Michael J. Berchou

Michael Berchou has litigated complex intellectual property matters for over 20 years. He has served as lead counsel in multiple patent, trade secret, trademark, and copyright cases in district courts across the country, as well as Inter Partes Review (IPR) and Ex Parte Reexamination proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), appeals to the Federal Circuit, and numerous opposition and cancellation proceedings at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).

A registered patent attorney and electrical engineer, Michael has represented clients as both plaintiffs and defendants in diverse technology areas, including data center cooling, medical devices, vibration sensors/accelerometers, computer storage and network connectivity, live streaming, exhaust gas recirculation systems, ballistic fabrics, and artificial turf.

PROFESSIONAL & CIVIC AFFILIATIONS

• Board Member, Road Less Traveled Productions
• Board Member, Literacy New York Buffalo-Niagara
• Member, American Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law and Litigation
• Member, Bar Association of Erie County
• Volunteer, Lawyers for Learning

HONORS & AWARDS

• Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® for Litigation – Intellectual Property; Litigation – Patent
• Recognized by Chambers USA 2015, 2016 and 2017 in the field of Litigation
• Legal Elite of Western New York, Buffalo Business First/Buffalo Law Journal, 2017 and 2020
• AV Preeminent^® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• Named to the Daily Record’s Power 20 in Intellectual Property list, 2021, 2022, 2023

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

• OptiCool Technologies v. Vertiv Corp. – Counsel for OptiCool Technologies, a leading provider of innovative data center cooling solutions, in three Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and in parallel district court actions in the Western District of New York. The PTAB instituted IPRs with respect to all challenged patents, which relate to refrigerant-based data center cooling systems.
• New Era Cap v. Pro Era – Lead counsel in this opposition proceeding at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board against well-known hip-hop group Pro Era. After trial, the Board issued a Precedential Decision in favor of New Era, sustaining the opposition.
• God’s Era v. New Era Cap – Lead counsel in this trademark infringement lawsuit in the District of Massachusetts relating to our client’s collaboration with another famous clothing brand. On March 31, 2020, District Judge Talwani issued a summary judgment ruling in favor of New Era, dismissing the complaint.
• Big Vision Pvt. Ltd v. DuPont – Lead counsel for DuPont in this $59 million trade secret/unfair competition action in the Southern District of New York. After a massive discovery and e-discovery effort, obtained summary judgment for DuPont dismissing all of plaintiff’s claims. Summary judgment was affirmed by the Federal Circuit.
• G.W. Lisk v. GITS Manufacturing – Lead counsel for the Patent Owner in two related IPR proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The PTAB confirmed the patentability of several of Patent Owner’s claims, which relate to exhaust gas recirculation valves, and the Federal Circuit affirmed.
• Audubon Machinery v. PostProcess Technologies – Lead counsel in this patent dispute in the Western District of New York relating to post-processing of parts produced by 3-D printers.
• JEC Distributors v. Changer & Dresser and Kyokutoh – Lead counsel for the plaintiffs, a distributor of welding products, tools, and automation for the automotive manufacturing sector, in two patent infringement actions in the Southern District of Ohio and Northern District of Alabama.
• ABM Int’l v. Juki – Lead counsel for Patent Owner in three related IPR proceedings relating to sewing machine technology.
• Barrday v. Lincoln Fabrics – Trial and appeal counsel for the plaintiff, a Canadian manufacturer of ballistic materials, in this patent infringement action in the Western District of New York, currently on appeal to the Federal Circuit.
• Safespan Platform Systems v. EZ Access – Lead counsel for the plaintiffs in this patent infringement matter in the Western District of New York relating to bridge platforms systems. Successfully conducted a claim construction hearing and prevailed on summary judgment motions for infringement and confirmation of the validity of the patents-in-suit. The matter concluded with a favorable settlement and permanent injunction.
• Fieldturf v. Sportexe – Lead counsel for the Sportexe companies in various patent and unfair competition actions in Chicago, San Francisco, Cleveland, and Seattle, and managed related Canadian patent litigation. Fieldturf is a worldwide leader in artificial turf systems and Sportexe, during the course of the litigation, became the No. 2 turf company in the United States.
• Sprinturf v. Sportexe – Counsel in this Western District of Pennsylvania patent infringement case, which settled prior to the Court’s ruling on claim construction.
• Safe Storage v. ATTO Technology – Lead counsel for defendant, an innovator in network and storage connectivity, in this patent infringement action in the District of Delaware relating to RAID storage system products.
• Astute Technology v. Digitell – Lead counsel for Digitell, a live streaming/content capture provider, in a patent infringement action in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division.
• Tigercat Industries v. Deere & Company – Lead counsel for Tigercat Industries, a manufacturer of logging equipment located outside Toronto, in three separate actions against Deere & Company. These actions related to three Tigercat and Deere patents on tree felling equipment used in logging industry.
• Keystone Manufacturing v. Jaccard – Lead counsel for Keystone Manufacturing in a trade dress infringement case tried before Judge Skretny in the Western District of New York.
• NameProtect v. BrandProtect – Lead counsel for BrandProtect in a trademark infringement action in Madison, Wisconsin, with another supplier of trademark and brand monitoring services.
• Auto Meter v. Make Waves Instruments – Lead counsel for Make Waves Instruments in a trade dress infringement action in the Northern District of Illinois.

NEWS

• September 22, 2022 | Press Releases
  Michael J. Berchou and Brian B. Shaw Named to The Daily Record Power 20 Intellectual Property List
• October 29, 2021 | Press Releases
  Michael J. Berchou and Brian B. Shaw Named to Local “Power 20” Intellectual Property List, Harter Secrest & Emery LLP
• October 8, 2020 | Press Releases
  Three Harter Secrest & Emery Attorneys Named to 2020 Legal Elite List, Harter Secrest & Emery LLP
• August 1, 2016 | Press Releases
  Harter Secrest & Emery Adds Two Seasoned Intellectual Property Partners, Harter Secrest & Emery LLP