Introduction
Darren is a Shareholder in the firm’s Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation, and Intellectual Property groups. He is a trial lawyer with significant experience in patent litigation which includes successful jury verdicts of patent infringement and patent invalidity. Darren also has substantial appellate experience with cases that span a variety of technologies from pharmaceutical drugs to medical devices to concrete retaining wall products.
Education
- Harvard Law School, J.D., 1995
- Boston College, B.A., Political Science and Communications, 1992, summa cum laude
Bar Admissions
- United States District Court, Colorado, 1998
- Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 1996
- United States District Court, Minnesota, 1996
- Supreme Court of the State of Minnesota, 1995
- Northern District of Illinois, 2005
Practice Areas
Representative Experience
Trial Experience
Allan Block Corp. v. E. Dillon & Co., 509 F.Supp. 2d. 795 (D. Minn. 2007) (successful jury verdict for breach of contract and patent infringement).
Allan Block Corp. v. County Materials Corp., 2007 WL 3547368 (WD WI 2007) (successful jury verdict for breach of contract).
Rottlund Co., Inc. v. Pinnacle Corp. & Town & County Homes of MN, 2005 WL 2105549 (D. Minn. 2005) (successful jury verdict of no-liability for alleged copyright infringement).
Display Solutions v. Daktronics, Inc., 178 F.R.D. 626 (N.D. Ga. 1997) (successful jury verdict of patent invalidity).
LaserMaster Corp. v. Sentinel Imaging, Civ. File. No. 3-95-981 (D. Minn. 1997) (successful jury verdict for patent infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets and $2.1 million damages).
Appellate Experience
County Materials Corp. v. Allan Block Corp., 128 S.Ct. 1709 (2007) (successful opposition to petition for certiorari).
General Elec. Co. v. Fonar Corp., 522 U.S. 908 (1997) (successful opposition to petition for certiorari).
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Imation Corp. v. Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., --- F.3d ----, 2009 WL 3582310 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (reversed judgment as a matter of law based upon construction of contract).
Allan Block Corp. v. E. Dillon & Co., 287 Fed.Appx. 109, 2008 WL 3822564 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (affirmed jury verdict).
Scanner Technologies Corp. v. ICOS Vision Systems Corp. N.V., 528 F.3d 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (reversed finding of inequitable conduct).
Allan Block Corp. v. E. Dillon & Co., 170 Fed.Appx. 130 (Fed. Cir. 2006) (affirmed preliminary injunction).
LaserMaster v. Sentinel Imaging, 215 F.3d 1340 (Fed. Cir. 1999) (dismissed after oral argument).
Display Solutions v. Daktronics Inc., 185 F.3d 882 (Fed. Cir. 1999) (affirmed).
Fonar Corporation v. General Elec. Co., 107 F.3d 1543 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (affirmed $65 million jury verdict and reversed and reinstated additional jury verdict of $38 million).
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Allan Block Corp. v. County Materials Corp., 512 F.3d 912 (7th Cir. 2008) (affirmed jury verdict and remanded for additional damages).
County Materials Corp. v. Allan Block Corp., 502 F.3d 730 (7th Cir. 2007) (affirmed summary judgment of non-compete validity).
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Rottlund Co. v. Pinnacle Corp., 452 F.3d 726 (8th Cir. 2006) (reversed jury verdict based upon expert testimony).
Selected Publications & Presentations
- Speaker, Fredrikson & Byron’s eDiscovery Summit, December 6, 2007
- “Interrogatories” in Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook, 2000 (co-authored with Ronald Schutz)
- “Keeping the Knowledge Edge: Using Patents to Gain Competitive Advantage,” Minnesota Business, September 2000 (co-authored with Ronald Schutz)
Professional Activities
- American Bar Association (ABA), Intellectual Property Law Section
Honors & Distinctions
- Named a Rising Star, Minnesota Law & Politics magazine, 2009
Community Involvement
- Conciliation Court Judge in