Merchant & Gould, an intellectual property law firm, today announced that B. Jefferson Boggs Jr. has joined its Washington, D.C. office as a partner.

Mr. Boggs is bringing to Merchant & Gould a diverse patent litigation practice, including special experience in Hatch-Waxman based patent litigation. Most recently, Jeff was lead trial counsel representing Watson Pharmaceuticals in its efforts to bring to market its generic forms of Mucinex, Mucinex D and Mucinex DM. After a two week bench trial, concluding in February 2011, the Court agreed with Watson, and ruled that Watson's ANDA formulations do not infringe the Orange Book patents at issue. Mucinex, Mucinex D and Mucinex DM are said by researcher IMS Health Inc., to have generated about $500 million in U.S. sales last year for Slough, England-based Reckitt Benckiser.

Mr. Boggs' patent career spans almost 30 years. In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Boggs has extensive experience in patent interference matters before federal district courts nationwide and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He also has extensive experience in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, and counsels clients on patentability, patent validity and patent infringement issues. Jeff is a former patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and holds a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas.

"We are very excited to have someone of Jeff's experience, caliber and experience joining our D.C. office," said Brian H. Batzli, CEO and Managing Director of Merchant & Gould. "His patent litigation experience, coupled with his background in patent prosecution and his experience with the USPTO, will serve as a competitive advantage for our clients within the region and world-wide."