Tenaris Sanctioned Over Fish Richardson Attorney’s PTO Strategy

A Fish & Richardson PC attorney violated a protective order in a patent-infringement lawsuit by helping a separate legal team obtain two related patents at the US Patent and Trademark Office while the lawsuit was ongoing, a Texas federal judge ordered Sunday.

Jayme Partridge, a Fish & Richardson principal defending Tenaris Coiled Tubes LLC in the district court, violated a four-year-old protective order that prevented attorneys in the case from being involved in other patent matters related to steel tubing, Judge Dena Hanovice Palermo of the Southern District of Texas ordered. She awarded sanctions in the form of attorneys fees ...