D. Stuart Bartow

D. Stuart Bartow is a partner in the intellectual property practice group at Duane Morris LLP, where he moved in 2019 from a post as co-managing partner at Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP’s Menlo Park shop.

He earned a computer engineering undergraduate degree but kept looking. “I didn’t really care for the work, and I did OK on the LSAT, and I discovered I wanted to write patents,” he said. “My engineering background furnished me with a skill set that’s paying off now.”

Bartow led a Duane Morris litigation team to achieve a complete defense victory for the Warren Buffett-backed electric vehicle manufacturer BYD America Corp. in a contract and patent licensing dispute. The plaintiff, a maker of power conversion systems for vehicles, sued over an alternative-fuel bus development project. US Hybrid Corp., v. BYD America Corp., 20STCV02730 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Jan. 22, 2020).

The team pursued an aggressive strategy early in discovery against the plaintiff, which was acquired for $50 million by electric vehicle company Ideanomics Inc. in 2021 but continued to litigate the case post-acquisition. In a countersuit, BYD alleged misrepresentation based on false statements by US Hybrid concerning technology ownership and patent licensing coverage.

With hearings imminent on BYD’s dispositive and sanctions motions, US Hybrid dismissed the case with prejudice in September 2021.

“We had discovery related sanctions motions on the table, and it was becoming clear the court was leaning our way,” Bartow said. He said the move to file a counterclaim was also key. “It depends on the needs of the case, of course, but counterclaims can be strategically useful in certain situations.”

Currently, Bartow is leading a Duane Morris team defending software security company Trend Micro Inc. in a series of multi-patent litigations in the Western District of Texas filed by plaintiff SecurityProfiling LLC. The plaintiff has been pursuing claims against the client since 2017. The first follow-on case handled by Bartow’s team, filed in 2021, involved four cybersecurity patents. SecurityProfiling LLC v. TrendMicro Inc., 6:21-cv-00330 (W.D. Texas, filed April 6, 2021).

The case was heading into claim construction when SecurityProfiling sought to add dozens of new claims to the complaint. Bartow contested the attempt and forced dismissal of the case; SecurityProfiling filed an amended complaint in January 2022. Cisco Systems Inc., a defendant in a parallel case, is also represented by a Duane Morris team.

“It can be a good sign when the plaintiff amends a lot,” Bartow said as the case entered discovery. “I find I really enjoy this practice.”

– John Roemer