D. Stuart Bartow

D. Stuart Bartow specializes in high-tech patent and trade secret disputes as a partner at Duane Morris LLP. He has nearly two decades of experience handling IP matters in California and around the U.S.

He joined the firm in 2019 after serving as a comanaging partner for Silicon Valley for Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP and, earlier, as a partner at Paul Hastings LLP. Alongside his JD, Bartow has a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and a master’s degree in operations research.

“The practice is often countercyclical,” Bartow said of his IP work, “and since there’s no recession, we have not seen much of an uptick. Things are steadily busy.”

He added that his science degrees, though earned years ago, remain valuable today. “Tech moves very quickly, but scientific training gives me a head start, a skill set to get up to speed.”

Bartow leads a Duane Morris team defending cybersecurity company Trend Micro Inc. US and its Japanese counterpart in patent lawsuits over anti-malware technology. The case, involving five other defendants, is notable for being the first patent MDL proceeding to take place in the Eastern District of Texas. In re Taasera Licensing LLC Patent Litigation, 2:22-md-03042 (E.D. Texas, filed Aug. 3, 2022).

“The judicial panel on multidistrict litigation has been interested in spreading cases around the country to smaller districts, and this is one result,” Bartow said. “And cybersecurity has been a popular area of litigation for more than a decade.”

The cases currently involve 11 cybersecurity patents, several of which originated with IBM Corp. Motions for dismissal, transfer and judgment on the pleadings are pending; trial is set for early 2024.

In another sprawling matter, Bartow represents Comet Electrical Ltd., a nonparty that was involved as a supplier of certain parts for the semiconductor wafer processing equipment accused in the cases; both defendants sought to transfer the matters to the Northern District of California. Bartow said his role is to oppose and navigate non-part discovery issues and depositions. Demaray LLC v. Intel Corp., 6:20-cv-00634 (W.D. Texas, filed July 14, 2020); Demaray LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd., 6:20-cv-00636 (W.D. Texas, filed July 14, 2020).

“This has been hotly contested in multiple districts,” Bartow said. “I enjoy it a lot because of the high level of lawyering on both sides — Irell & Manella represent the plaintiffs and Kirkland and White & Case represent the defendants.”

Bartow added that he’s enthusiastic about his career. “It suits me very well to solve problems for clients,” he said.

—John Roemer