Mark D. Litvack
Partner

Mr. Litvack is a partner in Pillsbury’s Intellectual Property section. His practice focuses on civil litigation, with an emphasis on intellectual property, technology issues, entertainment, distribution issues and class actions.

Mr. Litvack has been quoted in numerous online entertainment, news and legal publications, including CNN, The New York Times, The LA Times, CNET, New Jersey Law Journal, Small Business School, BeatCrave, and LAW.com's The Recorder.

• Augme v. AOL (United States District Court - Southern District of New York) - Successfully defended AOL when sued by Augme over the illegal use of the Boombox trademark. Our team defended the claim and the case was dismissed with prejudice.
• Martinez V Disney – CD Cal –Defended company in multi-million Americans with Disabilities Act and State Law claims – After a successful summary judgment motion and a whittling down of Plaintiffs claims, the case was tried with Plaintiffs obtaining less than $10,000 in damages.
• Grand v Sybron – Orange County Superior Court – Defended company against multiple business tort claims stemming from a failed business venture. Despite plaintiff’s pre-trial demand of $3 million, case was tried to a jury with a judgment against our client for $5000.
• Sony Ericsson v Clearwire (United States District Court - Eastern District of Virginia) – Defeated Plaintiff's request for a Preliminary Injunction seeking to prohibit Clearwire from nationwide use of its trademark
• AOL v. Accenture LLP (Virginia Circuit Court Fairfax County). Secured a $6+ million jury verdict against consultancy Accenture LLP in the wake of a failed technology project.
• Laskey v AOL – (California State Court Sonoma County) Obtained a Directed Verdict for AOL at close of Plaintiff’s Case in Product Liability Action.
• Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. v Orbit Communications – Successful arbitration against licensee of television programming.
• Grand Industries v Sybron Implant (California State Court Orange County) Lead Counsel for Defense in Tortious Interference with Contract Claim.
• Fairchild v AOL – (United States District Court - Central District of California). Successfully obtained approval of a class action settlement over objection of a class of 55 million Americans.
• ThermaSol v Gems Sensors Inc. (Ventura County Superior Court) Successfully settled claims for product liability against manufacturer of allegedly defective product.
• Cohen v. Sony Pictures Entertainment (U.S. District Court  District of Maryland Baltimore (2009 cv1295)). Obtained motion to dismiss for Sony in regard to copyright claims brought against it.
• Richard Pompa v. America Online (AOL) et al ((United States District Court - Central District of California) (2007 cv1634)). Successfully obtained motion to dismiss for defendant AOL pursuant to the Communications Decency Act.
• Midwest Theaters v. Imax Corp. (United States District Court -District of Minnesota (2008 cv5823)) Successfully defeated request to prevent termination of contract and obtained permanent injunction for defendant on plaintiff's trademark violations.
• Mark Mishak v. Google, Inc. et al (United States District Court - Central District of California)  (2007cv8258)). Obtained dismissal of trademark claims against defendant AOL.
• ESS Entertainment v. Take Two, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57575. Obtained summary judgment for defendant in trademark action involving top selling video game based upon the First Amendment.
• Elbaum v. Chou, (Los Angeles Superior Court 2005). Successfully tried breach of contract matter for plaintiff regarding sale of business.
• Mission Resources v. Texaco, 94 F. 3rd 652 and 1996 U.S. App. Lexis 21372 (9th Cir. 1996). Won affirmance of jury verdict in pipeline case finding that Defendant had not intended to dedicate its pipeline as a common carrier.
• Texaco Inc. v. Ponsoldt, 939 F. 2d 794 (9th Cir. 1991). Successfully reversed trial court's granting of summary judgment against Texaco; successfully argued that Texaco had fraud claim even if the underlying contract was unenforceable under Statute of Frauds.
• Early v. Texaco Inc., 951 F. 2d 1059 (9th Cir. 1991). Won reversal of bench trial in dealer termination matter.
• Blevins v. Texaco Inc., 1989 U.S. Dist. Lexis 5750. Won trial defeating dealer’s wrongful termination claim; awarded $1.5 million on trademark infringement counterclaim.
• Texaco Inc. v. Synergy, 171 A. 2d 788 (NY 1991). Brought in for appeal after summary judgment entered against Texaco. Won reversal. Breach of contract case settled for all of Texaco’s damages.
• Sinkwich v. Texaco Inc., 716 F. Supp. 614 (M.D. Ga. 1989). Won summary judgment of Section 1 Sherman Act case.

• Legal 500 US, Trademarks: Litigation (2012)

Member, California Bar Association

Counsel Member, ABA Science and Technology Committee

Mark Litvack, Pillsbury partner, will serve as a panelist during the “Pretrial Considerations” session of the ABA Litigation Section CLE workshop on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 9:15 am.

Speaker, "An Update On Social Media and Copyright - Is Anyone Winning This Race?" - PLI's Technology and Entertainment Convergence 2011, September 2011

Speaker, "Chinese Judges Intellectual Property Conference" – Suzhou China July 2010

Speaker, “The Global Impact of the Internet on Copyright Law,” USC Gould School of Law 2008 Intellectual Property Institute, Beverly Hills, March 2008

Featured contributor, “Value Your Intellectual Property,” Small Business School series on PBS, Worldnet and the Web, May 2006

Speaker, “Game Piracy: Update on the Latest Strategies to Protect Your Product,” E3 Conference, Los Angeles, CA May 2006

Interviewer, “Games on Console Without a Multi-Million Dollar Budget,” 2006 Games and Mobile Forum, New York, NY April 2006

Panelist, “Hollywood vs. the Pirates, Take 2,” Digital Media Summit, Los Angeles, CA, March 2006

Speaker, “Digital Continent - Filesharing Technology in Napster’s Wake: The Challenge for Copyright Law,” Berkeley, CA, 2002