Dechert LLP

Intellectual Property

Partner

Martin J. Black leads Dechert’s national IP litigation team. He is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried dozens of cases, winning numerous multi-million dollar awards as a plaintiff and successfully defending his clients in others. As a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, he has been recognized by his peers as one of the preeminent trial lawyers in North America. He is also an experienced appellate advocate. In SCA Hygiene Products v. First Quality Baby Products, he persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court in a 7-1 decision to overturn 100 years of precedent and bar the defense of laches to claims for patent damages.

Mr. Black has handled a wide range of litigation and strategic patent matters for a diverse array of companies, including Microsoft, Samsung, Hitachi, Endo Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, Baxter Healthcare, PepsiCo, Citigroup, Monster.com and others. He regularly tries cases all over the country and has obtained numerous multimillion-dollar awards. He has had significant success for branded pharmaceutical companies and tech companies in protecting their patent rights at trial.

In addition to his extensive patent litigation experience, Mr. Black has served as lead trial counsel in numerous trademark, copyright, software and trade secret disputes.

University of Pennsylvania, B.S.E., 1985, cum laude, Benjamin Franklin Scholar The University of Chicago Law School, J.D., 1988, with Honors