Niall MacLeod

Intellectual Property • Patent Litigation • Inter Partes Review

Niall has litigated complex patent cases throughout the United States and in the U.S. Patent Office, including cases involving combustion engines, snowmobile design, medical devices, including interventional cardiology technologies and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), internet-based tracking systems, crossbows, e-commerce, computer hardware and software technologies, and telecommunications systems.

Niall has extensive experience in all aspects of complex technical cases from initial investigation to strategy to complex discovery to winning at trial. He has successfully argued summary judgment motions and patent claim constructions, deposed numerous technical expert witnesses, inventors, engineers, and company executives, and closed out cases with winning arguments at trial. Niall has also successfully argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the court where all patent appeals go).

Experience

• Trial counsel for archery and crossbow manufacturer in several patent cases against industry competitors.
• Trial counsel for GE MDS in the District of Delaware. The patent technology in the case related to cellular systems involving error rate dependent controls.
• Appellate counsel arguing for Arctic Cat (a Textron subsidiary) in Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. et al. v. Arctic Cat Inc. et al., 785 Fed.Appx. 858 (Fed. Cir. 2019). Bombardier appealed from a jury verdict in favor of Arctic Cat. On appeal, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the jury verdict and post-trial rulings in Arctic Cat’s favor that Bombardier’s patents were invalid on multiple grounds.
• Inter Partes Review ( IPR) counsel for an eCommerce company in multiple IPR proceedings filed by a competitor related to mobile payment systems.
• Trial counsel for Arctic Cat in Bombardier Recreational Products v. Arctic Cat (D. Minnesota) . Bombardier alleged that numerous model years of Arctic Cat’s snowmobiles infringed two different Bombardier patents. After a three week trial, the jury returned a verdict in Arctic Cat’s favor finding that both Bombardier patents were invalid on multiple grounds.
• Trial counsel for Arctic Cat in Arctic Cat v. Bombardier Recreational Products (S.D. Florida). A jury found that Bombardier willfully infringed two Arctic Cat patents related to controlled-thrust steering technology for personal watercraft.
• Trial counsel for a publicly traded Canadian medical device manufacturer accused by a competitor of trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, and breach of contract. The technology in the case involved fiber optic sensors and measurement of coronary fractional flow reserve (FFR).
• Trial counsel for defendant J&S Fabrication in patent and trademark case obtaining summary judgment of patent non-infringement and invalidity, and also on trademark infringement claims.
• Represented a major power sports manufacturer in litigation instituted in the International Trade Commission against a foreign competitor in a case involving engine-control technology.
• Trial counsel for a defendant in multi-defendant suit Clear With Computers v. Astec et al. in Eastern District of Texas. The plaintiff Clear With Computers agreed to dismiss case against Niall’s client prior to claim construction.
• Trial counsel for Fortune 500 medical device manufacturer in patent infringement case relating to magnetic resonance imaging technologies.
• Trial counsel in TVI v. Microsoft (N.D. Cal.). TVI is the owner of several patents covering the “autoplay” feature of Windows. TVI sued Microsoft in the Northern District of California alleging that all versions of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95 infringed these patents. The case settled a little more than one week before trial. Microsoft took a license under the patents.
• Trial counsel for Fortune 500 medical device manufacturer in patent infringement cases relating to coronary catheters and stents, and ventricular and atrial defibrillators/cardioverters.

 Education

• J.D., Syracuse University College of Law, magna cum laude; Syracuse Law Review
• B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Arizona

Admissions

• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

• All Minnesota State Courts