Charles Sanders, a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department, concentrates on intellectual property matters, with particular emphasis on patent litigation. Mr. Sanders has represented clients in intellectual property disputes throughout the United States and before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).
WORK FOR CLIENTS
Mr. Sanders represents clients in all aspects of intellectual property matters, including licensing, litigation, patent enforcement, pre-litigation assessments, strategic portfolio development and inter partes reexamination. With a background in chemistry and physics, he has represented clients in a diverse range of technologies, such as electromechanical devices, helicopters, hydrocyclones, LEDs, MRI software and equipment, medical devices, ophthalmic lenses, pharmaceuticals, phosphors, photochromic dyes, semiconductors, spectroscopy equipment, speaker systems, speech recognition and searching software, storage media, and wireless communication systems. Mr. Sanders has also handled antitrust, false advertising, trademark infringement, trade dress infringement and unfair competition claims.
Mr. Sanders has handled several patents at trials and Markman proceedings, obtained pre-trial settlements of over $25 million for plaintiffs, obtained ITC exclusion orders for complainants, obtained summary judgment for defendants, and successfully argued before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Mr. Sanders has also handled interrelated district court and ITC proceedings, and has represented parties on intellectual property matters before Customs. He has substantial appellate experience, including obtaining a 12-1 decision in favor of R.E. Service Co., Inc. in Johnson & Johnston Associates, Inc. v. R.E. Service Co., Inc., 285 F.3d 1046 (Fed Cir. 2002) (en banc), and, in recent years, successfully obtaining reversal on “a question of first impression” in Morrow v. Microsoft Corp., 499 F.3d 1332 (Fed. Cir. 2007), successfully obtaining reversal in Osram GmbH v. ITC, 505 F.3d 1351 (Fed. Cir. 2007) and successfully obtaining affirmance in Citizen Electronics Co. v. Osram GmbH, No. 06-1211 (Fed. Cir. 2007).
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Mr. Sanders is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, Boston Bar Association, Boston Intellectual Property American Inn of Court and the ITC Trial Lawyers Association.
MEDIA
Mr. Sanders has been invited to speak about ITC practice, including, most recently, at the ACI’s Expert Forum on ITC Litigation and Enforcement, at the Annual Meeting of the Rochester Intellectual Property Law Association, and for Intellectual Property Lawcast.
Mr. Sanders’ recent publications include “The ITC as an Indicator of China’s Potential for Innovation,” Intellectual Property Today (January 2012); “Will ITC Staffing Changes Make Future Section 337 Litigation More Like Federal Court?,” IP Advisor (April 2011); “Options for Enforcement of ITC Exclusion Orders,” World Intellectual Property Report (August 2010); “Getting the Remedy You Want from the ITC,” Intellectual Property Litigation (Summer 2009, co-author); “Kyocera Changes the Landscape for Relief in the International Trade Commission,” IP Advisor (May 2009, co-author); “Top 10 ITC Developments in 2008,” IP Law360 (2008); “A Sea Change in the Federal Circuit’s Perspective,” IP Law360 (2007, co-author); “In re Seagate Technology: Closing the Gate on Willful Infringement,” IP Alert (2007, co-author).
Mr. Sanders is the author of “At Issue: Local Telephone Competition (With ruling, a chance to implement act’s promise),” which appeared in the Boston Sunday Globe (2002). He has also authored articles in the National Law Journal (“‘Enzo’ Raises the Bar for Written Descriptions,” 2002, co-author) and the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (“A Step Toward Competition in Local Telephone Service: AT&T Corp. v. Iowa Utilities Board,” 12 Harv. J. L. & Tech. 647, 1999).
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Before joining Goodwin Procter, Mr. Sanders was an associate at Fish & Richardson P.C.
BAR AND COURT ADMISSIONS
Mr. Sanders is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and New York, and before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Ninth Circuit, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Colorado, Massachusetts, the Eastern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and the Northern and Southern Districts of New York.
RECOGNITION
Mr. Sanders has been recognized as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer “Rising Star” by Law & Politics and Boston magazine.