William Baker is a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation Group. An experienced trial lawyer, Mr. Baker has handled a wide variety of intellectual property and commercial disputes and has first-chaired more than two dozen trials. He also maintains an active international arbitration and mediation practice and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.
Mr. Baker has litigated cases across numerous disciplines, with a particular emphasis on Internet and computer technology. These matters have included disputes relating to wireless technology, computer chip technology, software operating systems, encryption technology, point-of-sale systems, Internet mapping services, various aspects of website functionality and medical devices. Mr. Baker also specializes in representing multiple defendants in cases brought by patent trolls and has represented clients in federal district courts in many states, including Texas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, Illinois, Florida and New York.
Mr. Baker is currently an adjunct professor of law at Cardozo Law School, where he teaches a course on international dispute resolution. He is a past chair of the International Litigation Committee of the Litigation Section of the ABA and has been an officer of the North American Users’ Council of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA).
IP Experience
- Currently representing a Fortune 500 company in a suit relating to wireless technology and thin clients.
- Currently representing four Fortune 500 companies in a suit relating to Ethernet technology.
- Currently representing six Fortune 500 companies in a suit relating to website functionality.
- Currently representing numerous companies in a suit relating to Internet mapping services.
- Secured a favorable settlement for a Fortune 10 company in a dispute relating to the Linux operating system software.
- Previously defended and obtained favorable settlements on behalf of 45 separate retailers, including many in the Fortune 500, in a patent infringement action in the Northern District of Georgia involving point-of-sale technology.
- Secured summary judgment for a Fortune 100 company in a suit alleging infringement of a patent relating to the sale of gift cards.
- Secured a favorable settlement for a Fortune 100 company in a suit relating to website encryption technology.
- Secured a favorable arbitration award for an individual inventor against a Fortune 500 company that rejected the respondent’s claims of non-infringement and awarded substantial damages to the claimant.
- Obtained favorable settlement on behalf of a major national automotive parts retailer in defense of a claim alleging infringement, among other things, of a patent relating to electronic parts catalogues.
- Obtained an injunction on behalf of a Fortune 500 company establishing infringement of its mark identifying one of its variable annuity funds.
- Obtained an injunction on behalf of a major Hollywood studio enforcing one of its famous trademarks.
- Successfully defended numerous retailers in various copyright infringement cases.
- Obtained a favorable settlement of a trade secret claim brought by a major manufacturer of men’s suits against an internationally known designer of men’s fashions.
International Experience
- Represented a major New York bank in a suit against a leading Greek bank over rights to a multimillion-dollar payment transmitted from the Middle East.
- Represented a large Dutch manufacturer of candies in a dispute with its American distributor in California.
- Represented a major American oil company in a dispute over rights to acquire a French corporation.
- Represented a Russian entrepreneur in a commercial dispute with a leading French bank.
- Represented a British aerospace company in a contractual dispute with an American company.
- Represented a French aerospace company in a dispute with an American company.
- Served as arbitrator in disputes relating to infringement of pharmaceutical patents, licensing of biotech patents, infringement of biological patents, software contracts in Russia, oil drilling in Ecuador, the termination of distributor arrangements in France, agricultural shipments from Africa, electronics shipments from Taiwan and construction disputes in Canada, among others.
- Serves on several class action arbitration panels. On the arbitration advisory committees of AAA, ICDR, USCIB and CPR and listed as a recommended arbitrator by the AAA, ICDR, ICC, LCIA, WIPO and CPR.
- Served numerous times as a mediator in both IP and non-IP matters. On a list of 25 mediators recommended by the IPO to its membership for use in mediating IP disputes. Also on the rosters of recommended mediators of WIPO, CPR, ICC and others. Participated in “Mock Mediation of an IP Case” at IPO and AIPLA meetings.
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One hundred and forty-seven Alston & Bird attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. The publication is universally regarded as among the few definitive guides to legal excellence, and its rankings are based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 36,000 leading attorneys cast almost 4.4 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas.
September 18, 2012
In the Press
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September 12, 2011
In the Press
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August 30, 2010
In the Press
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Book Chapter on “Class Action Arbitration,” in International Arbitration in New York, published by Oxford University Press (2010).
2010
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"Arbitrating IP Disputes," Convergence (A publication of the International Property section of the International Bar Association), Spring 2009.
Spring 2009
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"Responding to Multiple-Defendant Patent Assertions: Techniques for Combating Patent Claims that have Industry-wide Applicability," IP Litigator, July/August 2004.
July/August 2004
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"The Lemelson Patent: A Retrospective," Intellectual Property and Technology Law Journal, July 14, 2004.
July 14, 2004
- American Bar Association
- International Bar Association
- New York State Bar Association