Overview
Ryan advises intellectual property owners on strategies for protecting and enforcing their rights, including through licensing and litigation. He also consults with intellectual property owners regarding portfolio management and confidentiality measures to help them develop and safeguard their innovations. In addition, Ryan provides legal opinions and freedom-to-operate analysis to help clients preemptively manage their risk as they create new products and services, and he defends companies who have been accused of intellectual property infringement. Ryan has worked on all areas of intellectual property litigation including copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secret. His areas of technical familiarity include video games and other software; animation; clothing; mechanical and electronic devices; biotech, pharmaceutical, and other chemical compounds and methods; banking technology; networking technology; and telecom technology.
Ryan is a contributor to Dorsey’s critically-acclaimed IP Blog, TheTMCA.com, which focuses on legal developments in the world of TradeMarks, Copyrights, and Advertising. TheTMCA.com was named one of the “Top 50” law blogs by the ABA Journal in 2017.
Ryan is Of Counsel in Dorsey’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group.
Education & Admissions
University of Washington School of Law (LL.M., Intellectual Property Law and Policy, 2008), Outstanding Student Award
University of Washington School of Law (J.D., 2006)
Vassar College (B.A., Biochemistry and Philosophy, 2000), Honors in Biochemistry and Philosophy
Admissions
- Washington
- United States Patent and Trademark Office
- U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Experience
Representative Matters
- Harmony Gold U.S.A., Inc. v. Piranha Games, Inc., et al. (W.D. Wash.): Represented defendant, Piranha Games, whose popular online game was accused of infringing plaintiff’s copyrights in an animated television series. After many months of hard fought litigation, Dorsey filed a motion for summary judgment challenging whether Harmony Gold owned the copyrights it sought to enforce. The case settled favorably shortly thereafter, allowing Piranha Games to continue publishing its online game.
- CommScope Technologies LLC v. Dali Wireless, Inc. (N.D. Tex.): Represented Dali Wireless in complex patent litigation in which both parties asserted multiple patents relating to wireless networking against each other. The jury awarded $9 million in damages against CommScope.
- FlatWorld Interactives LLC v. Apple Inc. (N.D. Cal.): Represented FlatWorld in a patent infringement dispute against Apple regarding the “throw” function of Apple products, including iPhones and iPads, which allows a user to “throw” an icon or page off the side of the screen. This functionality was first invented for use in interactive learning and art displays by the founder of FlatWorld who is also a university professor and polymath. After a period of extremely aggressive litigation, we achieved a lucrative settlement for our client.
- Wizards of the Coast, LLC v. Cryptozoic Entertainment, LLC, et al. (W.D. Wash.): Represented defendants Hex Entertainment and Cryptozoic Entertainment who had developed and published an online game accused by plaintiff of patent, trademark, and copyright infringement. Despite the complexities of the various IP rights involved in the case, Dorsey help its clients reach an amicable settlement that allowed them to continue publishing their game.
- WizKids, Inc. v. Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (W.D. Wash.): Represented WizKids in a suit seeking declaratory judgment that its collectible, modular card games did not infringement the patents of Wizards of the Coast or that those patents were invalid. Dorsey helped WizKids reach a favorable settlement so that it could continue selling its collectible card games without fear of liability to the patent owner.
- Mariner IC Inc. v. Toshiba Corp., et al. (E.D. Tex.): Defended Toshiba in patent infringement suit relating to semiconductor chips contained in various Toshiba products. Obtained a favorable settlement for Toshiba.
- Trade Associates, Inc. v. Fusion, Inc. (W.D. Wash.): Represented Trade Associates, a company selling equipment for automobile restoration, in a dispute of patent and trademark ownership. After trial but before appeal, we negotiated a lucrative settlement agreement for our client.
- Airbiquity Inc. v. AT&T (W.D. Wash. and N.D. Tex.): Helped Airbiquity, a startup telecom company, enforce its patents against AT&T and defend against AT&T’s retaliatory patent infringement claims. During claim construction proceedings, we negotiated a cross-license settlement agreement favorable to Airbiquity.
News & Resources
Articles
News & Press Mentions
Events & Speaking Engagements
Industries & Practices
Intellectual Property Litigation
Explore This Practice View client achievements related to this practice View resources related to this practicePatent Prosecution, Portfolio Strategy & Management
Explore This Practice View client achievements related to this practice View resources related to this practiceTrademark, Copyright & Advertising
Explore This Practice View client achievements related to this practice View resources related to this practice- Intellectual Property
- Intellectual Property Litigation
- Patent Prosecution, Portfolio Strategy & Management
- Technology
- Trademark, Copyright & Advertising
- Video Games
Professional & Civic
Professional Achievements
- Washington State Bar Associate, Member
- King County Bar Association, Member
- Copyright Society of the U.S.A., Member
- Washington State Patent Lawyers Association, Member
- Seattle Intellectual Property Inn of Court, Member
- Received 2017 Scales of Justice Award for successfully obtaining asylum for a Guatemalan woman and her nine-year-old daughter, who were the victims of gang and domestic violence
