Darrick J. Hooker

With a reputation for having an in-depth understanding of his client’s businesses and their technologies, Darrick Hooker is a counselor and a litigator who routinely advises clients on a variety of intellectual property issues, with a focus on patents. He also helps protect clients’ trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights and has a thriving commercial litigation and entertainment law practice. Darrick strives to help his clients identify and manage their global IP assets. He is able to do this successfully as a result of his deep transactional and litigation experience, including but not limited to, the medical device, pharmaceutical, health care, computer software, chemical, mechanical device, industrial, renewable energy, utility, mechanical engineering, and automotive and transportation industries. Darrick assists his clients with licensing, risk assessment and management, internal governance, compliance, and due diligence investigations in connection with licensing transactions, mergers and acquisitions. He brings particular strength where intellectual property portfolio acquisitions involve issues of licensing and ”freedom to practice“ analyses of products, methods, and packaging. This includes conducting patent landscape investigations, and opinion work such as patentability, validity, non-infringement, and freedom-to-operate opinions. He is also skilled in conducting initial case evaluation and assessment, developing case and trial strategy and settlement options, managing all phases of discovery, as well as with Markman hearings, trial, and post-trial proceedings and appeal. As a commercial litigator, Darrick represents clients in matters involving complex cybersecurity, product liability and premises liability, along with breach of commercial agreements. In the entertainment sphere, he advises on intellectual property, licensing and other contract rights, publishing rights, rights of publicity, and branding issues.