James A. Medford concentrated his practice primarily on intellectual property litigation, white-collar criminal defense and international business agreements with an emphasis on intellectual property and the CISG. His litigation practice emphasized patent infringement, unfair competition, trademark and trade secret litigation.
Jim’s criminal law practice emphasized white collar criminal defense, especially qui tam cases and Medicare fraud and abuse counseling, investigations and trials. He tried numerous criminal cases to a jury verdict, including criminal antitrust bid-rigging cases as well as crimes of violence.
He is a member of the White Collar Crime Committee of the ABA Section of Criminal Justice, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He was actively involved defending hospitals in HHS and Justice Department national initiatives such as lab unbundling and pneumonia upcoding as well as regional matters such as MRI overreach.
Jim also provided intellectual property counseling to a number of large corporations, domestic and foreign, including licensing, joint research and development, and joint venture work in the NAFTA region, Western Europe (with emphasis on Germany, Switzerland and Denmark) as well as China and India.
He counseled and represented foreign companies regarding the formation and further representation of their US subsidiaries. He also oversaw patent prosecution for these companies in the US and coordinated patent and trade secret litigation and opposition proceedings in Europe with similar matters in the United States. His clients included Evonik Corporation, Emery Oleochemicals GmbH; Ducon GmbH and Genan Inc.
After 42 years with the firm Smith More Leatherwood LLP, Jim retired from the practice of law. He was a retired partner and former Litigation Practice Area Leader at Smith Moore Leatherwood, which merged with Fox Rothschild in 2018.
Representative Matters :
- Evonik Stockhausen, LLC v. Peter Greven, et al. (M.D.N.C., Judge William L. Osteen, Jr.) (Prosecution of trademark infringement and unfair trade practices) (2010 – 2012)
- Nochar, Inc. v. Stockhausen GmbH & Co. (S.D. In.) Judge Larry J. Mckinney) (Defense of declaratory judgment action against owner of patent relating to use of superabsorber polymers and fire fighting application) ( 2005- 2006)
- Chambers Fabrics, Inc. v. Hoffman Mills Inc. (M.D.N.C., Judge William L. Osteen) (Defense of copyright suit relating to design of upholstery fabric) (2001 – 2002)
- Evonik Stockhausen, Inc. v. Attends Healthcare Products, Inc. (N.C. Superior Court) (Prosecution of breach of contract claims relating to supply agreement for supply of superabsorbent polymers) (2007 – 2009)
- The Best Lawyers in America, Arbitration, Commercial Litigation, Copyright Law, International Trade and Finance Law, Intellectual Property Litigation, Patent Litigation, Patent Law, Trademark Law, listed more than 15 years
- Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite, Patents/Intellectual Property, 2004-2007, 2009-2011
- Chambers and Partners, USA, Recognised Practitioner, Intellectual Property (2014-2015)
EDUCATION :
- Harvard University (J.D., cum laude, 1971)
- Johannes Gutenberg Universität(1968)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (A.B., 1967)
MEMBERSHIPS :
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- American Law Institute
- International Bar Association
- White Collar Crime Committee, ABA Section, Criminal Justice
- American Health Lawyers Association
COURT ADMISSIONS :
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of North Carolina
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
BAR ADMISSIONS : North Carolina
Cost
Rate : $$$