Daralyn J. Durie

Among Durie’s skills as an intellectual property litigator is the ability to simplify the most complex matters into terms judges and juries can easily absorb.

She co-founded her IP boutique in 2009 after working as a partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP and clerking for Douglas H. Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

This year the patent analytics firm Patexia Inc. ranked her among the top 5 best performing patent litigation defense attorneys in the U.S.

Her clients include 10x Genomics Inc., Genentech Inc., Plexxikon Inc., Dropworks Inc., the City of Hope National Medical Center, Activision Publishing Inc., California State University and Omniox Inc.

She also represents a potential class of HIV drug purchasers suing Gilead Sciences Inc. over antitrust claims.

In early April she was preparing for an onrush of trials that had been on ice during the pandemic.

“A lot of lawyers are in this position,” she said. “Everything got pushed off, and now here they come.”

She’s getting ready to represent 10x Genomics Inc., a leader in single-cell technology, in June in the District of Delaware in litigation seeking to enforce its patents relating to methods relevant to single-cell analysis against competitor Celsee, a company recently acquired by Bio-Rad Laboratories.

“Summary judgment was just denied, which suggests the trial will happen,” Durie said. 10x Genomics Inc. v. Celsee Inc., 19-CV00862 (D. Del., filed May 8, 2019).

In July, Plexxikon’s patent infringement suit against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. is set for trial in the Northern District.

Durie’s client developed Zelboraf, the first FBA-approved targeted therapy for metastatic melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Zelboraf competes directly with Tafinlar, the drug accused in the case.

A judge recently granted Plexxikon’s motion for summary judgment of no anticipation and struck portions of Novartis’ damages expert report; the trial is expected to help determine the future of the billion-dollar U.S. market for metastatic melanoma treatments. Plexxikon Inc. v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., 17-CV04405 (N.D. Cal., filed Aug. 3, 2017).

“The case is about the chemical composition of matter, and the challenge is to make it comprehensible,” Durie said. “The art of trial if boiling a case down to simple theses and points.

“I hated organic chemistry when I studied it in college. It’s difficult,” she added. “I was telling the team today that we need nicknames for the components of the claims. The idea is to focus early on streamlining the way to try the case.”

Other trials loom in Texas and elsewhere.

“It’s violating the laws of nature to have everything happen at once,” she laughed.

To clear her head in advance the fray, she’s planning a bike trip from the Oregon border to Oakland. “Just me and a friend,” she said. “It’s a very important part of my trial prep.”

— John Roemer