Michael N. Rader

Michael Rader co-chairs the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Mike represents the firm’s clients as lead counsel in patent, trademark and copyright litigation matters in courts across the country and before the International Trade Commission.

Mike’s experience spans a variety of technologies such as medical devices, semiconductors, sporting goods, coffee brewing equipment and transgenic mice. Mike’s disciplined approach to case management has enabled him to litigate successfully, and with great efficiency for his clients, against some of the largest law firms in the country.

Representative Matters

Currently representing MStar Semiconductor in an ITC investigation involving liquid crystal display technology.
Lead counsel for The Jackson Laboratory in multiple patent litigations on transgenic mice. In one recent case concerning immunodeficient mice, Mike and his team secured a favorable ruling on a novel question of claim construction related to mouse nomenclature in patent claims. The Court then granted Jackson summary judgment of no infringement, after which the case settled with plaintiff making a substantial cash payment to Jackson. In a second case concerning Alzheimer’s disease mouse models, Mike helped Jackson achieve a rare and unusually direct intervention by the United States government to end the case. The National Institutes of Health granted Jackson retroactive “authorization and consent” to distribute the mice accused of infringement, requiring the plaintiff to proceed – if at all – against the government rather than Jackson.
Represents a major Japanese electronics company in patent litigations concerning technologies such as digital imaging, semiconductors, and graphics processing.
Won a $17M patent infringement settlement from Kraft for our client Keurig, on the eve of trial for infringement of Keurig's patent relating to brewer cartridges.
Together with Michael Albert, won Massachusetts’ largest jury verdict of 2007 in a patent infringement case for medical device company Diomed, Inc. in a trial against two infringers of Diomed’s patent on a method for laser vein treatment. Prior to trial, Mike’s deposition of the defendants’ technical expert led to summary judgment that Diomed’s patent was valid. In light of the summary judgment ruling, the trial focused only on infringement and damages.
Representing the defendant in a patent litigation pertaining to sporting goods, secured summary judgment that four of the five patents asserted by the plaintiff were invalid. This summary judgment ruling led to a favorable settlement for the defendant prior to trial.
Negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement of a client’s copyright infringement claim, without having to file a lawsuit, by persuasively presenting the client’s case to the infringing company’s counsel and executives.

Professional and Civic Activities

Mike serves on the firm’s Public Services Committee, which oversees pro bono matters. He also chairs the firm’s Charitable Contributions Committee.

Mike litigates pro bono unemployment appeals on behalf of clients referred to him by the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association. He also trains others in the firm to handle these cases. Over the past several years, the firm has handled over 25 unemployment appeals on behalf of pro bono clients.

As an associate with the firm, Mike won a high-profile pro bono First Amendment case. In cooperation with the ACLU, Mike represented Alfie Kohn, a noted writer and speaker on educational issues who had been prevented from speaking at a conference by the Massachusetts Department of Education. Culminating a five-year legal battle, Mike secured judgment that the State’s actions violated the First Amendment, and obtained a $185,000 attorneys fee award and an acknowledgement of wrongdoing by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Mike's memberships include:

American Bar Association

American Intellectual Property Law Association

Boston Patent Law Association

Massachusetts Bar Association

Honors and Awards

Michael has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyers' "Rising Star" in the field of intellectual property law.

Also Noteworthy

Mike has lived abroad in Israel. At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he qualified for a formal “exemption certificate” after completing the most advanced course of Hebrew language study that the University offers.

Mike also has experience in Biblical and Talmudic law and has published a peer-reviewed article comparing the obligation to rescue in Jewish law and American civil law.