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John is a shareholder in the firm of Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association. He is based in our Minneapolis office and is a member of our Trade Regulation Section and head of the Intellectual Property Practice Group. John concentrates his practice in:
John has been a first-chair trial lawyer for nearly 30 years. He handles primarily large, complex intellectual property, commercial and construction cases. He has represented Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, local government entities, and private business owners. Past clients include major retailers; technology and medical device companies; print media; building contractors; and manufacturers of a wide variety of products, including medical devices, container filling equipment, roofing caulking and sealant products for commercial and high-rise buildings, class rings and recognition products, pet food, herbal supplements, hearing aid technology, sporting goods, and hand power tool distributors.
In John's litigation experience, he has handled numerous favorable trial decisions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. He was involved in a case exonerating a medical device manufacturer from patent infringement claims brought by a major competitor. He also represented a container filling equipment manufacturer/patentee in defense against claims of invalidity, obviousness and inequitable conduct, upheld on appeal to the federal circuit.
John has also defended a regional business periodical against defamation claims in excess of $16 million. He once obtained a 144-page summary judgment on behalf of an alleged infringer of a sporting goods patent, arguing and winning the appeal before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. In another case, he defended a manufacturer of window gaskets against claims in excess of $9 million for replacement of spandrel glass panels in a downtown high-rise office building, where aggressive discovery led to a summary judgment and order for attorney fees against the plaintiff. The matter was settled through acceptance of $30,000 in costs from plaintiff.
John was appointed chairman of the Galtier Plaza Lien Claims Committee by Ramsey County District Court to coordinate and lead the prosecution of approximately 100 separate lien claimants and subcontractors in a large, complex litigation over the construction of Galtier Plaza in St. Paul. All lien claims were resolved in approximately six months.
Over a period of years, John represented parties in a number of construction defect/product liability claims concerning major plant explosions and fires, including the Williams Pipeline Roseville pumping station gasoline fire and explosion in the 1980s (four deaths and over $10 million in damage) and the Alberta Gas Chemicals plant explosion in Duluth, MN, in the late ’80s (four severely burned employees and complete destruction of the manufacturing plant).
John is admitted to the U.S. district courts of the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, and the Southern District of Illinois, as well as the Minnesota State Bar, Minnesota Federal District Courts, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
He has spoken and written on numerous continuing legal education topics, including intellectual property, e-commerce, patent litigation, electronic discovery, bad faith litigation, statutes of limitations and arbitration. He published “E-Commerce Disputes: Legislation and Litigation in the Brave New World,” 68 Def. Counsel Jour. 280 (2001).
John is a member of the Business Law, Intellectual Property and Litigation Sections of the American Bar Association, and is active in the ABA’s Cyberspace Law Committee, where he is program co-chair of the Programs and Publications Subcommittee. John is also a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the American Arbitration Association. He has been on the American Arbitration Association's Panel of Commercial Arbitrators and has been a panel trainer. John is also a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel and is past chair of the IADC's technology committee, as well as a member of its business and intellectual property litigation committees.
Born in Osaka, Japan, John received his B.A. from the University of Minnesota. He received his law degree cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School. John practiced with another Minneapolis law firm before joining Briggs in 2002.
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