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OWE’s Litigation Practice: Recent Win at Trial and Three Quick Settlements

After a recent month-long trial in Alameda Superior Court, OWE’s Larry Townsend obtained a unanimous jury verdict in favor of a start-up client accused by a large publicly-traded company of misappropriation of trade secrets relating to technology in the field of energy recovery devices used in seawater reverse-osmosis desalination plants.

Given the potentially enormous cost of litigation, often the best result is a quick result. But what encourages litigation opponents to settle is not just a matter of costs. In both the courtroom and in negotiations, where positive outcomes depend on legal skills and a high level of applied knowledge, a firm’s strong reputation and proven ability are critical in creating optimal conditions for early and favorable settlement. In three recent cases those conditions, as well as early aggressive action by OWE, factored heavily in obtaining early resolutions of disputes.

Most recently, OWE’s Greg Owen, Noel Cook, and Emily Poole defended a technology start-up against a major technology company in a series of trademark opposition actions in the US and globally.  OWE commissioned an early trademark survey and provided the strong results to opposing counsel along with a prepared Declaratory Relief complaint that we threatened to file if a quick settlement could not be consummated.  The parties promptly reached a favorable global settlement.

In another case, Noel Cook defended a Fortune 500 client in a copyright infringement lawsuit and secured an outright dismissal of the action three weeks after it was filed. After investigating the facts, OWE sent a letter to opposing counsel asserting that they did not have sufficient grounds to allege infringement against our client, and threatened sanctions under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure if they did not dismiss the lawsuit.  They did so within days.

Finally, Noel Cook, Larry Townsend, and Emily Poole recently defended a prominent UK video game producer in a complex right of publicity / false endorsement lawsuit involving the use of a famous deceased historical figure’s name and likeness in a history-based video game. OWE threatened to file a motion to dismiss based on the First Amendment and California’s Anti-SLAPP statute, which led to a favorable settlement on the eve of the filing deadline.

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