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Our People: George G. Matava |
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Education Trinity College Bar Admissions Colorado State Bar Professional Affiliations Colorado Bar Association Speaking Engagements "Trademark Law Update," Colorado Bar Association, 2000 Awards & Recognition Listed, Best Lawyers in America, 2006-2008 George G. Matava is a partner in Merchant & Gould's Denver office. Previously, he had led the intellectual property and litigation practices of major international and Colorado firms. George has extensive experience in all facets of intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark, copyright, e-commerce, trade secret and antitrust related claims. While he began his career as a general litigator in 1978, he has focused exclusively on intellectual property litigation for the last twenty years. George has litigated or tried patent cases in the fields of automotive products, biomedical devices, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, cable and satellite television, and biodegradable plastics, among others. In the trademark and copyright fields, George has litigated in the areas of brewing, real estate franchising, telecommunications, and consumer products. George has recently begun a mediation practice in all fields of intellectual property law, including patent, trademark and copyright as well as related antitrust and contract claims. As a mediator, he will generally take a proactive approach and provide substantive feedback. Over the last twenty-three years, he has played a leading role as an advocate in approximately seventy mediations and settlement conferences and has a reputation for finding practical business solutions for legal disputes. George is also available for arbitrations. George began his legal career in the Honor Law Graduate Program as a trial attorney for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. working primarily on espionage cases. Significant Representation Lippert Components v. Dexter Chassis (D. Del. 2007) - Defended Dexter in a patent ingringement suit involving trailer chassis design. After a year of litigation, plaintiff dismissed suit. Heil v. The Curotto-Can (N.D. CA; Fed.Cir. 2006) - Represented The Curotto-Can in a patent infringement suit involving a hydraulically powered mechanical device used in the refuse handling business. Successfully defended claims of infringement by prevailing in a Markman Hearing on claim construction and on summary judgment. The Federal Circuit affirmed the claim construction per curiam, No. 04-1590, 2004 WL 2600 134 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 16, 2004) aff'd per curiam, No. 05-1326, slip op. (Fed. Cir. Jan. 23, 2006). Veazie v. Gates Corporation (S.D. FL 2005) - Defended Gates and Trico Products in a patent infringement suit involving windshield wiper blade technology. Matter settled favorably just prior to trial. SSP v. Trico Products Corp. (N.D. N.Y. 2005) - Defended Trico Products Corp. against claims of unfair competition, monopolization, deceptive advertising and patent infringement involving windshield wiper blade technology. Case settled favorably to Trico. RE/MAX v. LendingTree (D. Colo. 2005) - Represented RE/MAX in a trademark infringement suit. RE/MAX charged that LendingTree referred its customers to non-RE/MAX agents even though a customer request specifically had been made for a RE/MAX agent. Case settled favorable to RE/MAX; terms are confidential. Pannonia Farm, Inc. v. RE/MAX (D. D.C. 2005) - Defended RE/MAX in a copyright infringement suit involving the copyrights to Sherlock Holmes characters. Case involved a RE/MAX commercial shown nationally. RE/MAX prevailed on motion to dismiss No. 01-1697, 2005 WL 670193 (D.D.C. March 21, 2005). Reese v. US WEST, Inc. (D. Colo.; Fed. Cir. 2003) - Litigated patent infringement suit for US WEST. Technology involved a call waiting and caller identification system. US WEST and indemnifiers prevailed on summary judgment at the district court level and prevailed on appeal. No. 02-1633, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 3996 (Fed. Cir. 2003). EchoStar Communications v. Gemstar/TV Guide (D. Colo.; W.D.N.C. 2002) - Co-counsel with several firms in defense of antitrust claims involving alleged patent misuse and counter-claims of patent infringement. Technology involved interactive programming guides for cable and satellite technologies. RE/MAX International, Inc. (1999-2007) - Trademark policing efforts throughout the United States. Fischer Imaging v. Trex Medical (D. Colo. 2002) - Litigated patent infringement suit for Fischer Imaging, the owner of two patents involving a stereotactic breast biopsy system used for the early detection of breast cancer. Case settled favorably in 2002 for $32.2 million. Fourth largest patent settlement in the United States for 2002. Fischer Imaging v. Hologic, Inc. (D. Mass. 2002) - Litigated patent infringement suit against entity which purchased assets from Trex Medical. This case involved same issues as above. US WEST v. Hatten Communications (TTAB 2002) - Litigated opposition proceeding for Qwest/US WEST in US Trademark Office to prevent registration of the US East trademark. After oral argument before the TTAB, favorable decision for US WEST. US WEST, Inc. v. US Web, Inc. (D. Colo. 2000) - Successful litigation brought by Qwest/US WEST against US Web for trademark infringement and dilution. After two years of litigation, US WEST obtained a settlement where US Web selected a different mark. US WEST - Filed and settled four trademark policing actions on behalf of its former subsidiary, Media One, which later merged with AT&T. In all of the settlements, US WEST negotiated with other entities for them to cease use of the mark "Media One." RE/MAX International v. eBay (D. Colo. 2000) - Represented RE/MAX in a successful litigation against eBay for a national commercial showing RE/MAX's trademarks and trade dress. eBay agreed to cease use of the commercial. ACX Technologies v. Merrick & Company (State Ct. Colo. 1999) - Litigated construction suit involving pilot plant for the manufacture of polylactide (the technology involved in the DuPont suit noted below). After two years of litigation, obtained favorable settlement for ACX. Settlement is confidential. Eveready Battery Co. v. Adolph Coors Co. (N.D. Ill. 1991) - Successfully defended Coors for parodying Eveready Energizer Bunny commercials. Eveready lost on its claims of copyright, trademark and trade dress infringement. Case reported at 765 F. Supp. 440 (N.D. Ill 1991). Birtcher Electro Medical Systems, Inc. v. Beacon Labs, Inc. (D. Colo. 1991) - Successfully defended trademark and patent infringement claims. The district court found the term "Argon Beam Coagulator" to be generic and denied preliminary injunction. Decision reported at 738 F. Supp. 417 (D. Colo. 1991). On the patent claims, plaintiff sought $6M in damages but was awarded none. After a three week trial, the jury concluded that defendant did not induce nor contribute to infringement. Case settled after jury verdict. Melco Industries v. Ultramatic (D. Conn. 1990) - First-chaired patent infringement suit in the field of computer driven embroidery machines. Represented the patent holder. After a three week bench trial in federal court in Connecticut, the defendant settled in a manner favorable to plaintiff. Melco Industries (W.D. Pa., N.D. Tex) - Prosecuted several copyright suits against companies which pirated Melco's software. Successful settlements were reached. Tol-O-Matic v. Proma Produkt - Und Mktg. (D. Colo. 1988) - Three week patent infringement suit involving rodless pneumatic cylinders. Represented the patent holder. The jury construed the claims in a manner which precluded infringement. Nevertheless, several issues were overturned on appeal before the Federal Circuit. Decision reported at 690 F. Supp. 798 (D. Minn. 1987); 945 F.2d 1546 (Fed. Cir. 1988). ACX Technologies, Inc. and Battelle Memorial Institute v. E.I. Dupont de Nemours (S. D. Ohio 1993) - Suit against DuPont for theft of patented technology involving polylactide, a biodegradable plastic. The ownership and inventorship of 50 patents were at issue. After two years of litigation, ACX received a successful settlement, the terms of which are confidential. Molson Breweries v. Coors Brewing Co. (E. D. Va. 1992) - Successfully defended Coors in a trademark infringement and trade dress action in the Eastern District of Virginia. On preliminary injunction, the court found no infringement of plaintiff's rights for Coors use of "Artic Ice" and its trade dress. No reported decision. Celestial Seasonings (1986-95) - Successful policing of intellectual property rights throughout the country. Brought approximately five lawsuits on behalf of Celestial Seasonings, all of which settled favorably. United Banks of Colorado (1986-90) - Successful policing of intellectual property rights. Prevailed in U.S. trademark Office opposition proceeding and settled favorably several federal court actions around the country. Snugli, Inc. (1986-93) - Successful policing of trademark rights through U.S. Trademark Office actions and federal court proceedings, including a federal suit in the Southern District of New York against Lever Brothers, Inc. Rolex, Inc. v. Samsonite Corp. (S.D.N.Y.: D. Colo. 1989) - Represented Samsonite in litigation involving the trademark "Oyster." Case settled favorably with Samsonite having the continued ability to use the trademark "Oyster" on luggage. Shoppin' Bags of Pueblo, Inc. v. Dillon Cos. (D. Colo. 1986) - Defended Dillon Cos., a supermarket chain, charged with predatory pricing. After a three week trial, jury found in favor of defendants. Drafted appeals brief and prevailed on appeal. Decision reported at 783 F.2d 159 (10th Cir. 1986). McClennan v. The Telluride Company (D. Colo. 1985) - Successfully defended antitrust suit against the Telluride ski resort. Filed counterclaims alleging sham exception to Noer-Pennington doctrine and obtained successful settlement. Arapahoe County v. Fisher Construction Company (Arbitration) 1984 - Second-chaired three week arbitration involving expansive soil issues involving county building. Plaintiff sought $4M in damages and was awarded $70,000. United States v. William Kampiles (N.D. Ill. 1979) - Successful espionage prosecution of CIA case agent who sold manual to KH-11 spy satellite system to the Soviet Union. Wrote appellate brief and argued appeal before the 7th Circuit. Decision reported at 609 F. Supp. 1233 (7th Cir. 1979). United States v. David H. Burnett (D. Md. 1980) - Successfully negotiated plea for major espionage prosecution involving CIA case agent who revealed identity of CIA case agents and intelligence activities in Indonesia to the Soviet Union. |
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