GE's Head of IP Litigation Rejoins Covington
October 19, 2015
WASHINGTON, DC, October 19, 2015 - Covington announced that Richard Rainey has rejoined the firm as a partner in its intellectual property practice, one of the firm’s largest groups with more than 140 IP lawyers. A prominent IP trial and appellate litigator, Mr. Rainey previously served as Executive Counsel for Global IP Litigation at GE.
“Our patent litigation practice delivers tremendous results and value to a broad base of our clients across a variety of industries, and Richard adds even further strength to an incredibly strong team,” said Tim Hester, chair of the firm’s management committee. “Richard not only has strong technical credentials, but he also is an accomplished trial and appellate advocate in the patent bar. He will play an important role as one of our first-chair patent litigators, and we expect him to be among the next generation leaders in our IP practice.”
In his role at GE, Mr. Rainey and his team oversaw all of GE’s IP disputes around the world, including patent litigation in numerous countries, parallel proceedings in various patent offices, and other significant IP disputes such as cases involving theft of trade secrets. Among the matters he led was GE’s largest patent jury verdict against one of its most significant competitors. Mr. Rainey also argued and won two cases for GE in the U.S.Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In addition, Mr. Rainey assisted with internal investigations and enforcement matters relating to data theft and cyber threats and played a significant role on the policy front advocating for GE’s positions in intellectual property at the state, federal, and international levels.
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have worked at a company like GE and with GE's incredible legal team, but I missed the litigation front lines. I am very excited to return home to Covington and help the firm continue to build upon its strong core of IP litigators around the world,” said Mr. Rainey. “Covington’s very talented cadre of young patent litigation partners, its exceptional ITC practice, and the ability to re-engage with my previous clients all drew me back to the firm.”
Before joining GE, Mr. Rainey was a partner at Covington where he served as lead counsel for many clients in a wide range of intellectual property matters in federal trial and appellate courts, as well as before the International Trade Commission in Section 337 actions. He has been involved in more than 50 patent appeals before the Federal Circuit, prevailing in all but one of the many cases he has argued before that Court. His clients have included companies in the software, electronics, financial services, internet, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, telecommunications, automotive, oil and gas, textile, and industrial chemicals industries. In addition to litigation, his practice includes intellectual property counseling and patent prosecution.
Mr. Rainey received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.
He also clerked for the Honorable Roderick McKelvie in the U.S. District Court in Delaware and the Honorable Randall Rader in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.