Wes Overson is the head of the 160-attorney Litigation Department in Morrison & Foerster's San Francisco office. His practice focuses on patent litigation and other commercial litigation involving complex issues. His clients include international pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations, for which he has crafted winning strategies for both the courtroom and arbitration proceedings.
Among his notable recent representations:
Mr. Overson and a MoFo team achieved a complete defense victory for Bayer in a patent case brought by Abbott Laboratories. Bayer won at trial on invalidity and inequitable conduct. This "rare instance" of winning an inequitable conduct defense resulted in the case being listed in San Francisco Daily Journal's Top Defense Wins of 2008. The Federal Circuit affirmed the invalidity ruling, but then remanded the inequitable conduct case after establishing new higher standards of proof. On remand in 2012, Bayer won again in the district court under the higher standard for inequitable conduct.
He represented a Silicon Valley client who had purchased a wireless technology company after being misled regarding its technology rights. The arbitrator granted rescission of the purchase contract and awarded attorney’s fees.
Mr. Overson defended a trade secret and licensing claim where the claimant was seeking more than $30 million. Our client counterclaimed and ultimately obtained a net damages award in its favor, along with significant injunctive relief. The successful counterclaim strategy led to a settlement netting our client more than $50 million.
Mr. Overson scored a complete victory for a multinational corporation in the medical field, which was accused of infringing a number of its competitor's patents. In addition to the direct product competition at the heart of the dispute, the potential damages were well into the nine-figure range. After a two-week hearing, our client prevailed on either non-infringement or invalidity on every patent.
Mr. Overson successfully defended a medical laser company facing patent and trade secret allegations in a three-month jury trial in Silicon Valley.
He represented Chiron Corp. in an arbitration asserting its patent on a diagnostic test for HIV. The case settled after closing arguments, with Chiron receiving payments of more than $100 million.
In Enriquez v. Fresno, in December 2012, Mr. Overson and a MoFo team obtained a jury verdict on behalf of the family of a man shot and killed by the police. The family later received a seven-figure settlement.
In Alvarez v. Fountainhead, Mr. Overson obtained the first preliminary injunction under the Americans with Disabilities Act ordering a preschool to train its staff to accommodate a boy with asthma.