Practice Expertise

  • Intellectual Property Litigation
  • Life Sciences / Health Care
  • Biotechnology
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution

Areas of Practice

  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Biotechnology
  • Intellectual Property Litigation
  • Life Sciences / Health Care
  • Litigation
  • Patent Litigation
  • View More

Profile

Barbara Mullin is a Partner in the firm's Litigation department, with a focus on patent litigation. Ms. Mullin has over 25 years of experience litigating patent infringement disputes. She regularly tries patent cases in federal courts and before arbitration panels and has argued before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Her cases have involved diverse fields such as recombinant antibody technology, medical devices and methods, small molecule pharmaceuticals, semiconductor wafer processing, and water guns. In addition to representing clients in litigation and arbitration proceedings, Ms. Mullin also counsels innovator pharmaceutical and medical device clients on strategic patenting and licensing and freedom to operate issues, as well as Orange Book Listings, Paragraph IV certifications, and other ANDA-related matters. In November 2021, Ms. Mullin was selected as The American Lawyer’s ‘Litigator of the Week’ for securing a significant trial victory for a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company. Ms. Mullin is also listed as a “Litigation Star” for New York by Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC’s Benchmark Litigation 2024 Guide.

Representative Experience:

  • Obtained a significant trial victory for a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company in a Hatch-Waxman patent litigation where patent validity was at issue. After a multi-week bench trial by Zoom, the District Court of New Jersey issued an order rejecting all of the defendant’s allegations of invalidity. At stake was nearly 10 years of patent protection for a blockbuster medicine with over $1.5 billion in annual sales in the United States. 
  • Served as one of the principal attorneys representing a biotechnology company and private university in a patent trial charging a competitor's product with infringement. The jury returned a verdict that Ms. Mullin’s clients’ patent was willfully infringed and not invalid, and awarded damages of $1.67 billion. 
  • Successfully defended an American toy manufacturer in a patent infringement suit alleging infringement of two patents for leading water guns.
  • Served as one of the principal attorneys in a Northern District of California jury trial, successfully representing a large computer-chip manufacturing equipment company asserting its process and apparatus patents. The case settled favorably after trial, including awards for past damages and ongoing royalties.
  • Obtained a preliminary injunction followed by a favorable decision at trial and an award of attorneys’ fees on behalf of the plaintiff, a leading diagnostic systems manufacturer. 
  • Served as one of the principal attorneys in obtaining favorable arbitration ruling on the merits and an award of attorneys’ fees and costs on behalf of a leading diagnostic systems manufacture.

    Bar Admissions

    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
    • U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
    • Pennsylvania (only admitted in Pennsylvania)

    Education

    • Villanova University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1991)
    • University of Pennsylvania (B.S., cum laude, 1985)

    Areas of Practice

    • Alternative Dispute Resolution
    • Biotechnology
    • Intellectual Property Litigation
    • Life Sciences / Health Care
    • Litigation
    • Patent Litigation

    Blogs

    Antitrust Update

    Antitrust Update Blog is a source of insights, information and analysis on criminal and civil antitrust and competition-related issues. Patterson Belknap’s antitrust lawyers represent clients in antitrust litigation and counseling matters, including those related to pricing, marketing, distribution, franchising, and joint ventures and other strategic alliances. We have significant experience with government civil and criminal/cartel investigations, providing the unique perspectives of former...

    Data Security Law Blog

    DataSecurityLaw.com is the firm’s resource for the latest news, analysis, and thought leadership in the critical area of privacy and cybersecurity law. Patterson Belknap’s Privacy and Data Security practice provides public and private enterprises, their leadership teams and boards with comprehensive services in this critical area. Our team of experienced litigators, corporate advisors and former federal and state prosecutors advises on a broad range of privacy and data protection matters...

    Misbranded

    Misbranded is Patterson Belknap’s blog covering false advertising litigation—both consumer class actions and competitor suits—with a particular focus on FDA-regulated products (foods/beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and dietary supplements).

    New York Commercial Division Decisions

    The blog is a source for insights and developments related to practice in the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court. This blog reviews key developments in the Commercial Division, including important decisions handed down by the Commercial Division and appellate court decisions reviewing Commercial Division decisions. The blog also covers changes and proposed changes to Commercial Division rules and practice, including revisions to the rules since January 2015. The...

    NY Patent Decisions Blog

    NYPatentDecisionsBlog.com is a source for the latest patent decisions from the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. The blog is authored by Patterson Belknap’s Patent Litigation practice group, whose members are highly experienced trial attorneys with extensive technical knowledge. Many have advanced scientific degrees and industry experience in fields such as communications, electrical and electro-optical technology, semiconductor technology, metallurgical...

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