Michael H. Bunis

Michael Bunis helps biotech, pharmaceutical, and other life sciences and technology clients to grow and protect their core competitive advantage, their intellectual property assets. With over 27 years of experience, he has successfully tried cases before juries and judges throughout the United States, where he is a go-to resource for a range of high stakes disputes including patent litigation, trade secret, commercial litigation, and other intellectual property disputes. His success in advising clients on defending or enforcing intellectual property rights is largely attributable to the way he approaches every engagement – beginning with a clear understanding of a client’s business goal. Michael then develops a critical “play book” for clients when they’re navigating the early stages of litigation, which helps to lay the groundwork for success through a more focused strategy heading into trial.

Clients also appreciate how Michael combines his trial experience with practical skills developed in part from his prior roles in industry. From 1999 to 2003, Michael served as Global General Manager for the Internet media company Terra Lycos.  In that role, Michael led an international shared services organization focused on the development of platform services supporting billions of dollars of advertising revenue.  

Michael’s clients have included Alnylam, HP Enterprises, New England BioLabs, and Azenta Life Sciences.

Recognition

  • The Legal 500 (2013-2022)
  • Best Lawyers in America (2016-2024)
  • A World’s Leading Patent Practitioner by IAM Patent 1000 (2018-2023)
  • Lexology Client Choice: Recognizing excellence in client service (2022)
  • “National Practice Area Star” and “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation 
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyer
  • BTI Client Service All-Star
  • “Patent Star” by Managing Intellectual Property (2022-2023)

Representative Engagements

  • Adimab, LLC v. LinkedUp Bioscience, Inc. and Tao Wang, No., Mass. Super. Ct: Counsel to Adimab in trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract dispute brought against LinkedUp related to highly engineered yeast strains, and technologies for cultivating and utilizing those strains to express and screen antibodies that bind to target antigens.
  • Hewlett-Packard Company v. Oracle Corporation, SCC Superior Court: Member of the trial team for Hewlett-Packard Company in jury trial in Santa Clara County Superior Court. Litigation related to Oracle’s unilateral decision to stop porting its software to HP’s Itanium mission critical server platform in violation of an agreement between the companies. After a five week trial, jury returned a verdict in favor of Hewlett-Packard – awarding $3 billion in HP’s favor and rejecting Oracle’s counterclaim entirely.

  • Counsel for Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in a PGR proceeding challenging a patent directed to compounds for preparing 18F-radiolabeled Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)-targeting conjugates.

  • EMC Corporation v. Pure Storage, Inc., D Mass: Representation of EMC in several cases relating to former key employees who left company to found commercial rival using stolen trade secrets. EMC has already obtained preliminary injunction in two of the cases. In addition, three arbitration matters are pending versus former employees for violations pertaining to key employee contract violations.

  • Lead counsel for publicly traded pharmaceutical company in dispute related to ownership of intellectual property directed to Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen.

  • Hewlett-Packard Company v. Rhode Island Department of Motor Vehicles, RI: Lead counsel for Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a dispute related to the implementation of a complex computer network system controlling the Department of Motor Vehicles for the State of Rhode Island.

  • Representation of major pharmaceutical company in a dispute relating to milestone payments.

  • NeuroLogica v. Mobius Imaging LLC, Mass Superior Court: Representation of NeuroLogica, a mobile CT manufacturer in trade secret action related to computed tomography, the design and configuration of detector arrays, scintillator crystals, and data acquisition systems.

  • Stat Medical Devices Inc. v. Facet Technologies, LLC, et al., D Del: Representation of Facet Technologies, LLC, a manufacturer and seller of reusable lancet medical devices designed for testing blood glucose levels in patent infringement action.

  • Represented Respondent Japanese manufacturer of probe cards in United States International Trade Commission Section 337 Investigation. Trial victory on behalf of client.
    In the Matter of Certain Probe Card Assemblies, Components Thereof and Certain Tested DRAM and NAND Flash Memory Devices, Investigation No. 337 – TA – 621

  • iRobot Corporation v. Robotic FX, Inc., D Mass: Representation of iRobot, a publicly traded provider of tactical military robots, in trade secret and patent infringement suit against industry competitor. As a consequence of the litigation, iRobot was awarded $300 million contract with the United States Military for supply of tactical robots to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Publications and Presentations

  • “Keeping Litigation and Prosecution Aligned,” moderator, Consero IP Forum for Life Sciences, December 2023.
  • “Fortifying the Vault: Strategies for Mitigating Trade Secret Theft, ” moderator, Consero IP Life Sciences Executive Roundtable, March 2022.
  • “Section 112 Enablement: What to Watch Out For,” moderator, BIO IP Counsels Committee Webinar, September 2021.
  • “Patents,” speaker, 19th Annual BBA Intellectual Property Year in Review, January 2019.
  • “Raising the Stakes in Patent Cases,” moderator, BIO IPCC Fall Conference, November 2018.
  • “On-Sale Bar Questions Leading Up To Helsinn At High Court,” co-author, Law360, August 2018.
  • “Could Your Cure Walk Out the Door?,” co-author, Corporate Counsel, January 2016.
  • “Halo V. Pulse: The Willfullness Debate Rages On,” co-author, IP Law360, May 2015.
  • “Peregrine Puts Hired-to-Invent Issues in Spotlight,” co-author, IP Law360.
  • “Searching for ‘Reasonable Particularity,’” co-author, Intellectual Property Magazine.
  • “Lawyers Weigh in on High Court's Patent Rulings,” quoted, IP Law360.
  • “You Need to Work Harder to Fight Trade Secret Theft,” co-author, IP Law360.
  • “Trade Secrecy: Massachusetts Update,” speaker, 16th Annual New England Intellectual Property Law Conference.
  • “Q&A With Choate’s Michael Bunis,” featured, IP Law360.

Professional and Community Involvement

  • Board Member for the Brookline Center for Community Mental Health
  • Member of the Federal Circuit Bar Association
  • Co-chair of the Boston Patent Law Association Trade Secret Committee
  • Co-chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Boston Bar Association
  • Adjunct faculty member of Boston University School of Law
  • Lecturer at the Gordon Engineering Leadership Program at Northeastern University
  • Member of the Choate Executive Committee

Education & Credentials

Boston University School of Law
JD, 1994, magna cum laude
University of Vermont
BA, 1989

Admissions

Massachusetts

New York

U.S. Courts of Appeals, First & Federal Circuits

Clerkships

Honorable Nancy Gertner
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Michael's Insights