Biography
Jeff joined Neal & McDevitt in 2016 after more than a decade litigating in large law firms in Silicon Valley. Jeff’s practice at the firm focuses on litigation and other disputes in the areas of trademark, copyright, patent and trade secrets.
Jeff’s litigation experience includes handling trademark, copyright, patent and trade secret disputes for some of the best known brands in the country, including Facebook and Google. Jeff regularly practices in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and Federal Courts around the country.
Professional Accomplishments
Member of pro bono legal team for San Francisco in City and County of San Francisco v. State of California, (2004-2005) (lawsuit challenging State of California’s ban on same sex marriages)
Board Member, AIDS Legal Referral Panel, San Francisco, California (2006-2010)
Volunteer Attorney, CAIR Travelers Assistance Program, Chicago, Illinois (2017)
Volunteer Attorney for Lawyers for the Creative Arts, Chicago, Illinois (2016-present)
Law Student Mentor, Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago (2017-present)
Admitted to practice
- California (2001)
- Illinois (2014)
- Oregon (2021)
- United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- Trial Bar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- United States District Court for the Central District of California
- United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
- United States District Court for the District of Oregon
Education
Professional membership
International Trademark Association (INTA)
American Bar Association – Intellectual Property Law Section (ABA-IPL)
Chicago Bar Association
Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago
TRADEMARK CASES
Jeff has represented Facebook in more than a dozen trademark litigation matters, both in federal courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board:
- Facebook v. Teachbook, No. 2011-cv-03052 (N.D. Ill.) (challenge to TEACHBOOK mark)
- Lamebook v. Facebook, No. 2010-cv-00833 (W.D. Tex) (challenge to LAMEBOOK mark)
- Facebook v. Various, No. 2011-cv-01805 (N.D. Cal.) (challenging FACEBOOK OF SEX mark)
- Timelines v. Facebook, No. 2011-cv-06967 (N.D. Ill.) (challenging Facebook’s use of “timeline”)
- CVG-SAB v. Facebook, No. 2012-cv-14521 (E.D. Mich.) (challenging Facebook’s use of “want”)
- Think Computer Corporation v. Facebook, No. 92049206 (T.T.A.B.) (genericness challenge to FACEBOOK mark)
- Facebook v. PetVetSpace, No. 91189492 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register VETBOOK)
- Facebook v. Lee, No. 91188901 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register DRUNK WALL)
- Facebook v. Everclear Communications, No. 91191915 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register TALKBOOK)
- Facebook v. Bob Weiss, No. 91199373 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register FACEBROKER)
- Facebook v. Resorb Networks (T.T.A.B.) (application to register FACEPILES)
- Facebook v. Where, No. 91198868 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register PLACEBOOK)
- Facebook v. Think Computer Corporation, No. 91198355 (T.T.A.B) (application to register FACEMAIL)
- Facebook v. SNRG Ventures, No. 91200221 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register SHAGBOOK)
Jeff has represented Google in a number of trademark enforcement and defensive matters, including litigation before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board:
- Google v. Doeswijk, No. 91198947 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register WINDROID)
- Google v. Beckner, No. 91205920 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register G+)
- Google v. Williams, No. 91204159 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register APARTMENT ANDROID)
- Google v. Farnsworth, Boulter, Burke & Stamper, No. 91211077 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register ICOMMANDROID)
