From back left; Gary Frischling, Robert M. ("Bobby") Schwartz, David Gindler; front left; Rebecca Carson, Morgan Chu.

Things didn't look so good for Irell & Manella client CBS Corp. when it was sued by a would-be class of music owners in 2015. They demanded hundreds of millions of dollars for unauthorized broadcast of their pre-1972 sound recordings. Sirius XM and Pandora Media had settled similar litigation for about $400 million.

"I think the plaintiffs' expectation was they wouldn't be litigating it, that we'd be settling," says Irell partner Robert Schwartz.

Then, during an early client phone conference, a member of the CBS Radio team remarked, "It's not fair. We're not even playing their recordings." In fact, CBS was using versions that had been digitally remastered for other labels years later.

Schwartz and Irell partner Victor Jih looked at each other and said, "Wait a minute …"

Nine months later, CBS was out of the case. Irell persuaded U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson that the remastered recordings contain sufficient original expression to put them beyond the reach of state copyright law. If upheld on appeal, the ruling will likely extinguish similar suits against iHeartMedia Inc. and Cumulus Media Inc.

That's just one of many high-stakes, high-value wins that make Irell The American Lawyer's IP Litigation Department of the Year. Others include a $506 million patent infringement verdict against Apple Inc.; a district court decision rejecting patent and antitrust claims against Gilead Sciences Inc.; and a U.S. Supreme Court order that preserved a landmark win on the patent eligibility of medical diagnostics.

And for a cherry on top, President Donald Trump has chosen Irell managing partner Andrei Iancu to head the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Department Size and Revenue     Partners: 22    Associates: 27    Counsel: 8

Department as Percentage of Firm:  55%    Percentage of Firm Revenue, 2016:  56%

Partners Gary Frischling and Keith Orso defended Gilead from a suit by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. It accused Gilead of illegal tying under the Sherman Act by marketing an HIV medicine known as TAF only as part of a fixed-dose combination, or drug "cocktail." Along with the suit, the foundation organized colorful protests outside Gilead headquarters.

But U.S. District Judge William Alsup rejected the foundation's theory, noting it could undermine the Food and Drug Administration's policy of encouraging the development of combination drugs. On appeal, the foundation has dropped its antitrust claims and now only seeks standing to sue over patent validity.

In 2015, Irell and the University of Wisconsin's tech transfer arm won a $234 million patent infringement judgment against Apple. The subject was "predictor" circuit technology developed by UW researchers and incorporated into Apple iPhone and iPad computers without the university's permission. Last year, U.S. District Judge William Conley more than doubled the award to $506 million, primarily to include royalties on sales during the litigation.

IP icon Morgan Chu, who tried the case with Frischling and others, says he's especially proud that three Irell associates, including a first-year, got to handle some witness testimony, "on the battlefield of a trial, while the shooting is going on."

Schwartz drew on Irell's young attorneys too, tasking them in the CBS case with locating an expert witness to testify about remastering. The associates pored over "tons of CDs" before determining that music engineer William Inglot would be the best choice, he says.

Along with saving his client millions, Schwartz believes the ruling will bring clarity to an issue that's generated conflicting rulings all over the country. In the entertainment industry, "Every time you mention pre-72, people say, 'Oh, what a mess,'" says Schwartz. "This will help clean it up."

Irell also scored at the Supreme Court, preserving a Federal Circuit decision that ruled a groundbreaking method for testing pregnant mothers for birth defects was not eligible for patent protection. Partner David Gindler helped Ariosa Diagnostics Inc. withstand a big amicus push from the biotech industry, not to mention dissenting opinions from multiple Federal Circuit judges.

Looking ahead, Irell says it has joined the Gilead Sciences team fighting a $2.5 billion verdict over hepatitis vaccine patents in post-trial motions. Irell is also representing Fundamental Innovation Systems International in asserting BlackBerry patents on USB fast-charging technology against Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc.