Patent lawyer faces $5.9M malpractice suit over wrong bra-insert dimensions
A BigLaw attorney got the drawings right in a patent application for silicone bra inserts intended to enhance the purchaser’s cleavage.
But Bernard Codd of McDermott Will & Emery didn’t accurately describe the inserts in the written portion of a 2009 patent application, leaving now-former client Debra MacKinnon without enforceable rights, contends her current legal counsel, Joseph Gioconda. He has filed a malpractice suit on MacKinnon’s behalf in New York state court seeking $5.9 million in damages from Codd and the law firm, according to the New York Daily News.
Part of the problem, Gioconda tells the newspaper, was that Codd didn’t submit the draft application to MacKinnon for her review until the day before it was due to be filed.
The New York Post says the suit accuses Codd of reversing the measurements of the thickness of the insert and its length from sternum to armpit, even though MacKinnon allegedly provided him with an accurate diagram.
The inserts, which sold for $58, are one of the products offered by MacKinnon’s $120-million-a-year company, Zephyr Inc.
“It is unfortunate that Zephyr has filed this lawsuit, but we are confident that the firm will prevail,” a McDermott Will & Emery told the Daily News.
