When Adrian Mary Pruetz was in law school at Marquette University, she wasn’t thinking about representing clients in cases dealing with cow hormones. She wasn’t thinking about the number of stripes on Nike warm-up pants or diagnosing HIV.
But in her 12-year career at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP, one of L.A.’s pre-eminent law firms specializing in intellectual property, she’s been on the frontlines of multi-million dollar cases involving all of those subjects.
“What’s so engaging about IP is that you get to explore new things in every case,” Pruetz said. “It’s not just about law. You’re usually learning new science or new technology. It’s a great way to combine two things that you love.”
She recently represented Monsanto Co., which had been sued by the University of California in a patent dispute over a growth hormone used to increase milk production in cows. Monsanto agreed to pay UC $100 million and to make royalty payments on future sales. In return, the suit was dropped and the company was granted an exclusive license to manufacture the product. The amount the firm agreed to pay was far less than the $600 million the university had sought.
Pruetz said that while personally she was disappointed not to argue the case in court (the hearing was to begin the day after the settlement was reached), she was more than satisfied.
“The client is very happy about it,” Pruetz said. “We as lawyers are always disappointed when we can’t go to trial, but whatever is in the client’s best interest is in our best interest.”
The fact that Monsanto admitted no liability and was able to close the book on the dispute was important as well, Pruetz said. “Businesses like certainty rather than uncertainty and there was a range within which they were willing to pay.”
Quinn Emanuel didn’t become a major player in IP law overnight, and Pruetz is one of the main reasons it has.
Quinn Emanuel partner A. William Urquhart and firm founder John Quinn had decided in 1991 that their company needed to expand beyond real estate, its specialty, into a different area.
“What we were tying to do was peer into a crystal ball and predict what were going to be the hot practice areas,” Urquhart said. “The decision was for intellectual property.”
Quinn and Urquhart interviewed dozens of candidates over two years before they found their star.
Quinn had encountered Pruetz, who was head of intellectual property at Morrison & Foerster LLP, as opposing counsel in several trials and was impressed. When five partners in her firm left, Pruetz started looking herself.
Urquhart remembers the call from a headhunter and how he and Quinn wasted little time.
“We got the call on a Thursday and had a breakfast meeting Friday at the Pacific Dining Car,” Urquhart said. “We made our decision in five minutes and she made hers in less than a day. It’s been wonderful for our firm and wonderful for her.”
She brought two associates to jumpstart the practice, Steven M. Anderson and Susan L. Wines, both of whom have risen to partner at the firm.
Pruetz is currently representing Roche Diagnostics Corp. in a patent infringement suit brought by Stanford University over Amplicor, an HIV diagnostic kit that measures the viral load.
She is also involved in a number of non-biotech-related cases, including a defense of Nike Inc. in a trial scheduled for April in which Adidas-Salomon AG claims that Nike’s use of two vertical stripes on warm-up pants infringes on its patented three-stripe design.
Pruetz has focused on IP since she graduated in 1982, and although biotech is a specialty, she’s led the firm in major cases outside of that realm. Quinn Emanuel represented Napster Inc. in several cases, for example.
“They’re a bunch of bulldogs,” Napster in-house counsel Bill Growney said with a smile, “and they’re the kind of firm that likes being called that.”
Frederick Lorig, a recent addition to the IP department focuses will focus on tech and mechanics. He’s currently in trial on a case involving “smart batteries” and laptop computers.
Urquhart said the scope of future patent cases is difficult for him to comprehend.
“Looking ahead it’s almost mind-boggling,” he said. “I’ve read for example that there are more drugs in Phase 3 testing than have been approved in the history of the FDA. You read about the gene mapping. You don’t know what the change is going to be, but it’s going to be explosive and it’s going to create opportunities for law firms.”
*Honor Roll for Biotech
Robert C. Weiss
Partner, Intellectual Property
Jones Day
Clients:
Davis Intermedics and Primary Surgical, Mag Instrument Inc., Rapiscan Security Products, Simpson Race Products, Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co.
Good to Know:
Specializes in mechanical equipment, medical devices, biotech and computer circuitry. He’s litigated cases on auto-racing helmets, implantable heart devices, flashlights and baggage scanners.
Wayne Barsky
Partner, Intellectual Property
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Clients:
Serono International SA, Ethicon Inc.
Good to Know:
He’s represented Columbia University in litigation against Amgen Inc. and Immunex Corp. on life science patents that have brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties for the university in the past decade.
Mike K. Lindsey
Partner, Corporate
Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP
