Barry is a Chambers ranked IP litigator who tries cases in district courts throughout the country, at the USPTO, and at the ITC. A chemical engineer by training, Barry litigates patent disputes in the chemical, mechanical, and electrical arts, and has significant experience with trade secret, trademark, and antitrust litigation. In addition, Barry has successfully argued appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Outside of the courtroom, Barry assists clients with due diligence, opinions, and patent portfolio development.
Real-world industry experience distinguishes Barry’s practice. Before becoming an attorney, he worked for several years as a chemical engineer, first in a hydrosulfuric acid manufacturing plant, and then in various oil refineries on the East Coast, where he specialized in anti-foulant and anti-corrosion chemical technologies. Before joining the firm, Barry was a partner at Oblon McClelland Maier & Neustadt, a large intellectual property boutique in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was co-chair of the patent litigation and ITC practice groups. He also spent three years as a patent litigation associate at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C.
Barry has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America for the past several years in the fields of Intellectual Property Litigation, Patent Litigation, and Patent Law. He was named by Best Lawyers as Baltimore’s "Lawyer of the Year” for Patent Litigation from 2017 to 2019 and for Intellectual Property Litigation in 2021. In 2018, he was named by the Maryland Daily Record as one its Leadership in Law honorees. He is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell.
In addition to his practice, Barry has been active in the Maryland State Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Section for the past several years, and served as Section Chair in 2016 - 2017. He serves on the Board of Directors for Boys Hope Girls Hope Baltimore and recently finished serving a two-year term as the organization’s Chairman of the Board. Barry is also on the Board of Directors for the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore and the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore. Outside of the office, Barry has coached youth baseball and basketball for the Severna Park Green Hornets organization for the past several years, and is currently the league director for the high school recreational basketball league.
Barry serves on Womble’s Firm Management Committee and is the leader of the Firm's U.S. Chemicals Subsector (Manufacturing).
Representative Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Secured a favorable defense verdict after a jury trial before Judge Albright in the Western District of Texas. In 2021, Repeat Precision, a competitor in the oil and gas industry, filed a lawsuit against DynaEnergetics, alleging that one of DynaEnergetics’ products (a setting tool used in downhole perforating) infringed on one of its patents. Repeat Precision sought damages and an injunction to halt DynaEnergetics’ production and sale of the setting tool. On April 3, 2023, the jury concluded that DynaEnergetics did not infringe any asserted patent claims.
- Serving as first chair, Barry represented DynaEnergetics in three intellectual property litigations brought by GEODynamics in the Eastern District of Texas:
- After a four-day jury trial involving a method patent, in March 2017, DynaEnergetics obtained a complete defense verdict, including a finding of noninfringement and three different bases of invalidity for each of the patent claims. At a subsequent bench trial on the trademark “reactive,” Judge Payne issued a judgment canceling GEODynamics’ incontestable trademark, finding that it was generic.
- Barry led a team at the PTAB that successfully invalidated all asserted claims of a product patent in an inter partes review proceeding. The final decision was issued in March 2018.
- After a four-day jury trial in October 2018, DynaEnergetics obtained a complete defense verdict of a product patent, including a finding of noninfringement and invalidity of each of the patent claims.
- In only the fourth case that the Precedential Opinion Panel (“POP”) at the USPTO, consisting of Director Iancu, Commissioner Hirshfeld, and Chief APJ Boalick, has ever reviewed, and the first related to a Final Written Decision, Barry successfully urged the POP to rule in his client’s favor in Hunting Titan, Inc. v. DynaEnergetics Europe GmbH. The POP granted DynaEnergetics’ request for rehearing and its motion to amend in a closely watched decision that represents a paradigm shift in the scope of Administrative Patents Judges’ duties in PTAB proceedings.
- Barry led the patent team in an antitrust case involving allegations of sham patent litigation in the District of Minnesota for Graphic Packaging International, Inc. in a case brought by Inline Packaging, LLC. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Graphic, finding no liability, and the decision was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in June, 2020.
- Barry served as first-chair litigator in a landmark patent infringement case for client Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest glass companies and the leading windshield manufacturer for European cars. Saint-Gobain won a $10.9 million damages award against a Chinese windshield manufacturer, and the jury found the infringement was willful. The district court subsequently doubled the damages award and granted Saint-Gobain attorneys’ fees and costs for a total award exceeding $24 million.
- At the International Trade Commission, Barry has represented both complainants and respondents in several matters. As one example, he represented SMC Corporation in a Section 337 proceeding involving connectors used in pneumatic-control systems and was instrumental in the Commission’s finding of noninfringement, which was affirmed on appeal.
