Thomas J. Leach, Attorney

Legal Background and Experience

• Tom is a trial lawyer specializing in all aspects of intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark and copyright litigation. Tom has litigated patent cases from adjustable dumbbells, construction tools, and retractable screen doors to sophisticated turf care equipment, e-commerce patents, and gel-filled computer mouse pads. Tom also has experience handling inter-parties and ex-party reexaminations and weaving those into a litigation strategy as well as practicing before the International Trade Commission. He also has experience with complex class action cases dealing with activated carbon technology.
• In 2008, Tom co-chaired a federal patent jury trial against one of the largest toy companies in the U.S. After a six day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Tom's client. Leading up to trial, Tom and his colleague successfully defeated an inventorship challenge, won the Markman decision obtaining a favorable claim construction, and defeated defendant's summary judgment motion on marking. Moreover, Tom successfully precluded all of defendant's prior art invalidity defenses.
• Tom is also an integral part of the Merchant & Gould team that represents a leading manufacturer of lawn care equipment, which includes technology ranging from commercial golf course equipment and hydraulic systems, to consumer yard care equipment. Tom, along with members of the client team, has successfully represented this client against major competitors.
• In 2005, Tom successfully defended a patent infringement action against a client by getting the case dismissed in the preliminary stages. The technology concerned construction tools for dry wall.
• In 2005, Tom was an integral part of a Merchant & Gould team that successfully defended a major home improvement retailer in a trademark dispute against Home Depot, Inc. The matter was settled favorably for the firm's client.
• Tom has successfully enforced patents related to selectable weight dumbbells against two competitors. The competitors were either forced to take a license or stop selling the competing product.
• Tom also worked on a patent litigation involving retractable screen doors against Larson Manufacturing of South Dakota. Larson was asserting its patent against one of Merchant & Gould's clients. Tom helped the client in a favorable reexamination, which later led to the patents being held unenforceable.