Dichiara, Peter M.

Peter Dichiara is a partner in the firm's Intellectual Property Department, and a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group. He also serves as chair of the Nanotechnology group. He joined the firm in 1997.

Practice

Mr. Dichiara's practice focuses on obtaining and enforcing intellectual property rights, with an emphasis on the nanotechnology, electronics, communications, storage and computer industries.  He has litigated patents and trade secrets relating to communication systems, computer software, storage systems, digital cameras, electronic security, hard disk drive testing technology, wireless communications, electronic circuits and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. He has also prepared infringement and validity opinions and has advised clients on portfolio strategy, risk assessment and design-around strategies. Mr. Dichiara has provided pro bono services through the Community Enterprise Project of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School.

Mr. Dichiara was previously employed as a senior hardware engineer and a senior software engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation, where he designed CPU and I/O related logic and developed firmware. While working at Digital, he received a patent for one of his circuit designs.

Recent Highlights

Patent Litigation

Mr. Dichiara is currently a member of the team representing Eastman Kodak Corporation in connection with an ITC investigation in which Samsung accused Kodak of infringing two patents involving digital cameras. He is also representing Teradyne in a patent dispute with Xyratech regarding hard disk drive testing technology.

Mr. Dichiara was a member of the team that represented Wayport, Inc. in PowerOasis v. Wayport claiming infringement of two patents relating to Internet access technology. The team secured summary judgment of non-infringement for Wayport in the district court of Massachusetts. He also participated in the representation of EMC in EMC v. Hewlett-Packard Co. claiming infringement of three patents relating to computer storage technology. During the course of the litigation, Hewlett-Packard acquired the original defendant for $350 million. After a two-week trial, the firm won a jury verdict finding that each of the asserted claims had been infringed by Hewlett-Packard and was valid.

Trade Secret Litigation

Mr. Dichiara served on the team that represented Analog Devices, Inc. in Analog Devices, Inc. v. Michalski alleging trade secret misappropriation concerning high-speed, high-resolution analog-to-digital converters. The case settled favorably to Analog Devices shortly before trial. 

Professional Activities

Mr. Dichiara was co-chair of the Patent Law Committee of Boston Patent Law Association from 1995 to 1998.

Honors and Awards

• Selected by peers for inclusion in the 2011 and 2012 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in the area of intellectual property law
• Recognized for exceptional standing in the legal community in the area of intellectual property in the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
• Named a "New England Super Lawyer" (formerly "Massachusetts Super Lawyer") in the 2004-2011 issues of Boston Magazine

Speaking Engagements

• Nanotech 2006 – Boston, MA – May 8-12, 2006 
• Nanotech 2004 – Boston, MA – March 7-11, 2004
• Suffolk Law School – Advanced Legal Seminar – Boston, MA – October 2004

Publications

• Peter M. Dichiara and David E. Abrams, "Whither nanotech? Legal issues still in play for this emerging field," Mass High Tech, Volume 17, Issue 2 (January 2006).
• Peter M. Dichiara and John M. Golden, "Knorr-Bremse: Elimination of the Adverse Inference," WilmerHale Email Alert (November 4, 2004).

Community Involvement

• Mentor, Boston University School of Law students since 1994