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Steven J. Routh

Partner

Washington, D.C.

Having tried more than 30 cases over the past four decades, Steve Routh has built a reputation as a master strategist and courtroom advocate. In recognition of his accomplishments, since 2007 he has been a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, widely considered the premier professional trial organization in America.

Steve knows how to minimize risk while delivering a client’s business objective, either by defeating an opponent’s case in court or by negotiating the best possible settlement. His ability to pinpoint the argument that will resonate with each judge and jury has enabled him to protect cutting-edge technology involving medical devices, automotive components, telecommunications standards, digital and 3D imaging, guest engagement systems, and semiconductor devices and manufacturing processes. He has also used those same skills in litigating numerous antitrust, unfair competition, and complex tort and contract cases.

For the last 20 years, Steve has focused on guiding Japanese and other Asia-based companies through patent litigation before the U.S. District Courts, ITC and Federal Circuit. He is one of only two lawyers ranked in the Chambers Global guide for having Foreign Expertise in Intellectual Property for Japan. Steve consistently has been described as a “great negotiator who is excellent at creating litigation strategy.” Clients recently interviewed by Chambers also noted, “Steve is a really fantastic tactical thinker with good legal instincts. He is also very collaborative.” Other clients have stated that “his command of the law is evident in his ability to understand it and also apply it across a wide variety of situations,“ while still others have praised his ability to make “very quick and sound tactical decisions.”

    • Carnival Corp. v. DeCurtis Corporation: Lead counsel for Carnival in this pending Southern District of Florida litigation involving breach of contract, patent infringement, antitrust, and tort claims related to cutting edge guest engagement systems and wearable technology.
    • Boston Scientific v. MicroTech: Lead counsel for MicroTech and Henry Schein in a Delaware District Court patent infringement litigation and lead negotiator in global resolution of US and European claims involving hemostatic clip medical devices.
    • Fundamental Innovations Systems International v. Toyota: Lead counsel for Toyota and DENSO in an Eastern District of Texas patent infringement litigation involving infotainment system technologies.
    • Universal Electronics Inc. v. Funai Electric: Lead counsel for Funai in defense of district court and ITC patent infringement claims involving smart TVs. UEI terminated all claims against our clients prior to hearing.
    • Hologic Corp. v. Fujifilm Corp., et al. and Fujifilm Corp., et al. v. Hologic Corp.: Lead counsel for Fujifilm in an ITC investigation and two district court actions in which these competitors asserted claims of patent infringement, antitrust violations, unfair competition, and business torts with respect to their respective 3D digital mammography devices. All litigation was resolved in February 2019 on terms favorable to our client.
    • Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies, Inc. v. General Motors, et al.: We represented DENSO International America (DIAM) against Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies (AARC) in a copyright case that alleged violations of the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) based on the supply of certain vehicle navigation and entertainment systems. We successfully obtained early summary judgment and a complete victory in favor of DIAM on all claims. On appeal, the DC Circuit affirmed the judgments of the district court, holding that the appellee’s devices do not qualify as “digital audio recording devices” subject to the AHRA.
    • Digitech Image Technologies, LLC v. Electronics for Imaging, Inc., et al.: Lead counsel for Panasonic, Canon, Nikon, Konica Minolta, Olympus, LG Electronics, Ricoh, Fujifilm, Sigma, Best Buy, Micro Electronics, Overstock.com, and Target in a Central District of California action alleging infringement of a digital image processing patent and successfully obtained an early summary judgment that the asserted patents did not address patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101. That judgment was affirmed by the Federal Circuit.
    • Rothschild v. Panasonic Corp.: Lead counsel for Panasonic in an ITC Investigation regarding laser diodes and light-emitting diodes. Shortly before trial, Complainant withdrew its complaint entirely, terminating the investigation without any payment or concession by Panasonic. Most of the 39 other respondents had settled or entered into consent orders.
    • Intellectual Ventures, Inc. v. Ricoh Americas Corp.: Lead counsel for Ricoh in a Delaware patent infringement action brought by IV. After a successful Markman ruling and completion of discovery, we achieved a settlement on terms favorable to our client. We have also represented a number of other clients in licensing negotiations with IV that have resulted in positive outcomes for our clients.
    • Advanced Research Corp Inc. v. Fujifilm Corp., et al.: Lead counsel for Fujifilm and Oracle in an ITC investigation brought in response to a complaint by ARC asserting patents on high density digital recording media. Based on our successful pre-hearing discovery and motions strategies, we achieved a settlement shortly before a scheduled merits hearing on terms favorable to our clients.
    • Adaptix, Inc. v. AT&T, Inc. et al.: Soon after it acquired the ADAPTIX 4G wireless patent portfolio, patent holding group Acacia, Inc. started filing suits against major network and electronics suppliers. We represented LG Electronics and AT&T against ADAPTIX in the Eastern District of Texas and won a complete summary judgment freeing AT&T and LG of all claims, on the grounds that ADAPTIX cannot base infringement allegations for all smartphones on the same 4G LTE industry standard. The decision is important for companies that make or sell standard-compliant products.
    • St. Clair Intellectual Property Consultants v. Fujifilm Corporation: Lead counsel for Fujifilm in a seven-year battle against St. Clair with respect to four image compression patents. Following a positive jury verdict in Delaware District Court, we obtained a ruling by the Federal Circuit construing key limitations of the patents-in-suit in favor of Fujifilm, thereby avoiding any past or future infringement claims against our client, while many other defendants had paid millions of dollars in settlements.
    • Fujifilm Corporation v. Papst Licensing GmbH & Co., KG: Lead counsel for Fujifilm in this patent infringement litigation involving digital cameras. Our team has been appointed by the Court as lead coordinating counsel for a joint defense group in a multi-district litigation (MDL) proceeding and, in that capacity, we developed and implemented strategies to defeat claims filed by Papst beginning in 2007.
    • Princeton Digital Image Compression v. Canon, Inc., et al.: Lead counsel for Fujifilm in an action on patents related to compression of digital images. We first successfully moved to transfer the case from the Eastern District of Texas to the Southern District of New York, and then developed a strong standing defense through discovery that led to a successful motion for summary judgment that disposed of the case.
    • Affinity Labs of Texas v. JVC Americas and Kenwood USA: Lead counsel for JVC and Kenwood in a case involving patents covering technology that allows iPods to connect to home stereos, TVs and car radio “head units.” Based on successful pre-trial motions and strategies, we were able to settle the case on favorable terms on the eve of trial.
    • Saxon Innovations LLC v. Panasonic Corp.: Lead counsel for Panasonic in both an ITC investigation and a later district court action filed by Saxon on patents covering integrated circuit technology. Saxon voluntarily terminated its ITC complaint against Panasonic in response to our successful discovery and pre-hearing motion strategy. We then settled the district court action on favorable terms.
    • Norman IP Holdings LLC v. Canon USA, Inc.: Lead counsel for Fujifilm and Konica Minolta in action filed on patents covering integrated circuit technology. Settled the case on favorable terms before Markman proceedings began.
    • InMotion Imagery Technologies, LLC v. Panasonic Corporation of North America: Lead counsel for Panasonic in action on patents covering a system for indexing video content. Settled the case on favorable terms before Markman proceedings.
    • FastVDO v. Leading Technology Company, et al.: Lead counsel for Fujifilm, Nikon, Panasonic, and Thomson Video Networks from the plaintiff’s patent infringement concerning the H.264 digital image compression standard. We argued for claim constructions that excluded the asserted patent from the scope of the H.264 standard. Only three days after the claim construction hearing, the court issued a favorable ruling adopting our constructions on all critical terms.
    • Infinity Computer Products v. Konica Minolta Business Solutions, et al.: Lead counsel for Konica Minolta in an action filed on two patents covering technology for using a facsimile machine coupled to a personal computer as a scanner or printer. Filed a successful motion to stay the case pending reexaminations.
    • Graphics Properties Holdings, Inc. v. Panasonic Corporation: Lead counsel for Panasonic in an ITC investigation involving four patents on flat panel liquid crystal displays. After successfully completing discovery, we settled the case on terms favorable to our client.
    • Straight Path IP Group, Inc. v. Panasonic Corporation: Lead counsel for Panasonic in an ITC investigation and Eastern District of Virginia action involving patents on flat panel liquid crystal displays. After a very favorable Markman ruling, we settled the case.