Joan L. Eads is a retired partner in the Madison office of Foley & Lardner LLP. Ms. Eads represented clients in intellectual property matters, including patent, trademark, trade secret and trade dress litigations. She is a former vice-chair of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group.
Ms. Eads graduated from the University of Wisconsin (B.A., with honors, 1986; J.D., with honors, 1989). While in law school, she was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as administrative editor of the Wisconsin Law Review (1988-1989).
Ms. Eads was responsible for developing and managing more than 50 patent infringement cases with a wide variety of technologies at issue. She has been a member of the trial team in at least a dozen intellectual property jury cases.
Ms. Eads specialized in patent damages issues. She has conducted seminars and authored articles focusing on patent damages issues, including the damages chapter in the Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook. Representing the plaintiff, Ms. Eads first chaired the damages phase of the Fiskars v. Hunt patent case, which is the only reported case where the Federal Circuit has affirmed an award of future lost profits.
Ms. Eads has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.