Find Lawyers in Los Angeles, California for Litigation - Intellectual Property
Practice Area Overview
IP is protected by specific laws relating to patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets; these laws acknowledge an innovator’s ownership of his or her novel creation and give that innovator the exclusive right, for a defined period of time, to use and benefit from it.
Litigation of IP matters takes several forms. One involves patents, which cover inventions on designs and products, as well as the processes through which they are manufactured or used. Patent infringement refers to the unauthorized use of a patented invention, at which point litigation can arise. A “Hatch-Waxman” litigation is a particular kind of patent dispute involving generic versus brand pharmaceutical products and processes and infringement of the patent(s) covering these.
Trademarks and copyrights also can be infringed. A trademark can be a symbol, logo, word, sound, color, or name that identifies the source of a product and distinguishes it from that of others. Copyrights protect works of authorship, such as writings, music, and art. Copyrights and trademarks grant holders exclusive rights to use their works, and an unauthorized use can lead to litigation. Trade secrets are information that companies keep secret to give them an advantage over competitors. Misappropriation of trade secrets is a typical litigation scenario when such information is taken without authority.
Licensing disputes can arise that relate to any of these protections. A licensing agreement is essentially a contract between an IP rights owner and an entity authorized to use such rights, usually in exchange for an agreed upon fee or royalty. The extent to which parties do or do not follow the terms of that contract often engenders this type of litigation.
Other kinds of IP litigation can include variations of the above, including trademark dilution, “cybersquatting,” pirated and “knock-off” commercial goods, domain name disputes, domestic and foreign customs seizures, and unfair competition.
IP assets are a valuable foundation of any successful venture, so when unauthorized use occurs, disputes are bound to arise.
Jennifer S. Baldocchi is Co-Vice Chair of the Paul Hastings Employment Department and the Chair of the International Employee Mobility and Trade Secrets practice. Her practice focuses on employee mobility and intellectual property, including trade secrets, covenants not to compete, unfair competition, and fiduciary duties. She is ranked by Chambers USA, recognized by The Legal 500 US for trade secrets litigation and non-contentious matters, and recognized as both a Top Labor and Employment La...
Ian Ballon is an intellectual property and Internet litigator who represents clients in copyright, DMCA, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity, privacy, security, software, database and Internet disputes and in the defense of data privacy, behavioral advertising and other Internet-related class action suits. Mr. Ballon, who splits his time between the firm's Silicon Valley and LA offices, is the author of the four-volume legal treatise, E-Commerce and Internet Law: Treatise With Forms 2...
Bennett Bigman is a partner at Russ August & Kabat. He is a member of the Media & Entertainment and Litigation & Trial groups. His practice focuses on all aspects of the entertainment industry, representing clients in the film, television and music industries in matters involving accounting and profit participation claims, copyright and trademark disputes, right of publicity, idea submissions, breach of contract, defamation, employment and insurance. He is particularly experienced...
Vincent H. Chieffo is an entertainment and media litigator with significant trial and appellate experience. His practice also includes entertainment transactional work. His litigation experience encompasses disputes throughout the entertainment business, including those involving copyright and trademark infringement, right of publicity, defamation, the rights of estates and heirs in copyrights and other entertainment assets, idea submission, royalties and participations, and distribution and ...
Luke is a trial lawyer who focuses his practice on intellectual property and complex commercial cases. He has first-chaired many civil jury trials, obtaining some of the highest jury awards in venues throughout the country. His practice extends to appeals; he has appeared and argued before state and federal courts of appeals, including the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Luke also appears and argues before the United States Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and ...
With more than 40 years in the legal industry, Greg David Derin, Esq. joined Signature Resolution as a mediator and arbitrator in 2020. For nearly 20 years, Mr. Derin has successfully assisted parties in resolving more than a thousand complex matters. He is often called upon to resolve disputes after previous attempts have failed. Parties consistently attribute their successful resolutions to Mr. Derin's persistence, attentive and open facilitation of a process designed to encourage creative ...
John M. Gatti is a partner in the firm's entertainment litigation practice and resident in the Los Angeles office. His practice includes 31 years of litigation and trial experience in state, federal and bankruptcy courts as well as representing individuals and corporations in complex business and commercial lawsuits. John has trial experience across a variety of industries, with a specific emphasis in the entertainment, media and sports industries. John’s experience in the entertainment...
David Grace is a leader in the field of brand protection, intellectual property, entertainment and advertising, providing both transactional and dispute resolution services. For more than 30 years, Dave has helped clients develop, cultivate and protect their brands and intellectual property rights from creation to globalization. He assists a wide spectrum of clients, from startups to iconic brands and Fortune 500 companies, including entertainment and media companies, major financial institut...
Deborah Greaves provides advisory and legal services for clients in the fashion and consumer goods industries. Her key practice areas include intellectual property, brand enforcement, corporate creation and governance (public/private, domestic/international), regulatory and social compliance, government affairs, business transactions (licenses, leases, manufacturing agreements, distribution agreements, consulting agreements, etc.), employment, retail and wholesale operations, supply chain int...
Over more than 35 years of practice, David Halberstadter, the firm's deputy general counsel, has established a reputation among leading entertainment companies as a no-nonsense advisor and talented litigator. When other options fail, he aggressively pursues and defends lawsuits, with a focus on intellectual property-related disputes. Across all his work, clients value David's clear thinking, strategic wisdom and practical business sense. David represents motion picture studios, production com...
