(Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

Kevin Anderson has joined Duane Morris' intellectual property practice group as partner in Washington, D.C., from Wiley Rein, where he was chair of the firm's patent litigation practice.

Anderson spent more than 17 years at Wiley Rein, and he said his head was “still spinning” in his first week at Duane Morris.

He said he's known Woody Jameson, Duane Morris' intellectual property practice group chairman, for about a dozen years and talked to him about deciding to make the move.

“I've always admired them and the team they've had here,” Anderson said of Duane Morris.

Anderson's success at Wiley first earned headlines when he was an associate representing NTP Inc. in a patent infringement lawsuit against Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry. Anderson began working on the case on his first day at Wiley in 2001 and ultimately prevailed in 2006, scoring a $612.5 million settlement, which netted the firm a payday larger than its annual revenue at the time.

Anderson designed software and computer systems in the 1980s and 1990s before entering the law, and that expertise has continued to inform his patent practice. In making the move to Duane Morris, Anderson said his new firm's presence in Silicon Valley and Austin were important to him, as was the rest of the firm's platform and deep IP bench. At Duane Morris, he will focus on patent litigation, counseling and licensing; copyrights for technology companies; and trademark infringement.

Anderson said he had a general understanding of what conflicts would exist at Duane Morris before joining as he and his new firm had some shared clients, which he declined to identify. He has previously represented ARM Ltd., a semiconductor and software design company, and Verizon Wireless. He declined to say whether others will follow his lead from Wiley to Duane Morris, but it is clear that his new firm expects his clients to come with him.

“He'll fit right in with our patent litigation group,” Jameson said in a statement, “and we look forward to collaborating with Kevin to support the clients he is bringing to the firm and providing even greater bandwidth to support our existing clients' needs.”

In recent months, Wiley has added several laterals from government, particularly to its leading telecom, media and technology practice, and has promoted two partners—one associate and one of counsel—internally in that practice.