William H. Needle

Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Litigation, Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights

William H. Needle chairs the Intellectual Property Department and was the founding partner of the Needle & Rosenberg firm, which focused on intellectual property law. He is a member of the Trademarks, Copyrights, and Intellectual Property Litigation Groups, and a member of the mechanical practice team in the Patents Group. Mr. Needle has practiced patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret law exclusively over his entire 39-year career.

Mr. Needle has served as lead counsel in numerous intellectual property cases, including the copyright and trademark litigation representing the Cabbage Patch Kids® dolls, and the State of Georgia in infringement cases involving the VIDALIA® onion mark, as well as patent infringement actions involving diverse technologies.

Mr. Needle is an alternative dispute resolution neutral panelist with JAMS and serves as a mediator or arbitrator in complex disputes involving intellectual property issues. He has been an expert witness in several patent, trademark, and copyright infringement actions. On several occasions, he was appointed to serve as a Special Master by U.S. District Court judges in patent infringement cases in which his recommendations on validity, infringement, and damages in two actions were affirmed by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Needle also served on the committee tasked with formulating local rules regarding patent litigation for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Professional Activities

State Bar of Georgia, Fellow, Lawyers Foundation

Emory University School of Law, Adjunct Professor, licensing law

Georgia State University College of Law, Adjunct Professor, patent law

State of Georgia, Special Assistant Attorney General, intellectual property law, 30+ years

Recognition & Accomplishments

Georgia Trend magazine's "Legal Elite," annually since 2003

Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, first band, intellectual property law, annually since 2003

The Best Lawyers in America, intellectual property law, 1991-2010

Certified "Memphis in May" barbecue judge

Publications

"Trademark Law," chapter in Association of Technology Managers Technology Transfer Practice Manual, 3rd edition, edited and updated in Intellectual Property Management in Health and Agricultural Innovation, 2007

"An Intellectual Property Primer," supplement to the Fulton County Daily Report, pages 26-32, December 9, 1991

Board Memberships

Anti-Defamation League, Southeast Region, Board of Trustees

Georgia Institute of Technology, College of Sciences, Advisory Board

Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Advisory Board

The Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results (TI:GER®) program (collaboration between Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University School of Law that prepares students for commercializing new technologies), Advisory Board

University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Biomedical Engineering, Advisory Board

Emory University School of Law (J.D. 1970)

Georgia Institute of Technology (B.S., chemistry, 1967)

Georgia 1970

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit