Michael J. Garvin
Practice Areas
Industries
Education
- College of William and Mary, J.D., 1984
- Miami University, B.S., 1981
Bar & Court Admissions
Michael is a partner in the Vorys Cleveland office and a member of the litigation and technology and intellectual property groups. His practice focuses on intellectual property and technology litigation, particularly patent litigation, including the prosecution and defense of patent infringement cases in the computer, telecommunications, medical device, electrical and mechanical fields; the prosecution of anti-piracy cases; the prosecution of software performance cases; and the prosecution and defense of copyright, trademark, trade secret and non-competition actions.
Michael has tried more than 30 cases and other contested hearings, and has appeared as counsel in more than 75 patent infringement lawsuits, as well as dozens of trademark infringement, copyright infringement and trade secret lawsuits.
Notable experience includes:
- Obtained a jury verdict of trademark infringement on behalf of a major brewery against the producer of a root beer branded similarly to the client’s iconic marks
- Defeated a motion for preliminary injunction in a patent infringement lawsuit which, if granted, would have shut down the client’s manufacturing facilities
- Obtained a jury verdict of nearly $10 million in a dispute between a foreign high technology equipment manufacturer and a U.S. distributor
- Representing a family-owned company in business for more than 100 years in patent infringement lawsuits against sellers of products competing with the client’s market-leading automotive electronics products
- Defeated a motion for preliminary injunction sought against a major consumer products brand owner that would have forced the client to recall an entire product line sold through several of the world’s largest general and specialty retail outlets
- Successfully defended one of the world’s largest retailers and its supplier in trade dress and copyright litigation alleging millions of dollars in damages
- Prosecution of anti-piracy cases for a major international software developer
Michael received his J.D. from the College of William and Mary and his B.S. from Miami University.
Professional and Community Activities
- American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation Committee, Past co-chair
- Intellectual Property Owners Association, Member, 2017
Teaching/Speaking Engagements
- CMBA International Law Section Meeting, 10/4/2012
Honors & Awards
- The Best Lawyers in America, Cleveland Litigation - Intellectual Property “Lawyer of the Year,” 2019
- The Best Lawyers in America, Cleveland Patent Law "Lawyer of the Year," 2014
- The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation - Intellectual Property, Patent Law, Trademark Law, 2014-2020
- Chambers and Partners, Leading Lawyer in Intellectual Property, 2013-2019
- IP Star, Managing Intellectual Property magazine, 2014-2017
- Ohio Super Lawyers, Business Litigation and Intellectual Property Litigation, 2004, 2007-2020
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer Review Rated
News
- 12/9/2019Vorys is pleased to announce that 39 attorneys from the firm have been named 2020 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
- 8/15/2019One hundred and thirteen lawyers from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2020.
- 4/26/2019Vorys announced that 30 of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized among the leading practitioners in the country in the 2019 edition of Chambers USA.
- 12/5/2018Vorys is pleased to announce that 48 attorneys from the firm have been named 2019 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
- 8/15/2018One hundred and thirteen lawyers from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2019.
- 8/15/2018Nine lawyers from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP were recently named 2019 Lawyers of the Year by Best Lawyers.
- 5/4/2018Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease is pleased to announce that 32 of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized among the leading practitioners in the country in the 2018 edition of Chambers USA.
- 12/5/2017Vorys is pleased to announce that 56 attorneys from the firm have been named 2018 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
- 11/9/2017
- 8/17/2017One hundred and eight lawyers from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2018.
- 5/26/2017Vorys announced that 30 of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized among the leading practitioners in the country in the 2017 edition of Chambers USA.
- 2/21/2017Michael Garvin, a partner in the Vorys Cleveland office, was quoted in a Technology Transfer Tactics story about a patent infringement lawsuit filed against Gilead Sciences by the University of Minnesota.
- 12/2/2016Vorys is pleased to announce that 58 attorneys from the firm have been named 2017 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
- 8/15/2016One-hundred and eleven lawyers from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2017.
- 6/14/2016Michael Garvin, a partner in the Vorys Cleveland and Akron offices, was featured in an Intellectual Property Law360 article regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to uphold the Federal Circuit's strict test for awarding enhanced damages in patent cases.
- 5/27/2016Vorys announced that 36 of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized among the leading practitioners in the country in the 2016 edition of Chambers USA.
- 12/2/2015Vorys is pleased to announce that 63 attorneys from the firm have been named 2016 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
- 8/17/2015One-hundred and eighteen lawyers from Vorys were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2016.
- 5/21/2015Vorys is pleased to announce that two Vorys partners, Vincent DeLuca and Michael Garvin, have been named to the Managing IP 2015 IP Stars List.
- 5/19/2015Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease is pleased to announce that 39 of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized among the leading practitioners in the country in the 2015 edition of Chambers USA.
- 12/3/2014Vorys is pleased to announce that 74 attorneys from the firm have been named 2015 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
- 7/24/2014Mark Watkins, a partner in the Vorys Akron office, and Michael Garvin, a partner in the Vorys Cleveland office, were profiled in an IP Law360 story titled “Vorys Strengthens IP Team With 2 Partners From Hahn Loeser.” The story was about their move to Vorys.
- 7/21/2014Mark A. Watkins and Michael J. Garvin, two of Ohio’s most experienced intellectual property attorneys, have joined Vorys as partners.
Events
- 1/21/2016Vorys Partner Michael Garvin was a speaker at the 20th Annual Intellectual Property Law: The Year in Review hosted by the Law Society of Upper Canada on January 21, 2016.
- 9/26/2013Vorys Partner Michael Garvin was a speaker at the 23rd All Ohio Annual Institute on Intellectual Property on September 26-27, 2013.
Insights
- 4/27/2020On April 23, 2020, the Court ruled that, while it was an important factor for courts to weigh, willfulness could not be an "inflexible precondition" to recovery in a case of infringement of a federal trademark.
- 4/21/2020In Thryv, Inc. v. Click-to-Call Technologies, LP, the Supreme Court recently held that a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to institute an inter partes review (IPR) of a patent cannot be reviewed on appeal, even if the institution of the IPR was in violation of the one-year time bar in the America Invents Act.
- 4/2/2020The United States Supreme Court issued a ruling last week and upheld state sovereign immunity by striking down the 1990 Copyright Remedy Clarification Act (CRCA) as unconstitutional.
- 1/27/20202020 is likely to be a busy and influential year for intellectual property cases before the United States Supreme Court.
- 8/2/2018As recently as five years ago, third-party funding of litigation the United States was an anomaly.
- 1/4/2018For some savvy patent owners, enforcing patent rights through European Union (EU) courts has been a valuable tool in their efforts to extract value from their patent portfolios, whether those strategies focus on market exclusivity or monetization.
- 9/10/2015In August, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the federal appellate court with national jurisdiction over patent lawsuits, issued its decision in Limelight Networks, Inc. v. Akamai Technologies, Inc.
- 12/2014Michael Garvin, a partner in the Vorys Cleveland office and a member of the litigation group, authored an article for the Canadian Federated Press publication Intellectual Property. The article was titled “How "Inter Partes Review" Will Reshape Patent Litigation Advice.”
- 11/24/2014Michael Garvin, a partner in the Vorys Cleveland office and a member of the litigation group, authored an article for the Crain’s Cleveland Business/Legal Marketing Association (Ohio Chapter) 2014 Legal Guidebook.