P. Anthony Sammi, Global Co-Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Technology Industry Group and a former Global Vice Chair of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice, is a first-chair litigator who handles complex, high-profile intellectual property matters at the trial and appellate levels.

Mr. Sammi represents clients in high-stakes, ground-breaking intellectual property matters at both the trial and appellate level. His status as a go-to trial lawyer for some of the most high-profile tech clients in the industry is a testament to both his impressive track record and his effective and aggressive case strategies.

Mr. Sammi has received widespread recognition in the legal and mainstream press for his practice work. Among recognitions, he has won The American Lawyer Litigator of the Week multiple times and has been recognized as an “MVP – Trials” by Law360. He has garnered record-setting jury verdicts of US$500 million, as well as successfully defended against multimillion dollar damages claims (US$264 million) with zero-liability take-nothing verdicts. 

His cases have been reported on, and he has been quoted by, such outlets as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNBC, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, BBC News, USA Today, and The Hollywood Reporter. The National Law Journal named Mr. Sammi as one of its 2017 Winning Litigators and described his closing arguments in a jury trial as a “virtuoso performance.”

Drawing on his background in electrical engineering and physics, Mr. Sammi advises companies on a full spectrum of patent and intellectual property matters. He litigates disputes across a broad range of technologies, including those involving aerospace, medical devices, software algorithms, virtual-reality, first-person shooter and 3D gaming, petrochemical industry modeling software, source code, blood centrifuge devices, sporting equipment, and pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Sammi first-chairs jury trials in the US District Courts and frequently argues before appellate courts. He has also first-chaired trials before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

His practice includes counseling both US and multinational clients on evaluating, licensing, and protecting intellectual property portfolios.

Mr. Sammi currently serves as a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the New York Intellectual Property Law Association. He previously served as President and Director of the South Asian Bar Association of New York, and as Director of the National South Asian Bar Association.

Disputes

Mr. Sammi has represented:

  • Abbott Laboratories as co-lead counsel in an important jury trial victory related to a series of international patent suits against a major competitor in connection with glucose monitors for diabetes management. This marked Abbott’s first US trial win against the competitor
  • Universal Alloy Corporation as lead counsel in a trade secret misappropriation defense regarding aluminum alloy components for the aerospace industry with US$264 million in damages sought, resulting in a complete zero-liability jury trial win
  • Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Inc. and its subsidiaries in a global patent and copyright infringement dispute against Alcon over competing laser eye-surgery technology, resulting in a favorable resolution just days before trial
  • Lead counsel for a AAA video game publisher in a record-setting US$500 million jury verdict and permanent injunction in connection with claims of trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement of virtual reality technology*
  • Lead counsel for a leading private equity firm in a multi-billion dollar suit regarding trade secrets and confidential information
  • Walmart in a trade secret misappropriation litigation involving software algorithms and processes related to food transport and storage*
  • Caterpillar in IP counseling and patent litigation involving heavy equipment and on-board data storage and protection*
  • Dell in trade secret and contract litigation involving digital storage infrastructure*
  • Build A Rocket Boy, a leading videogame publisher founded by Grand Theft Auto creator Sir Leslie Benzies in matters involving litigation and IP counseling*
  • A leading financial institution in breach of contract litigation stemming from a patent litigation settlement resulting in entry of a judgment of US$69 million in favor of the plaintiff*
  • A leading auto-finance company before the USPTO’s PTAB on a Covered Business method patent petition regarding auto-financing technology for the patent owner*
  • A leading auto-finance company in a Fifth Circuit appeal of a successful jury verdict (above), resulting in the affirmance of all verdicts regarding IP claims*
  • One of the largest national archives of check images and electronic content for multi-bank infrastructure solutions in a patent infringement jury trial, which resulted in a final, non-appealable, take-nothing judgement in favor of the client*
  • A leading global software development firm in connection with defending against copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation claims*
  • A sports equipment manufacturer in defending against claims of patent infringement, resulting in judgments of non-infringement and patent claim invalidity due to obviousness*
  • A leading sports equipment manufacturer as defendant in an appeal of District Court post-trial judgment of invalidity and non-infringement; the District Court judgments were affirmed*
  • A world-leading satellite manufacturer in defending against claims of patent infringement involving complex satellite guidance, stability, and station-keeping circuitry and control systems*

M&A

Mr. Sammi has led the patent aspects of:

  • A multibillion-dollar acquisition of a social networking and VoIP service provider company*
  • A multibillion-dollar merger and settlement relating to mobile device manufacturers*

Counseling

Mr. Sammi has advised:

  • Xiaomi, the world’s third-largest smartphone manufacturer, on its global IP strategy*
  • HTC, a Taiwanese multinational smartphone and tablet manufacturer, on its global IP strategy*
  • The National Football League on patent and trade secret strategy*

*Matter handled prior to joining Latham 

Bar Qualification

  • New York

Education

  • JD, Cornell Law School, 1998
  • BS in Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland, 1995
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December 28, 2023 Recognition

Encore! One Last Look at 2023’s Litigators of the Week

Four Latham teams were honored as winners of The American Lawyer’s prestigious Litigators of the Week column in 2023. The wins spanned multiple litigation practices and industries, including antitrust, intellectual property, securities, environmental and product liability, technology, and sports, among others.