With the ability to handle litigation across a wide spectrum of technologies, from aerospace and biochemistry to Internet/e-Commerce and medical devices, Thomas L. Duston adeptly protects the rights of his clients in patent infringement claims and trade secret disputes.  He is recognized by his peers, his opponents and independent authorities as one of the most talented and skilled intellectual property trial attorneys.  Mr. Duston's clients benefit not only from his grasp of technical details, but also from his creativity in handling business-critical matters and his tenacity in litigating them successfully.

LAWCAST Pod cast

RECENT CLIENT WORK

  • Achieved a multi-million-dollar settlement of a patent infringement claim on behalf of the inventor of a revolutionary silicone device used in reconstructive surgery from the world’s largest manufacturer of such devices.
  • Successfully represented several of the nation’s largest internet retailers, with combined annual revenues in excess of $10 billion, in the Eastern District of Texas regarding the alleged infringement of early e-commerce patents directed to electronic shopping carts and methods for communications via HTTP.
  • Gained favorable results for the patent holder in infringement actions against several of the nation’s largest online digital photofinishing services.
  • Successfully represented a former Fortune 500 company, now one of the largest privately held companies in the U.S., in connection with infringement claims directed at use of HTML forms in online shopping.

Detailed Biography

Representative Experience

  • Gained favorable outcome for client in patent infringement claim involving diagnostic immunoassays utilizing monoclonal antibodies.

  • Litigated patent infringement claims for aluminum alloys used to construct wing surfaces of commercial passenger jets.

  • Defended one of the largest technology resellers in connection with infringement claims directed to dynamic taxonomies employed in electronic catalogs for e-commerce applications and electronic auctions.

  • Litigated infringement claims on behalf of one of the largest private companies in the U.S. relating to asymmetric data compression techniques for use with online digital images employed in web pages.

  • Gained favorable outcome for clients in patent infringement claim involving hydraulic fittings for aerospace applications.

  • Represented a company with multi-billion-dollar annual revenues in litigation alleging infringement of patents claimed to cover intelligent, web-based sales automation systems.

Background and Credentials

Mr. Duston’s clients include a diverse array of technologies in the medical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, computer, Internet, explosives, automotive and metals industries, among others, and have encompassed not only patent infringement litigation, but also trade secret disputes, the enforcement of non-competition agreements, trademark actions, claims of unfair competition, and contract and negligence claims relating to technology failures.  He has tried intellectual property disputes before both judges and juries, as well as handled injunction proceedings, arbitrations, mediations and appeals in such cases.

His clients, colleagues and opponents alike praise both his creativity and tenacity as a trial litigator.  Thorough, inventive, and effective, Mr. Duston has earned his clients’ trust as a trial attorney and counselor.

Mr. Duston was selected for inclusion in the 2013 Illinois Super Lawyers® list. Only five percent of the lawyers in the state were selected for this honor.  He has authored a number of articles in the areas of patent and trade secret litigation, been awarded a Martindale-Hubbell® AV Peer Review Rating™ and was recently voted a "Leading Lawyer in IP Litigation" by his peers. Mr. Duston was selected as a 2013 "Top Rated Lawyer in Intellectual Property" by American Lawyer Media (ALM) and Martindale-Hubbell. Earlier in his career, he was named by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company as one of "Forty Illinois Attorneys Under 40 to Watch," a list of the State’s most talented and well-regarded lawyers.

A graduate of Columbia University (B.A. 1984), Mr. Duston received his J.D. in 1987 from University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was a member of the Moot Court Board and an instructor in the Moot Court Program.  While at Hastings, Mr. Duston externed as a staff attorney for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Publications and Speeches

Community and Professional Involvement

  • American Bar Association (sections on Intellectual Property Law and Litigation)
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • American Judicature Society
  • Chicago Bar Association (member of the Judicial Evaluation Committee)
  • Intellectual Property Owners Association
  • Seventh Circuit Bar Association

Short Biography

Education

  • University of California Hastings College of the Law, J.D.
  • Columbia University, B.A.

