BARRY J. HERMAN is a member of the firm’s Litigation Management Team and Co-Chair of the ITC Litigation practice group, which he helped create and develop. A chemical engineer by training, Mr. Herman litigates matters across a wide array of technologies in the chemical, mechanical, and electrical arts. He represents both domestic and foreign clients in a full range of patent, trademark and other intellectual property disputes before the United States Federal District Courts and the International Trade Commission (ITC).
Mr. Herman served as first-chair litigator in a landmark patent infringement case for client Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest glass companies and the leading windshield manufacturer for European cars. Saint-Gobain won a $10.9 million damages award against a Chinese windshield manufacturer, and the jury found the infringement was willful. The district court subsequently doubled the damages award and awarded Saint-Gobain attorney fees and costs for a total award of over $24 million.
Mr. Herman is currently serving as lead counsel for Solvay in a patent infringement suit against Honeywell in the United States District Court for Delaware after a remand from the Federal Circuit. In a seminal case involving the applicability of Section 102(g), Mr. Herman successfully argued that United States reproduction of technology conceived overseas does not qualify a United States manufacturer as a prior inventor under the statute. Solvay S.A. v. Honeywell Int'l, Inc., 622 F.3d 1367 (Fed. Cir. 2010). He has also represented other industry leaders such as ArcelorMittal, SMC, and Mirowski Family Ventures in various matters in district courts across the country and before the ITC.
While his focus is litigation, Mr. Herman’s practice also includes drafting opinions and advising clients with respect to patent portfolio development, management and optimization.
Prior to joining Oblon, Spivak, Mr. Herman worked at a large general practice firm in Washington, D.C., where he practiced patent litigation. Prior to law school, he worked for several years as a chemical engineer, first in a hydrosulfuric acid manufacturing plant, and then in various oil refineries on the East Coast, where he specialized in anti-foulant and anti-corrosion chemical technology.
In early 2009, Mr. Herman was instrumental in launching the leading legal blog devoted exclusively to intellectual property actions in the ITC—the ITC 337 Law Blog. The site provides insights about the ITC’s daily activities and significant decisions, and also provides practice tips to ITC practitioners and in-house counsel who are interested in intellectual property matters at the ITC.
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