- Google v. VIA Technologies, No. 92056816 (T.T.A.B.) (petition to cancel CHROME)
- Google v. Shenzhen Golden – Window Electronic & Technology Company, No. 91208523 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register PANDROID)
- Google v. Fujii, No. 91208115 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register SUPERANDROID)
- Google v. Border Stylo, No. 92058815 (T.T.A.B.) (petition to cancel WRITE ON GLASS)
- Factory Holdings and Border Stylo v. Google, No. 91214017 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register GOOGLE GLASS)
OTHER TRADEMARK MATTERS
Keeper Security, Inc. v. Dashlane, Inc., No. 2015-cv-07440 (N.D. Ill.) (alleged trademark infringement)
BDO Remit USA v. Stichting BDO, No. 2011-cv-04054 (C.D. Cal.) (use of BDO REMIT)
Victory Outreach Corporation v. Twitter, No. 2013-cv-01501 (E.D. Mo.) (complaint for third-party liability)
Digital Chocolate v. Zynga, No. 2010-cv-03758 (N.D. Cal.) (use of MAFIA WARS mark)
Information Superbrand v. Fotonauts, No. 91192315 (T.T.A.B.) (application to register FOTOPEDIA)
Avid Life Media v. Marital Affair, No. 2012-cv-07603 (C.D. Cal.) (alleged trade dress infringement)
Keen LLC v. Martin Keen, No. 2005-cv-03796 (N.D. Cal.) (use of KEEN mark)
Bayer v. Rainbow Light Nutritional Systems, No. 91171465 (T.T.A.B.) (registration of MULTILIEVE and SUPRALIEVE marks)
Valent U.S.A. v. Valeant Pharmaceuticals, No. 91165569 (T.T.A.B.) (registration of VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTERNATIONAL mark)
Wham-O v. Paramount Pictures, No. 2003-cv-04071 (N.D. Cal.) (use of SLIP-N-SLIDE YELLOW WATER SLIDE)
Namco v. PC Amusements, No. 2003-cv-00365 (M.D. Fla.) (use of MS. PACMAN and GALAGA trademarks)
PATENT CASES
Jeff has also represented Facebook in more than a dozen patent litigation matters, including the successful representation of Facebook in its first jury trial:
- Leader Tech. v. Facebook, No. 2008-cv-00862 (D. Del.).
Other Facebook patent cases include:
- Cross Atlantic Capital Partners v. Facebook, No. 2007-cv-02768 (E.D. Pa.)
- Beneficial Innovations v. Facebook, No. 2009-cv-00175 (E.D. Tex.)
- WhoGlue Inc. v. Facebook, No. 2009-cv-00705 (D. Del.)
- Affinity Labs of Texas v. Facebook, No. 2009-cv-04436 (N.D. Cal.)
- SimpleAir v. Facebook, No. 2009-cv-00289 (E.D. Tex.)
- Mekiki v. Facebook, No. 2009-cv-00745 (D. Del.)
- Tele-Publishing v. Facebook, No. 2009-cv-11686 (D. Mass)
- Wireless Ink v. Facebook, No. 2010-cv-01841 (S.D.N.Y)
- Interval Licensing v. Facebook, No. 2010-cv-01385 (W.D. Wash.)
- Princeton Digital Image Corporation v. Facebook, No. 2011-cv-00400 (E.D. Tex)
- Promotional Technologies v. Facebook, No. 2011-cv-03488 (N.D. Tex.)
- Yahoo! v. Facebook, No. 2012-cv-01212 (N.D. Cal.)
- Bascom Research v. Facebook, No. 2012-cv-06293 (N.D. Cal.)
OTHER PATENT MATTERS
- Technology Development & Licensing v. Comcast, No. 2008-cv-03584 (N.D. Ill.)
- Qurio Holdings, Inc. v. Comcast, Case No. 2014-cv-07488 (N.D. Ill.)
- Innovative Office Products v. eBay, No. 2010-cv-04487 (E.D. Pa.)
- Affinity Labs of Texas v. Nike, No. 2010-cv-05543 (N.D. Cal.)
- Applera v. Solexa, No. 2007-cv-02845 (N.D. Cal.)
- Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University v. Roche, No. 2005-cv-04158 (N.D. Cal.)
- In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Litigation, No. 07-ml-01816 (C.D. Cal.) (largest patent MDL in U.S. history)
- Zenith Electronics Corporation v. Thompson, No. 2006-cv-00017 (E.D. Tex.)
COPYRIGHT CASES
The bulk of Jeff’s copyright practice consists of confidential counseling on the subjects of avoiding liability for copyright infringement and protecting creative works. Jeff has also litigated several copyright matters, including:
- Epikhin v. Game Insight, Case No. 2014-cv-04383 (N.D. Cal.)
- Diascience v. Blue Nile, No. 2008-cv-09751 (S.D.N.Y.)
- Star Fabrics v. Stein Mart, No. 2012-cv-01859 (C.D. Cal.)
- Valve Corporation v. Vivendi Universal, No. 2002-cv-01683 (W.D. Wash.)
- Gemma Redux v. Banana Republic, No. 2010-cv-03568 (S.D.N.Y.)