DeForest McDuff, Ph.D.

DeForest McDuff, Ph.D.

Managing Director, Raleigh-Durham, NC
Email: DeForest@InsightEconomics.com
Phone: 919-446-5755
LinkedIn

DeForest McDuff, Ph.D. is a consultant and experienced expert witness in economics, business, damages, competition, and other areas. He provides economic analysis that is relied upon by clients, courts, and government agencies to support sound economic decisions. Dr. McDuff has been named as a nationally recognized economic expert in the IAM Patent 1000. He founded Insight Economics in 2017.

Dr. McDuff provides economic consulting and testimony in many areas, such as:

  • Damages: lost profits, reasonable royalty, business impact, loss of value;
  • Intellectual property: patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights;
  • Unfair competition: economic harm, unjust enrichment, false advertising;
  • Antitrust: market definition, restraints on competition, competitive impact;
  • Economic analysis: irreparable harm, balance of hardships, class certification;
  • Other areas: valuation, financial analysis, labor, employment, and more.



Dr. McDuff’s experience includes more than 125 expert reports, 75 depositions, and 25 trials and evidentiary hearings in courts across the country. His experience outside the courtroom includes regulatory analysis, fair market valuation, licensing, negotiation, product launches, strategic analysis, and other topics. He regularly works in the pharmaceutical, medical device, electronic, and software industries, among others.

Dr. McDuff is a teaching professor in the Department of Economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University, where he received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for his academic research in financial economics and applied microeconomics (awarded to 25 graduate students in economics nationwide each year). Dr. McDuff has published in peer-reviewed academic journals and widely reviewed industry publications. He graduated summa cum laude with bachelor’s degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Maryland.

Credentials:

  • UNC-Chapel Hill, Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Economics 
  • Princeton University, Ph.D. in Economics                        
  • University of Maryland, B.A. in Economics, B.S. in Mathematics


What courts say about Dr. McDuff:

“The Board found that [Party’s] commercial success evidence was ultimately “weak”… We reject [Party’s] challenge to the Board’s reasoning…”

Federal Circuit

“Having considered the arguments and evidence…, we agree with Petitioner that Patent Owner has not met its burden of…[showing] commercial success.”

USPTO PTAB – 2021

“We credit Dr. McDuff’s testimony and find… that Patent Owner’s insulin glargine patents may have precluded others from entering the market…”

USPTO PTAB

“At the outset, … [Party] does not challenge Dr. McDuff’s qualifications, which the Court finds are substantial.”

Central District of California

“In addition, the Court found Dr. McDuff’s testimony persuasive with respect to the “lack of nexus”…”

District of New Jersey

“Accordingly, we determine that Petitioner presents sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption of nexus between the commercial success… and the claimed method.”

USPTO PTAB

“…Dr. McDuff’s conclusions stem from his expertise in economic markets.”

Northern District of California

“…we do not agree that the [claimed benefits]… are attributable to the claimed method… we credit Dr. McDuff’s opinions, which stand unrebutted…”

USPTO PTAB

“The defendants offered unrebutted testimony from an expert in economics and pharmaceuticals…”

Federal Circuit

“We are persuaded, rather, by Petitioner’s arguments that the blocking patent would have deterred others…”

USPTO PTAB

“The Court notes… that [defendant] has made a substantial showing that the nexus between the commercial success and the [patent] is tenuous as best…”

District Court of New Jersey

“Dr. McDuff testifies that Patent Owner’s asserted evidence… does not represent a strong case… Again, we credit Dr. McDuff’s opinions… ”

USPTO PTAB

“[Party] has demonstrated irreparable injury… Loss of goodwill and market share destroys [Party’s] relationships with its end-use customers that have been developed over decades…”

US Court of International Trade

Dr. McDuff in the classroom:

“Your infectious energy and enthusiasm for the topic paired with how much you care about your students make you an outstanding professor and mentor. As I graduate from college and begin my life in the real world, I hope to emulate a lot of the values that you have displayed”

“Education must be your ‘calling'” because I can honestly say I have never had a class like this before. Everything flowed together so seamlessly, and the content was just so interesting and interactive. You are the best Professor I have ever had.”

“Your passion and enthusiasm for teaching the course definitely motivated me to give my absolute best effort on each of the term papers and in all of the forums.”

“This has been my favorite economics course at UNC, and one I will be sure to remember for a long time.”

“I can confidently say that this is my most favorite class I have taken in college, economics or otherwise.”

“I can honestly say that I enjoyed your class as much as any other that I’ve had at Carolina. It made me think deeply about every topic and reflect on my own life every single week.”

“This class was both eye-opening and incredibly motivating. You challenged my economic thought processes in broadly encompassing manors [sic] that I have never encountered.”

“Professor Mcduff was BEYOND passionate about the material which got the class excited to engage, debate, and learn. I came to class knowing that I was going to learn something interesting.”

Dr. McDuff named as Nationally Recognized Expert by IAM

The IAM Patent 1000 identifies top expert witnesses for patent analysis nationwide, stating: “Economic analysis often plays a crucial role in IP litigation, whether relating to the question of reasonable efforts in licensing disputes, commercial success in disagreements over patentability or most importantly, the quantum of damages to be paid for lost profits and as a reasonable royalty in infringement suits. Given the importance of patents as business assets and the significant sums at stake in compensation battles, choosing the right expert witness is imperative.”

IAM states: “Head of practice, DeForest McDuff, garners praise for being a “fantastic testifier who is exceedingly skilled and whip smart…He really digs in to present credible cogent analysis that moves the needle…The team at Insight Economics are excellent communicators and highly responsive; they have the ability to handle complex issues and come up with creative solutions.”

Read more on Dr. McDuff’s Bio at the IAM Patent 1000