Barbara L. Mandell

Barbara has over 30 years’ experience in complex litigation, with the exception of two years spent as general counsel. Her practice is focused on litigating, arbitrating and counseling her clients on patent, trademark and licensing matters as well as antitrust law.Barbara’s experience includes litigation of intellectual property disputes involving patent, trademark, computer and Internet law; theft of trade secrets; breach of license and franchise agreements; trade dress and copyright infringement claims; and counterfeiting, unfair competition and false advertising claims.Barbara began her career as a staff attorney at the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. Since leaving the FTC, she has developed substantial experience in legal issues that arise from the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property, such as those arising from the settlement and enforcement of patent claims, including litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act, and antitrust and patent misuse counterclaims and defenses to IP litigation.

Companies in diverse industries and with diverse products and services have relied on Barbara for counseling and litigation matters. These industries include the automotive industry and various automotive parts suppliers; producers and vendors of computer hardware and software, silicon wafers, lasers, medical devices, prescription/generic drugs, sporting and hunting equipment, furniture, buses, industrial equipment, construction equipment, oil drilling equipment, metal cutting equipment, turbo prop engines, soft drinks and funeral products; providers of hospital and physician services; commercial lending and mortgage banking services; cell phone e-commerce services and representation of trade associations and other not-for-profit organizations.

In addition to litigating intellectual property disputes in numerous district and circuit courts around the country, Barbara has handled administrative proceedings at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the Board of Patent Appeals & Interferences, the Federal Trade Commission (merger enforcement) and the International Trade Commission (patent proceeding under Section 337).

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION EXPERIENCE

Barbara has served as a commercial arbitrator on over two dozen American Arbitration Association (AAA) cases, including resolving discovery disputes, conducting dispositive motion hearings, ruling on Markman disputes, presiding over numerous trials and writing opinions and awards. She is also a Certified SCAO Court Mediator, an approved Oakland County Civil Mediator and a member of the AAA Mediator Panel. Her alternative dispute resolution practice has included issues arising under the Patent Laws of the United States (including patent infringement, claim construction and invalidity issues), copyright law, including the fair use doctrine, trademark infringement issues, the Uniform Commercial Code, commercial contract, and disputes in connection with intellectual property licenses.