Concentration

Patent, trademark and trade secret litigation

Summary

Michael Hawes assists companies seeking to resolve technology disputes, handling cases dealing with patent and trademark infringement, antitrust violations, trade secret misappropriation and violation of the intellectual property provisions of employment agreements.

Following graduation from law school, Mr. Hawes served as a law clerk to the Honorable William C. Bryson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.

Representative Engagements

• Alcatel USA Resources, Inc. (Eastern District of Texas, Judge Davis) Prosecuted two patent lawsuits concerning operating system, video streaming and network security technologies
• Applica Consumer Products, Inc. (International Trade Commission) Defended a proceeding seeking temporary and permanent exclusion orders based on infringement of a vacuum packaging patent
• Cirrus Semiconductor (Western District of Texas) Prosecuted a patent infringement case concerning computer graphics software technologies against two defendants
• Chicago Mercantile Exchange, New York Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade (Eastern District of Texas, Judge Davis) Defending a patent case concerning data compression patents
• Dell Computer Corporation (District of Delaware) Defended a patent case concerning internal personal computer configurations
• Elan Pharma (District of Delaware) Prosecuting a patent infringement case concerning nanoparticle technologies for drug delivery
• Enzo Biochem, Enzo Life Sciences and Yale University (District of Connecticut, Southern District of New York) Prosecuting patent infringement cases concerning polynucleotide sequence detection technologies
• Finger Interests, Ltd. (Trademark Trial and Appeal Board) Defended an opposition proceeding concerning Finger Interests' trademarks
• Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. (Eastern District of Texas, Judge Davis, Northern District of California) Represented Genesys in patent cases involving telephone call processing patents asserted by both parties
• Hunter Fan Company (Eastern District of Michigan) Defended a patent infringement case involving five patents claiming fan control devices
• Hydril Company, L.P. (Southern District of Texas, Judge Atlas) Prosecuted a patent and antitrust case involving proprietary connectors for conduits
• Liberty Media Corp. (District of Puerto Rico) Defending case involving patents claiming video on demand technology
• NCR Corp. (Southern District of Ohio, District of Oregon) Represented NCR in patent cases involving bar code scanning patents asserted by both parties
• Sai People Solutions, Inc. (Superior Court of Los Angeles County) Defended a trade secret case concerning confidential software information
• Samsung Electronics Co. (Eastern District of Texas, Judge Ward) Defended a patent case with five separate patents concerning LCD power control technologies
• Samsung Electronics Co. (Eastern District of Texas, Judge Everingham) Defended a patent case concerning cellphone software technologies
• SandenVendo America (Eastern District of Texas, Judge Everingham) Defended a patent case concerning vending machine technologies
• TD Ameritrade (Eastern District of Texas, Judge Ward) Defending a patent case concerning encryption technologies
• Tele-Communications, Inc. (later Comcast) (Southern District of New York) Defended an optical cable equipment patent case seeking over $100 million in damages through appeal
• Toshiba Corp. (District of New Mexico) Defended a patent case concerning semiconductor fabrication technologies
• Toshiba Corp. (Eastern District of Texas, Judge Ward, Northern District of California) Defended a patent case with three separate patents concerning microprocessor technologies
• Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. (Eastern District of Texas, Judge Folsom) Defending a patent case with two patents concerning digital music technologies
• Toshiba Corp. (Eastern District of Texas, Judge Ward) Defended a patent case with six separate patents concerning printer networking technologies
• WebEx Communications (Southern District of Texas, Judge Lake) Defended a patent case asserting three remote PC control patents
• Whirlpool (International Trade Commission, District of Delaware) Prosecuting and defending investigations and cases asserting refrigeration patents

Publications, Speeches and Presentations

Publications

• "Patent Case Law Update (2008-2009), Validity, Other Defenses, Equivalents, Relief, and the PTO," 25th Annual Institute On Intellectual Property Law, Galveston, October 2009
• "Spotting Antitrust Claims In Intellectual Property Cases," Intellectual Property Law Advanced Course, San Antonio, March 2009
• "Turning Back the Clock: Federal Circuit Abandons Recent Courtship With Dictionaries," The SciTech Lawyer, Fall 2005
• "Phillips v. AWH Corp.: U.S. Federal Circuit Revisits Patent Claim Construction Canons, but Leaves Them Largely Unchanged," News Exchange, online newsletter of the Licensing Executives Society, Britain and Ireland, August/September 2005

Speeches and Presentations

• "Patent Case Law Update (2008-2009), Validity, Other Defenses, Equivalents, Relief, and the PTO," 25th Annual Institute On Intellectual Property Law, Galveston, October 2009
• "The Antitrust Doctrine and Its Edges," Intellectual Property Law Advanced Course, San Antonio, March 2009
• "Licensing Upstream and Downstream Products," Licensing Executives Society, Houston Chapter, Houston, November 2007
• "Developing an IP Strategy for BioPharma and Life Sciences," Rice University Business School, September 2007
• "Handling Trade Secret Problems of Employee Turnover," Intellectual Property Law Update, Oklahoma Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section, Pottsboro, Texas, June 2005
• "Practical Trade Secret Protections," Intellectual Property Seminar, Houston, March 2003
• "IP for Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Seminar, Rice University Business School, Houston, October 2001