Julia R. Haye’s entertainment practice includes successful resolution, at trial and in arbitration, of complex business disputes involving profit participation, motion picture production and distribution, rights ownership, copyright and trademark infringement, idea submission, and other entertainment-related conflicts and contractual disputes. Her counsel and interests encompass every genre of entertainment and media, including studio and independent motion pictures, television, music, ...
Mr. Iser specializes in the areas of intellectual property, entertainment, commercial, real estate and employment litigation, including the defense of nationwide class action lawsuits. He handles complex, high-profile matters around the country for clients including Mattel, SeaWorld, eBay, Univision, Roland Corporation, and iconic musical artists including Jackson Browne and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Mr. Iser is the Managing Partner of KWIKA. In the area of intellectual property, Mr. Iser co...
Mr. Kinsella is a nationally known trial lawyer specializing in the areas of entertainment and intellectual property litigation. During his career, he has successfully tried numerous cases in state and federal courts, and in private arbitrations and administrative proceedings, involving a wide array of disputes, from copyright and trademark infringement matters to antitrust and securities litigation. Mr. Kinsella has represented large domestic and international corporations, major motion pict...
Michael Kump is a problem solver who fights tenaciously to protect his clients’ valuable intellectual property and contractual rights. Representing plaintiffs and defendants in a broad and sophisticated litigation practice for over thirty-five years, Mr. Kump has extensive experience and success inside and outside the courtroom in all aspects of intellectual property, entertainment, contract, trade secrets, and antitrust litigation. He represents a wide array of corporate and individual...
Irene Lee is a partner at Russ August & Kabat, where she focuses her practice on all aspects of intellectual property, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and right of publicity. Irene helps clients navigate through the issues surrounding creating, acquiring, securing, protecting, defending, enforcing, licensing, and monetizing their rights in various forms of intellectual property worldwide and counsels them on risk management. Irene has been featured in WTR 1000 &ndash...
Mieke Malmberg’s practice focuses on complex, high-stakes intellectual property litigation and she is experienced litigating patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret disputes throughout the United States, as well as Section 337 investigations before the International Trade Commission. Mieke is experienced in the full spectrum of patent litigation from single-patent, single-defendant disputes to multi-district and multi-defendant actions, Paragraph IV disputes under the Hatch-Waxman...
Frank Merideth has wide-ranging litigation experience in state, federal, bankruptcy and tax courts, and administrative proceedings. He also has considerable experience in arbitrations and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. Frank has tried over 75 cases (jury and non-jury) in both state and federal courts as well as before specialized tribunals. His primary focus is in trying complex multi-party litigation, including class actions, actions related to mergers and acquisitions, false...
Ekwan E. Rhow is a name principal at Bird Marella. A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, he is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School. Chambers & Partners has recognized Ekwan as a “trial expert” who is often called upon to “undertake high-profile work” and “bet-the-farm litigation,” and has described him as “articulate, brilliant in court and very hard-working.” Benchmark Litigation has named Ekwan as one of t...
Larry Russ is a founding partner and co-head of the litigation department of Russ August & Kabat. As an active trial attorney, Mr. Russ has focused on trademark, copyright, patent, business torts, trade regulation and advertising law and complex litigation. Mr. Russ has also worked extensively on antitrust and unfair competition matters. Directly after being admitted to the California Bar in 1978, Mr. Russ launched his career by successfully challenging Levi-Strauss & Co’s resal...
Joseph R. Taylor is a partner in our Media & Entertainment Litigation Group. Mr. Taylor represents individual and corporate clients from all over the world in litigation matters related to media, entertainment, intellectual property, sports, gaming, technology, hospitality, insurance and employment. He has tried and litigated to resolution hundreds of entertainment industry disputes over 30 years of practice. He often represents entertainment industry clients in matters against the six ma...
Diana Torres is an intellectual property and commercial litigation partner in Kirkland's Los Angeles and Bay Area offices. Diana focuses her practice on false advertising, unfair competition, trademark, copyright, and trade secrets matters, and has handled many high-profile matters for a wide variety of clients, including consumer product manufacturers, fitness service providers, entertainment and media companies, and Internet service providers. Diana also advises clients on compliance and co...
Ellisen Turner is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Based in the Los Angeles office, his broad IP practice includes patent and trade secret litigation and intellectual property transactions. Ellisen is an IP strategist who combines business acumen with deep understanding of IP law to support his clients’ business goals and maximize the value of their technology. Ellisen represents and counsels clients in complex commercial and intellectua...
Ms. Wagner has represented clients in a variety of litigation matters, including intellectual property, contract, and other commercial disputes. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (B.A., summa cum laude, 1997, Phi Beta Kappa) and the Law School at the University of Chicago (J.D., with honors, 2000), where she was the recipient of the Joseph Henry Beale Award for Legal Research and Writing. Ms. Wagner was listed in the 2018 and 2019 editions of Best Lawyers in ...
Jamil is a litigator admitted to practice in California. He represents clients in federal and state courts, including in matters involving copyright and intellectual property, employment, defamation, false advertising, and antitrust. Jamil is a Southern California native. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach, and his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. While attending law school,...
Yimeng Dou is a partner in the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group in the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Her practice focuses on patent, copyright, trade secret, and trademark litigation, post-grant proceedings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and proceedings before the International Trade Commission. Yimeng’s experience also includes contract, torts, and antitrust rights litigation, as well as intellectual property licensing and transaction...
Aaron Levine is a Senior Counsel in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Mr. Levine, whose practice is focused on complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, has experience handling all phases of litigation from inception through resolution. His clients include multinational corporations, energy companies, financial institutions, apparel companies, fashion designers, technology companies, and small business owners.
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