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Experience:
Deborah Ruff is a partner who focuses exclusively on intellectual property.
Deborah’s corporate and transactional IP focus includes extensive experience in evaluating, structuring, and managing commercial transactions, including IP due diligence for stock and asset acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, joint ventures, and strategic alliances involving US, foreign and multinational corporations. Major US and foreign corporations rely on her to structure such technology-related agreements as asset- and technology-transfer agreements, patent and trademark assignments, licenses, joint venture and collaboration agreements, and product distribution agreements. Her transactional work also encompasses secured lending and financing agreements involving patent, trademark, and technical collateral for financial institutions and corporate borrowers.
Deborah also has substantial experience in the strategic management and enforcement of US and foreign trademark portfolios for numerous clients, including a major US chemical corporation and a major foreign corporation involved in the retail food industry. She has developed worldwide trademark protection and enforcement programs for many clients, including a major foreign automobile manufacturer, a US toy company, and a US chemical corporation, and is responsible for developing trademark use manuals that various corporate clients rely on. In addition, Deborah advises corporate clients regarding trademark availability, procurement and protection, deceptive/comparative advertising and ambush marketing issues, and FDA labeling requirements. She has organized a joint US-Canadian seminar for the retail food industry involving trademark development, procurement, protection, advertising, and labeling.
As a registered patent attorney, Deborah is also responsible for the US and foreign patent portfolios of several corporations. She provides patentability, validity, and infringement opinions as part of her management of corporate patent portfolios. Her counseling further includes development of worldwide protection strategies for technologies, including employee patent and trade secret programs.
Deborah also has experience in intellectual property litigation, having represented clients in Federal court, as well as before the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the US Patent Board of Appeals and Interferences, and European Patent Office.
Deborah joined Mayer Brown in 1996. Previously, she held senior positions with two other prominent law firms in the Chicago area.
Notable Engagements:
Represented Chemtura in their sales of EPDM and rubber chemicals businesses.
Representation of The Diller Corporation in the intellectual property aspects of the sale of Formica Corporation and various foreign subsidiaries for $700 million.
Represented Starwood Capital Group Global in the intellectual property aspects involved in the EUR 660 million sale of the Taittinger champagne and Domaine Carneros and Bouvet-Ladubay wine and sparkling wine businesses.
Represented George Weston Limited in the intellectual property aspects of its $610 million disposition of certain assets located in the western United States to Grupo Bimbo, SA de CV.
Represented George Weston Limited in the intellectual property aspects of its $1.765 billion acquisition of Bestfoods Baking Company, a subsidiary of Unilever.
Represented The Dow Chemical Company in the intellectual property aspects of its $11.6 billion merger with Union Carbide Corporation.
Represented The Dow Chemical Company in the intellectual property aspects of its sale of the DowBrands businesses for more than $1 billion to S.C. Johnson & Son.
Representation of Chemtura in the intellectual property aspects of its stock-for-stock merger with Great Lakes Chemical, in which Great Lakes became a subsidiary of Chemtura (estimated equity value of $1.5 billion as of the date of announcement).
Representation of Oshkosh B'Gosh in the intellectual property aspects of its $312 million sale of the company to Carter's.
Representation of Chemtura in the intellectual property aspects of the sale of its Refined Products business to Sun Capital for about $80 million.
Representation of Starwood Capital Group Global, LLC in the intellectual property aspects of its $365 million acquisition of a controlling interest in Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.
Representation of Formica Corporation in the intellectual property aspects of its $427 million corporate restructuring.
Representation of the largest of the Golden Harvest companies in the intellectual property aspects involved in the sale of a 90-percent interest in those companies to Syngenta for about $180 million.
Represented Nestlé in the intellectual property aspects of its $2.6 billion acquisition of Chef America, Inc., the maker of the Hot Pockets®, Lean Pockets®, and Croissant Pockets® line of frozen hand-held sandwiches.
Represented Nestlé in the intellectual property aspects in connection with the bidding process for the Adams confectionery division (which includes Trident®, Dentyne®, Chicklets® and Halls®) of Pfizer, Inc. This business was ultimately purchased by Cadbury-Schwepps for $4.2 billion.
Representation of Dow Chemical in the intellectual property aspects of the divestiture, effected in connection with the Union Carbide merger, of Dow's ethyleneamines business to Huntsman.
Representation of Dow Chemical in the intellectual property aspects of the divestiture, effected in connection with the Union Carbide merger, of Dow's ethanolamines business to Ineos.
Representation of US Robotics Corporation in the intellectual property aspects of its sale to Platinum Equity LLC.
Representation of Pactiv Corporation in the intellectual property aspects involved in the sale of its Global Protective Packaging and European Flexible Packaging businesses for $530 million to AEA Investors, LLC, involving 24 companies in 14 countries.
Representation of Pactiv Corporation in the intellectual property aspects involved in its $60 million acquisition of the Plastic Packaging Division of Rock-Tenn Company.
Representation of Nestlé SA in the intellectual property aspects involved in the sale of its Ortega line of Mexican foods to B&G Foods Inc.
Representation of Sears, Roebuck in the intellectual property aspects involved in its disposition of Western Auto Supply to Advance Auto for $175 million plus 40 percent of the stock of Advance Auto.
Education:
Valparaiso University School of Law, JD, 1986, Purdue University, Graduate research (molecular genetics), 1981-1982, Purdue University, BS, Microbiology, 1981; Member, Alpha Epsilon Delta. |
