Johnson, Brian L.

Victor (Vic) Souto is a special counsel in the firm's Intellectual Property Department, and a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group. He joined the firm in 2001.

Practice

Mr. Souto's practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and counseling a diverse range of clients from start-ups to large Fortune 500 companies in the procurement, enforcement and defense of intellectual property. He has a broad range of experience in all areas of intellectual property. As a litigator in federal and state courts and before the International Trade Commission, Mr. Souto has handled a wide variety of cases for both plaintiffs and defendants, including patent, trademark and copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation and breach of software licensing agreements. Mr. Souto’s key litigation accomplishments include obtaining summary judgment dismissing a trade secret misappropriation claim where the plaintiff was seeking in excess of $100 million in damages, and defeating a motion for a temporary restraining order that sought to prevent a client from completing a transfer of technology to the purchaser of the client’s manufacturing plant.

As a client counselor, Mr. Souto has advised clients in connection with a wide variety of intellectual property matters, including the preparation of numerous validity, infringement and enforceability opinions. Mr. Souto was instrumental in developing and implementing a licensing/litigation program to derive revenue from a client’s patent portfolio. In addition, he has negotiated and drafted patent, technology, software and trademark license agreements, performed intellectual property due diligence in connection with varied corporate transactions, and prepared and prosecuted patent and trademark applications.

His practice has involved a wide range of technology including computer software and hardware; telephony including voice, data and wireless communications; and Internet technology including ecommerce, speech processing, speech recognition, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, semiconductor processing, photolithography, optics, digital pre-press printing and digital electronics.

Recent Highlights

• Part of the trial team that secured summary judgment of non-infringement for Wayport, Inc., in a two-patent infringement litigation involving Internet access technology brought by PowerOasis, Inc. in the district court of Massachusetts
• Obtained a favorable settlement for a client who was named as a defendant in a trade secret misappropriation suit involving sophisticated 3-D modeling software to allow the client to avoid the distraction and expense of litigation against two much larger corporations
• Trial team member for the successful defense of a client in an International Trade Commission proceeding and for a bench trial on a case dispositive motion in a patent infringement action

Professional Activities

Mr. Souto is a member of the American Bar Association and its Litigation and Intellectual Property sections. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Platinum Torch National Service Honorary.