Mr. Danis is a trial lawyer with twenty years of experience handling patent, trade secret, and other complex litigation matters. He represents clients in a variety of industries including software, hardware, consumer electronics, medical devices, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. Mr. Danis was resident in the firm’s Tokyo office from 2006 to 2010.
From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Danis served as a Managing Partner for Operations of Morrison & Foerster. Prior to that he was a founder of the firm’s San Diego office, where he served as Managing Partner from 1999 to 2003.
Mr. Danis is a member of the Executive Committee of the California State Bar’s International Law Section, and is a past Director of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and a former Vice President of the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program. He is an active member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and of the Northern California International Arbitration Club. He is a founding member of the Constitution Day Council, which supports annual classroom programs on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Mr. Danis clerked for Judge Lawrence W. Pierce of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he served as the senior articles editor of the Hastings Law Journal. Mr. Danis received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Between college and law school, Mr. Danis wrote financial software for Automatic Data Processing.
Representative Matters
Representative high-tech matters handled by Mr. Danis include the following:
- Marvell International Ltd. v. Link_A_Media Devices Corp. Represented Link_A_Media in patent infringement suit in the District of Delaware. Successfully obtained Federal Circuit writ directing transfer of the case to the Northern District of California, and the case settled.
- Applied Materials, Inc. v. Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment, Inc. Defended Shanghai-based Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment, Inc. in a California trade secret action involving semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The case settled shortly before trial on confidential terms.
- Trilogy Development Group v. Teknowledge. Defended Trilogy in a patent infringement action involving configuration software. Prior to the case settling, prevailed on a summary judgment motion of invalidity.
- VISX v. Nidec. Represented plaintiff VISX in patent infringement suits involving laser vision correction equipment and methods.
Mr. Danis also recently handled arbitrations before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution relating to semiconductor manufacturing equipment and smartphones.
Representative medical device, life science, and other intellectual property matters handled by Mr. Danis include the following:
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. v. GI Dynamics, Inc. Represent Gore in the District of Arizona as to patent, contract, and trade secret claims arising from a joint development project for a gastric sleeve.
- XenoPort, Inc. v. Glaxo Group Limited. Represent XenoPort in the Northern District of California and the District of Delaware in claim for breach of a commercially reasonable efforts clause as to launch and commercialization of drug.
- Coval v. Alpha Therapeutic Corporation. Trial counsel for Alpha Therapeutic in a patent infringement case involving a process for purifying intravenous gamma globulin. Obtained a favorable ruling interpreting the patent, and the case settled during trial.
- Enzon v. Yoshitomi Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. Arbitration counsel to Yoshitomi in a royalty dispute regarding future sales of recombinant albumin. Following a two-week arbitration, a favorable result was obtained on behalf of Yoshitomi.
- Aurora Biosciences, Inc. v. AntiCancer, Inc. Represented AntiCancer in a patent infringement case involving green fluorescent protein. The matter settled and the parties entered into a licensing agreement.
- Imagyn Medical Technologies, Inc. v. United States Surgical Corporation. Defended Imagyn in a patent infringement action involving laparoscopic surgical devices.
- In re POD-NERS LLC. Served as amicus counsel to The International Center for Tropical Research, which successfully sought re-examination of a patent directed to a bean varietal. The Federal Circuit affirmed the invalidity ruling of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences.
- Benesi v. CalEnergy. Lead counsel to CalEnergy in patent infringement action. Successfully defeated motion for preliminary injunction prior to the case settling.
- Watson v. H.J. Heinz Company.Lead counsel to H.J. Heinz in a trade secret and correction of patent inventorship action. Successfully moved to dismiss the action based upon plaintiff’s lack of standing, and the Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed.
Mr. Danis’s broad trial and appellate practice includes the following high-stakes constitutional and international matters:
- Brosterhous v. The State Bar of California. Lead trial counsel to the State Bar of California in a First Amendment challenge to expenditures on specific Bar programs and activities.
- McLane/Suneast, Inc. v. Board of Equalization. Lead trial counsel to McLane/Suneast, Inc. in a challenge to the interpretation and application of a voter-enacted surtax. The matter settled while on appeal.
- Barnes-Wallace v. City of San Diego. Counsel to San Diego families challenging the free lease of city property. Successfully obtained summary judgment invalidating the leases as violating the federal and state establishment clauses. The matter is currently on appeal.
- In Re Extradition of Kevin Artt. Trial and appellate counsel for the respondent in an international extradition case. Successfully argued for bail following client’s three-year confinement. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the grant of bail, and the request for extradition was withdrawn following trial and appeal on the merits.
- In the Matter of Zoe Dunning. Trial counsel to Naval officer tried under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Obtained trial verdict in favor of officer from a three-member Naval board.
Other trials handled by Mr. Danis include the following:
- Taylor v. Lockheed. Trial counsel to Lockheed in employment discrimination case. Obtained a successful jury verdict on all claims.
- Sentman v. Miles. Lead trial counsel for plaintiffs in housing dispute. Obtained jury verdict for clients and a full award of attorney’s fees.
Publications
- “Strategic Options with Foreign Witnesses in International Arbitration,” Association of Corporate Counsel QuickCounsel (May 23, 2012)
- “U.S. Litigation in 2011: The Landmark Decisions,” Commercial Dispute Resolution (Feb. 6, 2012)
- "Navigating Cross-Border Litigation, Practical Advice to Help Guide Your Next International Dispute to a Problem-Free Resolution," The Recorder (August 9, 2010)
- "World View: Report from Tokyo," San Diego Lawyer (March/April 2007)
- "Reducing the Pain of a Product Recall: The 'Fast Track' Program of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission," Morrison & Foerster Client Alert (2006)
Speaking Engagements
- "Representing Asian Litigants in the U.S. Courts – How to Handle the Clash of Cultures to Your Client's Benefit," National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, 2010 Annual Convention
- "Case Study: Lessons Learned from the Toyota Recalls," Seminar, Tokyo, Japan (2010)
- "Enforcing Patents Essential to Industry Standards: The Boundaries of FRAND Obligations," Promotion of Research on Intellectual Property Seminar, Tokyo, Japan (2008)
- "KSR International v. Teleflex: The U.S. Supreme Court Speaks," Seminar, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan (2007)
- "Establishing a Global Patent System – Opportunities, Challenges and Realities," Media Roundtable, Tokyo, Japan (2007)
- "Successful Strategies for Establishing and Maintaining Strong China Operations," Seminar, Tokyo, Japan (2007)
- "Global Antitrust Enforcement and Trends," Seminar (2007)
- "Life Cycle of an Arbitration," Seminar, Osaka, Japan (2006)