Elise Baumgarten litigates civil and criminal cases, with an emphasis on patent and complex commercial disputes.  As part of Elise's patent litigation practice, she has represented clients in Hatch-Waxman litigation, in inter partes review proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO"), and disputes dealing with the intersection of patent and antitrust law.  Elise also has experience in a range of other substantive areas, including white-collar criminal defense, accounting malpractice, trade secrets and restrictive covenants, First Amendment, and commercial disputes. 

Elise has been recognized as a “Legal Lion” by Law360, and, in 2022, LMG Life Sciences identified Elise among the finalists for the “US Rising Star—Intellectual Property” award.  Both in September 2022 and May 2021, The American Lawyer recognized Elise as a “Litigator of the Week Runner Up” for successfully representing Merck in a major trial victory and IPR proceedings, respectively, concerning patents covering the blockbuster sitagliptin products: Januvia, Janumet, and Janumet XR.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Elise graduated summa cum laude with both a Bachelors and Master’s Degree in Political Science from Emory University.  She then earned a law degree, with honors, from Harvard Law School, where she served as an Articles Editor for the Harvard Law Review.  She joined the firm in 2011, after clerking for the Honorable Paul V. Niemeyer of the Fourth Circuit. Elise currently serves as a member of the firm's Hiring Committee.

Representative Experience

Though all cases vary and none is predictive, Elise’s experience includes:

  • Counsel for a pharmaceutical company defendant in a jury trial in federal court in Chicago of an antitrust case over a patent settlement.  After a multi-week trial, the jury returned a defense verdict.
  • Represented former Jefferies bond trader Jesse Litvak in the closely-watched retrial and appeal of securities fraud charges, which led to his acquittal by the jury on, or dismissal by the government of, all charges.
  • Counsel for Teva’s Branded Division in a Hatch-Waxman trial in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, relating to multiple generic manufacturers’ applications to market a generic version of its Bendeka product. After a seven-day bench trial, the court upheld the validity of all claims in all five patents. 
  • Counsel for Merck in Hatch-Waxman patent litigation involving Januvia® (sitagliptin), in both the district court and in co-pending IPR proceedings.  After trials in the PTAB and then district court, the PTAB upheld all claims of the patent-at-issue, and the district court found all challenged claims infringed and not invalid.
  • First chair defense counsel for two bankers in a FINRA arbitration involving allegations of trade secret misappropriation and violation of restrictive covenants.  After a week-long arbitration, the panel returned a defense verdict, rejecting the Plaintiffs’ requests for millions of dollars of damages. 
  • Counsel for a “Big Four” accounting firm in a two-year arbitration trial, which concluded with the panel’s dismissal of all claims. 
  • Counsel for a pharmaceutical company in antitrust litigation concerning allegations that a patent settlement violated antitrust law in a case set for a jury trial in the Northern District of California.  The case resolved less than a week before jury selection.  
  • Counsel for Leo and Foamix in Hatch-Waxman patent litigation involving Finacea® Foam.
  • Represented Alcon in litigation and inter partes review proceedings relating to its Vigamox® and Moxeza® products.
  • Represented Eli Lilly, Daiichi Sankyo, and Ube Industries against numerous generic manufacturers in district court litigation, inter partes review proceedings, and on appeal relating to patents protecting Lilly’s and Daiichi Sankyo’s Effient® products.
  • Represented a Fortune 500 corporation in qui tam false claims litigation in California federal and state courts; after years of litigation, the litigation was resolved by complex settlements. 
  • Successfully defended libel suit brought by son of President of Palestinian Authority.
  • Represented Google in patent litigation in Delaware and in related inter partes review proceeding.
  • Represented a major computer company in inter partes review proceeding regarding software for processing big data.

Education

Clerkships

Recognitions

"Rising Star" for General Patent Litigation and Hatch-Waxman Patent Litigation, LMG Life Sciences, 2023

Admissions

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