Paul A. Ainsworth

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Paul A. Ainsworth — Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox

Specialty / focus areas. Ainsworth's practice centers on patent litigation, with a deep concentration in Hatch-Waxman/ANDA pharmaceutical disputes and a secondary emphasis on trade secrets under the Defend Trade Secrets Act. Firm and directory profiles describe client work spanning pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, chemical manufacturing, and consumer products. His tracked appearance — the consolidated Delaware ANDA litigation over Harmony Biosciences' WAKIX® (pitolisant) — fits that pharma core: it turns on polymorph/crystalline-form claim construction and solid-state analytical evidence (XRPD and ssNMR) for U.S. Patent Nos. 8,486,947 and 8,207,197. Beyond pharma, court and ITC records show him handling water-filtration technology (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1294, as lead counsel for complainant Brita LP) and construction/road-milling equipment, so the technical range is broader than pharma alone.

Side preference. The authoritative case list shows one appearance, on the plaintiff side (1 plaintiff / 0 defendant). That single data point is not representative of his overall practice: firm-sourced bio material states he has led teams on more than twenty patent cases "serving both innovator and generic drug clients," and public dockets show him acting for generic-side defendants (Teva in the Narcan® and Subsys® matters, Sandoz in rituximab, Lannett in Suprep®) as well as for innovator-side complainants (Brita in the ITC). In short, he is a both-sides Hatch-Waxman and ITC litigator; the tracked record reflects only the plaintiff-side Harmony engagement.

Firm context. He is currently at Sterne Kessler (Washington, D.C.), described by the firm as a director in the Trial & Appellate Practice Group. He joined the firm in 2012 as Of Counsel in the litigation group and was elected a director in January 2014. Before joining Sterne Kessler he was a senior associate at Covington & Burling, and he began his career as a law clerk to the Honorable Sue L. Robinson, U.S. District Judge for the District of Delaware. Note: the tracked-case metadata lists him as "of counsel," which reflects an earlier docket entry rather than his present title.

Notable matters. Verifiable results include Adapt Pharma Operations v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA (D.N.J.), where the Federal Circuit affirmed invalidation of Adapt's four Narcan® patents as obvious — a Teva win in which he was part of the Sterne Kessler trial/appellate team; and a $12.9 million win over Caterpillar for Wirtgen (2024), litigated with co-counsel. He is a contributing author to Patent Office Litigation (2d ed., Westlaw, 2017), Pre-ANDA Litigation (3d ed., ABA, 2022), and ANDA Litigation (3d ed., ABA, 2019).

PTAB / IPR experience. He appears regularly in PTAB proceedings. USPTO filings show him as trial counsel on a series of pharmaceutical IPRs (e.g., the Amneal/Galderma doxycycline proceedings, IPR2013-00368 and -00372 among others), and firm/podcast profiles state he "frequently represents clients in proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board."

Bar / education. Member, State Bar of Maryland and District of Columbia (a third-party directory also lists West Virginia); J.D., William & Mary Law School (sources give 2003 and 2004 as the graduation year); B.A. in Political Science, The George Washington University.