Stuart V. C. Duncan Smith

Overview

Stuart Duncan Smith is an experienced civil litigator focusing his practice on contested matters involving intellectual property. He has significant experience in federal and state courts across the country, the US International Trade Commission, and the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Stuart’s experience encompasses all stages of complex litigation, such as developing creative litigation strategies, pursuing discovery in a cost-efficient and effective manner, challenging and defending patents in post-grant proceedings, and shepherding the case through trial and appeal.

Stuart’s litigation and post-grant experience includes a wide array of subject matters, including antibody drug discovery, graphical user interfaces, fiberoptic data transmission, internet communications, electronic medical records, pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, medical devices, and computer programming architectures.

Stuart is also active with the firm pro bono clients. For example, he regularly represents people seeking unemployment insurance benefits that were wrongfully withheld from them. Also, Stuart has for many years led the firm’s efforts to raise funding for civil legal aid organizations in Boston and across the state.

While in law school, Stuart was the Managing Editor of the Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law. Before law school, Stuart managed a research laboratory at Brown University that focused on developmental cell signaling pathways. He was also a professional photographer and photography teacher.

Experience

Litigation

• Represented Dyax Corporation in a patent royalty and contract dispute pending in the US District Court for the District of Delaware relating to antibody phage display technology.
• Represented Fiduciary Trust Company in a corporate name dispute before the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Massachusetts Superior Court.
• Represented Acacia Communications, Inc. in a dispute regarding fiberoptic data transmission before the US District Court for the Southern District of California, California Superior Court, and the Massachusetts Superior Court.
• Represented Smith & Nephew before the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in a twelve-patent litigation concerning orthopedic medical devices.
• Represented athenahealth, Inc. before the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts in a patent litigation involving medical records software.
• Represented Sony before the US International Trade Commission in multiple patent litigations involving magnetic tape media.
• Represented Sony before the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts in patent litigation involving game controllers.
• Represented Sony before the US District Court for the Central District of California in patent litigation involving data transmission technologies and consumer electronic devices.
• Represented Sony before the US International Trade Commission in patent litigation involving telecommunications technology.

Post-Grant Proceedings

• Represented Snap Inc. in a petition for Inter Partes Review before the US Patent Trial & Appeal Board regarding user interface design and data filtering.
• Represented the University of Florida Research Foundation Inc. in numerous petitions for Inter Partes Review before the US Patent Trial & Appeal Board, asserting state sovereign immunity.
• Represented the Regents of the University of Minnesota in numerous petitions for Inter Partes Review before the US Patent Trial & Appeal Board, asserting state sovereign immunity.
• Represented Smith & Nephew in numerous petitions for Inter Partes Review before the US Patent Trial & Appeal Board concerning orthopedic medical devices.
• Represented BTG International Inc. defending against a petition for Inter Partes Review before the US Patent Trial & Appeal Board regarding antivenom.
• Represented RPX Corp. in a petition for Inter Partes Review before the US Patent Trial & Appeal Board regarding computer programming architectures.

Pro Bono and Volunteering

• Represented numerous unemployment insurance claimants seeking wrongfully denied benefits.
• Leads the firm’s efforts to raise funding for civil legal aid organizations in Boston and across the state
• Led team of attorneys teaching civics and moot court to public middle school students.

Recognition

Stuart has been repeatedly named to the list of Massachusetts Rising Stars by Super Lawyers and to the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch list by The Best Lawyers in America®.

Stuart received his JD cum laude from Boston University School of Law, and he completed the Intellectual Property Law Concentration with honors. While in law school, Stuart was an Edward F. Hennessey Distinguished Scholar and a Paul J. Liacos Scholar.