Eric M. Acker

Eric M. Acker
Senior Counsel

12531 High Bluff Drive

San Diego, CA 92130-2040

eacker@mofo.com

(858) 720-5109

BAR ADMISSIONS

California

CLERKSHIPS

Hon. D. Lowell Jensen, U.S. District Court, N.D. California

EDUCATION

University of California, Berkeley, B.S.

University of Michigan Law School, J.D.

Eric has tried more than 50 trials (including more than 47 jury trials) in courtrooms across the country and was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2018. His cases have involved a wide variety of technologies - including software, drug compositions, antibodies, medical devices, ultra-short pulse lasers, camera-based object recognition systems and atomic force microscopes – and significant stakes for clients.

For instance, in the high-profile SCO v. Novell case, following a three-week trial, the jury affirmed our client Novell’s ownership of the copyrights to the UNIX software code and rejected SCO’s claim for damages of $100 to $200 million. Eric received a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award for his defense of Novell. In the Chugai v. Alexion case involving recycling antibody technology, he helped secure a $775 million settlement for Chugai hours before jury selection and opening statements. He has recently tried intellectual property cases in district courts in seven different states.

Eric was named the Best Lawyers in America San Diego Litigation Patent Lawyer of the Year in 2014 and San Diego Litigation - Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year in 2018 and was named a “California Local Litigation Star” in the 2015-2018 and 2022 and 2023 issues of Benchmark Litigation.

Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Eric spent 10 years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Columbia and the Southern District of California.

Experience

Fate Therapeutics v. Shoreline Biosciences

(Southern District of California and San Diego Superior Court). Represented Shoreline – an early-stage cellular therapy company developing iPSC-derived natural killer cell therapies to treat cancer and autoimmune disease – against claims of patent infringement and related business torts. Prevailed on summary judgment with a ruling of non-infringement in the patent case and reached a favorable settlement after selecting a jury and hours before opening statements in the related state court action.



Chugai v. Alexion

(District of Delaware). Represented Chugai in patent litigation involving Chugai’s revolutionary antibody recycling technology. The team secured a $775 million settlement for Chugai hours before jury selection and opening statements at trial.

MicroPort v. Medacta

(Middle District of Tennessee). Represented MicroPort, a worldwide manufacturer of orthopedic implants, in a five patent action against a competitor that was inducing infringement of MicroPort’s patented minimally-invasive hip surgery procedures. Case settled favorably for MicroPort short of trial.

Park Assist v. San Diego Airport

(Southern District of California). Represented the San Diego County Regional Airport in patent litigation involving camera-based parking guidance technology installed at the Airport. After two years of litigation, plaintiff dismissed all claims of infringement with prejudice.

Yardi Systems v. Entrata, Inc.

(Central District of California and District of Utah). Represented Entrata in six-year long trade secret, copyright and antitrust cases. We reached a favorable settlement for Entrata after a jury was selected and just hours before opening statements at trial.

Lawrence Livermore National Security v. Alcon

(Central District of California). Represented Alcon in patent litigation regarding Alcon’s femtosecond lasers used for LASIK and cataract surgery. Prevailed on summary judgement that the three asserted patents were not infringed by the accused Alcon lasers.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Sandoz Inc.

(District of Nevada). Represented the manufacturer of a generic injectable oncology drug in Hatch-Waxman litigation. After a five-day trial, the district court found clear and convincing evidence of obviousness and invalidated the asserted claims.

Allergan v. Sandoz

(Eastern District of Texas). Represented the manufacturer of a generic version of the glaucoma treatment Lumigan.01 in a week-long trial under the Hatch-Waxman Act.

Takeda v. Impax

(Northern District of California). Represented the manufacturer of a generic version of the acid reflux disease treatment Prevacid in a week-long trial under the Hatch-Waxman Act.

Nikon Metrology v. Faro Technologies

(District of Massachusetts). Represented Nikon Metrology in a two-week jury trial in a patent case involving laser line scanner and articulated arm metrology solutions.

Hospira v. Sandoz

(District of New Jersey). Represented the manufacturer of a generic version of the ICU sedative Precedex in a trial under the Hatch-Waxman Act. After an eight-day trial, the court invalidated a method of use patent covering the use of the compound for ICU sedation.

Teva v. Sandoz

(Southern District of New York). Successfully represented the manufacturer of a generic version of Copaxone in a three-week trial under the Hatch-Waxman Act. On appeal, the Federal Circuit invalidated the patent with the longest remaining term, allowing the client to launch its generic product more than one year earlier than expected.

Fractus v. Kyocera

(Eastern District of Texas). Reached a favorable settlement on behalf of Kyocera (minutes before opening statements in a jury trial), after Kyocera was accused of infringement by a Spanish internal cell phone antenna developer.

SCO v. Novell

(District of Utah). Prevailed in three-week jury trial when a jury determined that Novell owned the copyrights to the UNIX computer operating system. In an earlier trial, won multimillion-dollar award for Novell based on its right to royalty payments from UNIX software licenses granted by SCO.

Maxwell Technologies, Inc. v. NessCap Co., Ltd.

(Southern District of California). Won preliminary injunction motion and favorable settlement when Maxwell asserted its ultracapacitor patent portfolio against NessCap, a Korean competitor.

Veeco Instruments, Inc. v. Asylum Research Corp.

(Central District of California). Successfully represented Veeco in a patent infringement action involving atomic force microscope technology. The matter settled on the eve of trial with a cross-license in which Asylum admitted the validity of Veeco’s patents and agreed to an upfront fee and continuing royalty payments.

McKesson v. Bridge Medical, Inc.

(Eastern District of California). Successfully defended Bridge Medical in a patent action involving the use of barcode technology in bedside patient identification and verification systems. Following trial, the court found the asserted patent unenforceable based on inequitable conduct during its prosecution.

Nichols Institute Diagnostics, Inc. v. Scantibodies Clinical Laboratory, Inc.

(Southern District of California). Defended Scantibodies, a San Diego-based manufacturer of diagnostic parathyroid hormone assays, through trial in a patent infringement action brought by Nichols Institute Diagnostics. Following a two-week bench trial and three-week jury trial, the patent was invalidated on three grounds (best mode, enablement, and written description), and one of the Scantibodies products was found not to infringe. On appeal following the district court's ruling on post-trial motions, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the asserted patent is invalid.

Pharmingen v. Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., et al.

(San Diego Superior Court). Defended Fujisawa in trade secret litigation involving the licensing of clones from Japanese developers for the production of antibodies to be used as research tools.

Wellstat Therapeutics Corp. v. The Regents of the University of California

(San Diego Superior Court). Favorably settled patent, licensing and trade secret litigation against The Regents of the University of California, involving the use of a uridine prodrug to treat various metabolic disorders. The matter settled on the eve of trial with no payment made by The Regents.

Oakley v. Target Corporation

(Southern District of California). Achieved favorable pre-trial settlement on behalf of Target in defense of allegations of infringement of Oakley's design patent for sports sunglasses.

Caliper Technologies Corp. v. Aclara Biosciences

(Northern District of California). Represented a biotechnology company in state and federal actions in California related to microfluidic technology. The matter was settled prior to trial.

Rankings

Leading Litigator: Intellectual Property

Lawdragon Top 500 2022, 2024

California Litigation Star

Benchmark Litigation 2015-2021, 2023-2025

Named Patent Lawyer of the Year: San Diego Litigation

Best Lawyers in America 2014

Inducted into

American College of Trial Lawyers 2018

Named Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year: San Diego Litigation

Best Lawyers in America 2018

Named among

Best Lawyers in America 2009–2024