- Barry has successfully represented clients (both patentees and petitioners) at the USPTO in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings. Barry’s technical background, combined with his advocacy and cross-examination skills that have been honed through years of litigating patent disputes, make him ideally suited for IPR proceedings, either by themselves or in conjunction with district court litigation. For instance, he represented a defendant carpet tile manufacturer, Tandus Centiva Inc., in patent infringement cases in the Northern District of Georgia, inter partes reviews at the USPTO, and appeals to the Federal Circuit. Barry led a team that successfully defeated a motion for a preliminary injunction and then convinced the district court to stay the litigation. The USPTO subsequently canceled all of the challenged claims of three asserted patents, and the Federal Circuit affirmed.
- Barry also has significant appellate experience at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit emanating from district court litigation. In a seminal case involving the applicability of Section 102(g), Barry successfully argued that United States reproduction of technology conceived overseas does not qualify a United States manufacturer as a prior inventor under the statute. Solvay S.A. v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc., 622 F.3d 1367 (Fed. Cir. 2010)
Professional & Civic Engagement
- International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI)
- Intellectual Property Owners Association, Litigation Section
- Lehigh Lawyers Association
- Maryland State Bar Association, Intellectual Property Section, Chair, 2016-2017; Chair-Elect, 2015-2016; Membership Chair, 2014-2015
- Board of Directors, Boys Hope Girls Hope of Baltimore
- Board of Directors, University of Maryland School of Law’s Intellectual Property Entrepreneurship Clinic
- Board of Directors, Downtown Partnership of Baltimore
- League Director and Coach, Severna Park Green Hornets Basketball
Thought Leadership
Publications
- Co-author (with Ana Friedman and Julie Giardina), "Using Trade Secret and Patent Protection in Tandem for Comprehensive IP Coverage," IP Watchdog, June 14, 2022
- Co-author (with Jeffrey Whittle), "IP Enforcement Can Pay Unexpected Dividends in a Downturn”, Law360, April 2020
- Co-author (with Christine Dupriest), "Patent Rights: What the Federal Circuit Giveth, the Supreme Court Taketh Away?," The Federal Lawyer, Jan./Feb. 2013
- Co-author (with Jim Lennon), "Predicting Patentability in the Unpredictable Arts: A Look Back at the Federal Circuit’s 2012 Decisions on the Obviousness of Chemical Innovations," IP Watchdog, January 21, 2013
- "Patent Trolls Hiding in the International Trade Commission?," April 13, 2012
- "What Non-U.S. Companies Should Know About the ITC," April 3, 2009
- "There are Limits to How Tricky One’s Questioning Can Be," February 22, 2006
Presentations
- "Hey Alexa, Can You Get a Patent or Register for a Copyright?," Maryland State Bar Association Webinar, January 14, 2021
- Moderator, "Strategies for Uncertain Times: Management and Legal Perspectives for the Specialty Chemical Industry," Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) Webinar, December 8, 2020
- Co-presenter (with Kristen Cramer), “The Game of Monopoly: Antitrust Counterclaims in Patent Enforcement Actions,” Greater Philadelphia ACC In-House Counsel Conference, April 25, 2018
- “Litigators v. Experts: Expert Witness Sinkholes and How to Avoid Them,” MSBA IP Section, January 24, 2018
- "Obviousness Standard: Leveraging Latest PTO and Court Guidance – Overcoming Challenges of Obviousness and Attacks on Patent Validity," Strafford Webinar, June 1, 2017
- "Claim Construction Caselaw Update: Mechanical and Chemical Arts," American Intellectual Property Law Association Webinar, June 9, 2015
- "Obviousness Standard After the AIA: Leveraging Latest PTO and Court Guidance," Strafford Webinar, January 15, 2015
- Co-presenter (with Kristen Cramer), "Hidden Dangers When Choosing Outside Counsel and Teaming Up with Similarly Situated Defendants: Ethical Implications of Beauty Contests, Hot Potatoes and Joint Defense Agreements," Association of Corporate Counsel’s Greater Philadelphia Delaware Valley Chapter (DELVACCA), Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 4, 2014
- “Change is in The Air: Developments in Intellectual Property Law 2013-2014,” MSBA Conference, Ocean City, MD, June 6, 2014
- Co-presenter (with Kristen Cramer), “Anatomy of a Patent Dispute in 2014,” Association of Corporate Counsel’s Greater Philadelphia Delaware Valley Chapter (DELVACCA), Philadelphia, PA, April 3, 2014
Honors & Awards
- Ranked by Chambers USA as Band 1 for Intellectual Property in Maryland, 2021 – Present (Band 2, 2018 – 2020)
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (BL Rankings) in the fields of Litigation – Intellectual Property, Litigation – Patent, Patent Law, 2012 – Present
- Received the Best Lawyers® "Lawyer of the Year" Award in the fields of Litigation – Patent (Baltimore), 2017, 2019; Patent Law (Baltimore), 2018; Litigation – Intellectual Property (Baltimore), 2021; Litigation – Patent (Baltimore), 2022
- Leadership in Law, Daily Record, 2018
