James E. Cecchi

James E. Cecchi — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus areas. Mr. Cecchi's patent-related work is concentrated in software and networked-gaming technology. His two tracked appearances both involve patents on mobile gaming, location-based wagering, and interactive entertainment systems asserted against DraftKings in the District of New Jersey. Notably, patent litigation is not his primary practice: public sources describe him as the founder and leader of Carella Byrne's consumer class action and MDL practice, with his most prominent matters in mass-tort, antitrust, securities, and consumer-fraud MDLs rather than patent cases.

Side preference. Both tracked appearances are defendant-side, serving as local counsel for DraftKings Inc. (0 plaintiff / 2 defendant). This aligns with his limited patent docket: in WinView IP Holdings, LLC v. DraftKings (3:21-cv-13405) he appeared alongside Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr as lead defense counsel, filing Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal motions on pleading standards under Bot M8 and Iqbal/Twombly. His broader career, however, is overwhelmingly plaintiffs' side — he has held lead or steering-committee roles in the Volkswagen "Clean Diesel," Takata airbag, National Prescription Opiate, and Mercedes-Benz emissions MDLs, among others. The DraftKings engagements appear to be an outlier, drawing on his deep bench of New Jersey district court experience.

Firm context & notable cases. Mr. Cecchi is a partner at Carella, Byrne, Cecchi, Brody & Agnello, P.C. (Roseland, NJ), where he has practiced since 1994, preceded by an AUSA stint in the District of New Jersey (1991–94) and a clerkship with Judge Nicholas H. Politan (D.N.J.). In the tracked cases, results were mixed but largely favorable to his client: in WinView, the PTAB invalidated all asserted claims of the '243 and '730 patents (leading to stipulation of dismissal), and in March 2026 the district court dismissed willful/induced/contributory infringement claims with prejudice while allowing direct-infringement claims on the '543 patent to proceed; in AG 18, LLC v. DraftKings (1:21-cv-15737, later DK Crown Holdings v. AG 18), a partial settlement resolved most asserted patents and PTAB/Federal Circuit proceedings largely favored DraftKings on the remaining '205 patent, though claim 18 survived.

PTAB / IPR experience. No evidence that Mr. Cecchi appears regularly in IPR/PGR proceedings; the IPRs in these matters (e.g., DraftKings v. WinView, IPR2026-00140) were handled by the defense teams he supported as local counsel. Bar / education. Colgate University (B.A., 1986); Fordham Law (J.D., 1989); admitted New Jersey (1990), New York (1991), Pennsylvania (2014), and the Federal Circuit (2004).