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Patrick J. McElhinny

Partner
Pittsburgh
+1.412.355.6334
Fax +1.412.355.6501

Primary Practice

Secondary Practices

Education

  • J.D., Harvard Law School, 1988, (cum laude)
  • B.S., University of Pittsburgh, 1985, (Mechanical Engineering; summa cum laude)

Admissions

  • Bar of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • United States District Court for the District of Colorado
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
  • Biography Overview
  • Additional Background
  • Representative Work
Mr. McElhinny is a partner in the firm’s Pittsburgh office. He concentrates his practice in intellectual property litigation, His principal focus is patent litigation, but he has handled a wide array of intellectual property matters, including trademarks and copyrights, misappropriation of trade secrets and breaches of non-competition agreements. Mr. McElhinny’s experience spans a broad array of industries and complex technologies. He has more than 20 years of trial experience in intellectual property disputes and complex commercial litigation and is registered to practice before the USPTO. He has handled many matters that involve claims for preliminary injunctive relief. He also has expertise in securing insurance coverage for intellectual property claims.

Professional Background

Partner, associated with K&L Gates since 1988. Mr. McElhinny was selected as a leading lawyer in intellectual property litigation by Chambers and Partners in the 2006 through 2012 Chambers USA Guide.

Professional/Civic Activities

  • Graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh, Class XXVI
  • Former Director, Center for Hearing & Deaf Services, Inc.
  • Pro Bono Coordinator, Pittsburgh Office of K&L Gates

Speaking Engagements

  • Panelist, Aon's Annual D&O Symposium on the Directors & Officers Liability Marketplace
  • Speaker, Insurance Coverage For Intellectual Property Disputes (March 2007 in Seattle, WA)
  • Speaker, Discovery Issues in Patent and Trademark Cases (ABA, Section of Intellectual Property Law on April 2005 and 2006)
  • Speaker, Preliminary Injunction Proceedings in Pennsylvania State and Federal Courts and Roadmap to a Litigation Matter (firmwide internal presentations)
Patent Cases
  • Mr. McElhinny has litigated major patent cases involving a broad array of technologies and claims for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. For example, Mr. McElhinny has pursued patent infringement claims on behalf of a publicly traded manufacturer of semiconductor processing equipment (high energy ion implanters), a major research university (digital signal processing), a publicly traded specialty metals company (nickel-based superalloy ingots) and a private company that develops software for and hosts computer-mediated auctions for financial and legal instruments (on-line auction methods). He has defended a claim for approximately $50 million on a patent for power converters and a multi-patent lawsuit involving computer networking equipment in which the claimed damages exceeded $150 million. Mr. McElhinny has handled matters involving megasonic cleaning of silicon wafers, PVC pipe connections, personal watercraft docking systems, magnetic media for information storage, medical devices and methods for cleaning contaminated groundwater.

Trade Secret, Non-Competition, Trademark And Copyright Cases
  • Mr. McElhinny has handled many trade secret, trademark and copyright cases, as well as cases arising out of non-competition agreements. Many of these cases have involved trials and/or claims for preliminary injunctive relief. The technology or information at issue includes: software for optimization of purchasing decisions; steel mill equipment technology; business information and software for industrial coatings, transportation, medical waste disposal and list compilation businesses.
Complex Commercial Litigation
  • Trial counsel for policyholders seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in coverage for underlying securities and environmental claims.
  • Trial counsel for oil and gas company and obtained preliminary injunction enforcing letter of intent for lease of property for corporate headquarters.
  • Conducted internal investigation of options backdating at a public company resulting in a multi-million dollar restatement of previously issued financials
  • Litigation counsel to computer networking company and its individual officers in two separate securities fraud cases
  • Trial counsel for minority shareholders in action seeking dissolution as a result of oppressive conduct of controlling shareholders.
  • Trial counsel to list compiler in numerous commercial actions.
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