Richard J. Oparil

Richard is a partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property, Litigation, Food & Drug, and Government & Regulatory practices. He is also a member of the Dietary Supplements and Life Sciences industry teams.

Richard’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, regulatory enforcement, and public policy matters for life sciences clients in the dietary supplement, biotechnology, medical device, pharmaceutical, and related industries, ranging in size from the Fortune 500 to startups. Richard has successfully litigated and tried patent, trademark, unfair competition, trade secrets, and copyright cases in U.S. District Courts around the country. Richard also represents clients in unfair competition, false advertising, and trade regulation cases. He has more than 30 years of experience in all phases of litigation, from initial investigation through trial. Richard has also briefed and argued appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has filed amicus briefs for companies and trade associations at the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. Within the scope of his IP practice, he also handles technology licensing, strategic counseling, and due diligence matters.

Richard is also actively engaged in representing clients in regulatory enforcement and government investigation matters before agencies, such as the FDA, FTC, DOJ, and state Attorneys’ General. In addition, he assists and counsels clients with public policy issues before those agencies and Congress. For example, he has filed citizen petitions with the FDA on behalf of dietary supplement clients and has briefed members of Congress and their staff on patent eligibility and new dietary ingredient issues.

He has served as an arbitrator in dozens of cases and co-chaired the D.C. Bar’s Litigation Section. A Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated attorney, he was recognized in ALM’s 2013 “Legal Leaders: Washington D.C. and Baltimore Top Rated Lawyers.”