Practices

Industries

Admissions

  • Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • Admitted to practice pro hac vice in various district courts throughout the U.S.
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas

Memberships

  • American Bar Association (ABA)

  • American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)

  • American Judicature Society

  • Chicago Bar Association (CBA)

  • Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO)

  • Seventh Circuit Bar Association

  • Executives' Club of Chicago

News

Events

Thomas L. Duston

Partner

With the ability to handle litigation across a wide spectrum of technologies, from aerospace and biochemistry to Internet/e-Commerce and medical devices, Thomas L. Duston adeptly protects the rights of his clients in patent infringement claims and trade secret disputes.  He is recognized by his peers, his opponents and independent authorities as one of the most talented and skilled intellectual property trial attorneys.  Mr. Duston's clients benefit not only from his grasp of technical details, but also from his creativity in handling business-critical matters and his tenacity in litigating them successfully.

LAWCAST Pod cast

  • T.312.423.3446
  • F.312.474.0448

Thomas L. Duston

Thomas L. Duston

RECENT CLIENT WORK

  • Achieved a multi-million-dollar settlement of a patent infringement claim on behalf of the inventor of a revolutionary silicone device used in reconstructive surgery from the world’s largest manufacturer of such devices.
  • Successfully represented several of the nation’s largest internet retailers, with combined annual revenues in excess of $10 billion, in the Eastern District of Texas regarding the alleged infringement of early e-commerce patents directed to electronic shopping carts and methods for communications via HTTP.
  • Gained favorable results for the patent holder in infringement actions against several of the nation’s largest online digital photofinishing services.
  • Successfully represented a former Fortune 500 company, now one of the largest privately held companies in the U.S., in connection with infringement claims directed at use of HTML forms in online shopping.

Detailed Biography

Representative Experience

  • Gained favorable outcome for client in patent infringement claim involving diagnostic immunoassays utilizing monoclonal antibodies.

  • Litigated patent infringement claims for aluminum alloys used to construct wing surfaces of commercial passenger jets.

  • Defended one of the largest technology resellers in connection with infringement claims directed to dynamic taxonomies employed in electronic catalogs for e-commerce applications and electronic auctions.

  • Litigated infringement claims on behalf of one of the largest private companies in the U.S. relating to asymmetric data compression techniques for use with online digital images employed in web pages.

  • Gained favorable outcome for clients in patent infringement claim involving hydraulic fittings for aerospace applications.

  • Represented a company with multi-billion-dollar annual revenues in litigation alleging infringement of patents claimed to cover intelligent, web-based sales automation systems.

Background and Credentials

Mr. Duston’s clients include a diverse array of technologies in the medical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, computer, Internet, explosives, automotive and metals industries, among others, and have encompassed not only patent infringement litigation, but also trade secret disputes, the enforcement of non-competition agreements, trademark actions, claims of unfair competition, and contract and negligence claims relating to technology failures.  He has tried intellectual property disputes before both judges and juries, as well as handled injunction proceedings, arbitrations, mediations and appeals in such cases.

His clients, colleagues and opponents alike praise both his creativity and tenacity as a trial litigator.  Thorough, inventive, and effective, Mr. Duston has earned his clients’ trust as a trial attorney and counselor.

Mr. Duston was selected for inclusion in the 2013 Illinois Super Lawyers® list. Only five percent of the lawyers in the state were selected for this honor.  He has authored a number of articles in the areas of patent and trade secret litigation, been awarded a Martindale-Hubbell® AV Peer Review Rating™ and was recently voted a "Leading Lawyer in IP Litigation" by his peers. Mr. Duston was selected as a 2013 "Top Rated Lawyer in Intellectual Property" by American Lawyer Media (ALM) and Martindale-Hubbell. Earlier in his career, he was named by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company as one of "Forty Illinois Attorneys Under 40 to Watch," a list of the State’s most talented and well-regarded lawyers.

A graduate of Columbia University (B.A. 1984), Mr. Duston received his J.D. in 1987 from University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was a member of the Moot Court Board and an instructor in the Moot Court Program.  While at Hastings, Mr. Duston externed as a staff attorney for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Publications and Speeches

Community and Professional Involvement

  • American Bar Association (sections on Intellectual Property Law and Litigation)
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • American Judicature Society
  • Chicago Bar Association (member of the Judicial Evaluation Committee)
  • Intellectual Property Owners Association
  • Seventh Circuit Bar Association

Short Biography

Thomas L. Duston

Education

  • University of California Hastings College of the Law, J.D.
  • Columbia University, B.A.

Practices

Industries

Admissions

  • Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • Admitted to practice pro hac vice in various district courts throughout the U.S.
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas

Memberships

  • American Bar Association (ABA)

  • American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)

  • American Judicature Society

  • Chicago Bar Association (CBA)

  • Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO)

  • Seventh Circuit Bar Association

  • Executives' Club of Chicago

News

Events

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