Anders Aannestad blends scientific training and extensive patent litigation and intellectual property ("IP") counseling experience to provide comprehensive insights into complex IP issues facing his life sciences clients. His expertise is applied in all phases of IP litigation, from case management and discovery to depositions and trials.
He has delivered case-winning results for his clients since the early days of his career, including trial court and federal circuit rulings, and decisions positioning his clients for attractive settlements. As an example, he was part of the team that represented the Regents of the University of California against Monsanto, in a case that concluded on the eve of trial in a licensing agreement worth more than $200 million in royalty payments. He also had a lead role representing General Atomics in a 2008 patent case against Norwegian-based Axis-Shield. In that case, his technical and legal skills, combined with his fluency in Norwegian, put him at a distinct advantage in key depositions, resulting in the grant of summary judgment of noninfringement by the Northern District of California and affirmance by the federal circuit. Axis-Shield is now a Morrison & Foerster client. His ability to obtain case-dispositive facts and put them to effective use is a hallmark of his practice.
Mr. Aannestad received the Outstanding Senior Award from the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Arizona. He was also a member of the Order of the Coif at the University of Arizona College of Law. Mr. Aannestad is a registered patent attorney.