 – Patent Strategies for Medical Devices – The 3rd Annual UCI Medical Device Conference Irvine, California
• April 4, 2006 – Panel Discussion With District Court Judge Schira A. Scheindlin, Author of the Zubulake Opinions, at ACC-SoCal Doubleheader Los Angeles, California
• May 19, 2005 – Electronic Discovery in the Federal Courts, panel moderator, Federal Bar Association, Orange County Chapter Santa Ana, California
• January 20, 2005 – Stem Cell Research: California Economic Boom or Federal Criminal Bust, Intellectual Property Lecture Series, Whittier Law School Costa Mesa, California
• October 20, 2004 – Intellectual Property Crimes: What You Need to Know to Prevent Them and Stay Out of Trouble Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, California
• February 19, 2003 – E-Discovery, ACCA Lecture Series Torrence, California
• July 11, 2002 – Protecting Biotech Inventions, Summer IP Institute, Whittier Law School Costa Mesa, California
• October 9, 2001 – E-Discovery: What you need to know and do NOW to avoid costly surprises, Orange County Bar Association, In-House Counsel Section Orange County, California

Selected Cases (Including 25-year career at Jones Day)

• Celgene licenses patents to Teva for marketing generic version of Focalin capsules and tablets
• Celgene files patent suit against KV Pharmaceuticals over generic version of Focalin XR®Molex obtains $1.8 million judgment in patent suit involving electrical connectors
• Independent director successfully defends shareholder derivative action
• DIRECTV successfully defends against claims of patent infringement involving DVRs
• Celgene files patent infringement suit against Barr Labs over generic version of ADHD drug Focalin XR®
• Celgene files patent infringement charges against Actavis and Abrika over generic versions of ADHD drug Focalin XR®
• Celgene lodges patent infringement charges against Barr Labs over generic version of Ritalin LA®
• Celgene pursues patent infringement litigation against KV Pharmaceutical concerning Ritalin LA®
• Celgene pursues patent infringement litigation against Teva concerning Focalin XR®
• Celgene pursues patent infringement litigation against Abrika concerning Ritalin LA®
• Simmons defends against patent and trademark infringement charges brought by rival Serta
• Cardiac Science settles favorably in patent infringement action concerning automatic electronic defibrillator technology
• Dense-Pac Microsystems pursues patent infringement action relating to microchip stacking technology
• Motorola and Freescale resolve patent infringement suit brought by Analog Devices involving microchip fabrication
• Celgene files patent infringement suit against generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals over ADHD drugs
• astman Kodak summary judgment win in patent infringement action involving lenticular products is affirmed by Federal Circuit
• Abbott seeks infringement charges against Geneva concerning HYTRIN® antihypertensive drug patent
• Marconi wins $9 million judgment for infringement of patents on inkjet technology
• DePuy Spine wins $52 MM in patent infringement suit over spinal implant devices
• Johnson & Johnson company defends against patent infringement allegations for spinal implant technology
• Abbott wins summary judgment in patent infringement action to prevent FDA approval of generic version of Depakote®
• Eastman Kodak prevails in action against Goodyear for infringement of patent relating to PET manufacturing process
• Scotts Company defends against patent infringement charges involving controlled release fertilizers

Memberships

• Board Member, HD-CARE 2015-Present
• Board Member, Howard T. Markey Intellectual Property Inn of Court, 2015-Present
• President, Laguna North Neighborhood Organization, 2013-Present
• Adjunct Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law, 2004-Present
• Panel Mediator, United States District Court, Central District of California, 2007-Present
• Arbitrator, American Arbitration Association (Commercial Dispute Roster), 2006-Present
• Executive Committee, Corporate Partners, The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine, 2009-Present

Articles

• Restrictions on the Use of Copyrighted Computer Software and Music CDs: The Ninth Circuit Clarifies the Law in a Trilogy of Decisions
• Successful Biosimilars Patent Litigation Strategy is Foreshadowed in Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• Interview with United States District Judge James V. Selna
• Interview with United States District Court Judge Andrew Guilford
• Interview with United States District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney