WilmerHale

Antitrust and Competition; Antitrust Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Intersection of Antitrust and IP; Litigation; Life Sciences; Trials

Partner

Mark Ford is an experienced antitrust litigator who represents clients in state and federal courts and in agency investigations in matters concerning alleged monopolization, restraints of trade, price fixing, bid rigging, price discrimination, and other forms of anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct. His competition practice is nationally recognized: rated as a “Next Generation Lawyer” by The Legal 500 United States for his antitrust civil litigation practice; ranked as a “Band 1” lawyer in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for antitrust and competition law; and recently named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America for his antitrust litigation practice in Boston. Mr. Ford has successfully represented defendants in national class action litigation and plaintiffs in challenging predatory conduct by dominant industry players. In addition to this litigation practice, Mr. Ford is a lecturer at Boston University School of Law and a member of the Executive Committee of Greater Boston Legal Services

Mr. Ford is a leading antitrust litigator and counselor for clients in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry. He has litigated matters and regularly counsels clients concerning brand-generic settlements as well as defending allegations of sham litigation, Walker Process fraud, alleged "patent thickets," improper “Orange Book” listings and “product hopping.” His clients are among the leading pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical firms in the world, and he has represented those companies and their employees in federal and state courts, before the Federal Trade Commission, and in matters brought by the European Commission. He regularly speaks and publishes on antitrust issues facing life sciences companies and teaches “Antitrust and Health Care” at Boston University School of Law, which focuses on pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical antitrust law and policy.

Mr. Ford also represents companies, including smaller and emerging businesses, hindered by anticompetitive or exclusionary conduct. On behalf of these firms, Mr. Ford has successfully pursued claims of monopolization and attempted monopolization, restraints of trade, price discrimination, unfair competition and tortious interference. Many of these cases involve clients targeted by abusive enforcement of intellectual property, including by bringing antitrust counterclaims on behalf of companies that are targeted by sham intellectual property litigation. In addition, Mr. Ford has extensive experience litigating antitrust matters arising from the assertion of standard-essential patents (SEPs). He has litigated several SEP antitrust claims in federal courts on behalf of clients alleging that SEP holders have violated commitments to license SEPs on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, representing some of the leading technology companies in the world. Mr. Ford has also appeared before the Department of Justice to address issues of SEP abuse.

Professional Activities Mr. Ford is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for Greater Boston Legal Services. He is a former co-chair of the Antitrust Committee of the Boston Bar Association. He is a lecturer at Boston University School of Law, teaching antitrust law. Mr. Ford is admitted to practice before the First, Second and Third Circuit Courts of Appeals, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the US District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan. Mr. Ford is the former chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals for the Town of Marshfield, Massachusetts, and is currently serving on the Town’s Advisory Board.

Bar Admissions: Massachusetts

Other Organizations: Boston Bar Association

Boston University School of Law , J.D. (2003) University of Pennsylvania , B.A. (1998)