STEVE MALIN is a seasoned litigator in the area of patents and other intellectual property rights, with successful first chair jury trials in 2008 and 2009. Mr. Malin’s most recent victory included a finding of noninfringement in 2011 on behalf of an offshore semiconductor manufacturer before the International Trade Commission.
Mr. Malin has been named the Best Lawyers’ 2013 Dallas Patent “Lawyer of the Year,” a title awarded to only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area. Mr. Malin has also been recognized by Chambers USA (2010-2012), Legal 500 US (2010), and The Best Lawyers in America (2007-2012) for his work in the field of Intellectual Property Litigation. According to Legal 500 US, Mr. Malin’s “extensive expertise and abilities as a litigator, negotiator and advocate are obvious.” Chambers USA commented that Mr. Malin “is a strong trial lawyer.”
Mr. Malin’s patent experience encompasses all phases of litigation and many diverse technologies, from semiconductor fabrication and packaging to process flows, from computer systems and software applications to plastic bottling designs. In the trademark arena, Mr. Malin’s most recent jury trial recovered the Internet domain name of the world’s largest publicly-funded museum from a hard fighting, off-shore Internet holding company. The case settled upon the conclusion of Mr. Malin’s cross examination of the opponent’s corporate representative.
In the commercial arena, Mr. Malin has obtained significant rulings from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals establishing federal preemption and protecting defendants from liability under local law. He has also helped clients secure preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, including enforcing covenants not to compete, preventing trade secret misappropriation, closing down illegal Internet sites, and collecting assets. Mr. Malin also frequently represents clients faced with the threat of injunction and has successfully dissolved temporary orders on a number of occasions. In a 2008 jury trial, for example, he represented two shareholders alleging claims of corporate oppression and bad faith against the corporation’s majority owner. After first obtaining a temporary injunction securing the corporation’s assets, Mr. Malin ultimately presented his client’s position at trial. The case settled favorably upon the conclusion of Mr. Malin’s opening statement on behalf of the plaintiff shareholders.
Admitted to practice in Texas and in the United States District Courts in all districts of Texas.
Recent Speeches and Presentations
- “Iqbal and Patent Litigation: The Law of Unintended Consequences,” State Bar of Texas Advanced Patent Litigation Program, Albuquerque (July, 2013) (scheduled)
- “Induced Infringement and The Defendant’s State of Mind,” University of Texas Intellectual Property Law Symposium, Austin (February, 2013)
- “It’s All About Me: The Mens Rea of Induced Infringement,” Dallas Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section, Dallas (February, 2012)
- “Anti-Social Media? How To Protect Your Client's Rights In A Brave, New Networked World,” Conference on Intellectual Property Law, Institute for Law and Technology, Center for International and American Law, Dallas (November, 2011)
- “Inducement and Contributory Infringement – The Shifting State of Mind,” 26th Annual University of Houston Institute on Intellectual Property Law, Galveston (September, 2010)
- “Empirical Analysis of Permanent Injunction Decisions Following e-Bay,” FTC Hearing on The Evolving IP Marketplace, Washington, DC (February, 2009)
- “I Fought the Internet And I Won: Effective Tools To Protect Your Client’s Name, Likeness And Reputation In Our ‘All Media All The Time’ World,” 10th University of Texas Intellectual Property Law Symposium, Austin (February, 2009)
- “The Joint Defense Doctrine,” 4th Annual Advanced Patent Litigation Course, State Bar of Texas, Lake Tahoe (July, 2008)
- Moderator, “Q & A With Judge Ed Kinkeade,” Dallas Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section, Dallas (May, 2008)
- “Patent Exhaustion and Quanta,” 21st Annual Intellectual Property Law Course, State Bar of Texas Intellectual Property Section, Austin (March, 2007)
- “Patent Presuit Investigations – How Far Should You Go?” 3rd Annual Advanced Patent Litigation Course, State Bar of Texas, Lake Tahoe (July, 2007)
- “Strategic Use Of Expert Witnesses,” Annual Meeting, State Bar of Texas Intellectual Property Section, San Antonio (June, 2007)
- “A Litigator’s Advice On Claim And Specification Drafting,” Patent Claim Construction 2007: The Advanced Legal Forum, Austin (May, 2007)
- “ATT v. Microsoft,” Dallas Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section, Dallas (May, 2007)
- Moderator, “Q & A With Judge Kaplan,” Dallas Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section, Dallas (March, 2007)
- “Patent Local Rules Update,” 20th Annual Intellectual Property Law Course, State Bar of Texas, Dallas (March, 2007)
- Moderator, “Licensee Estoppel and Validity of Intellectual Property Rights,” Symposium on Emerging Intellectual Property Issues, Southern Methodist University School of Law, Dallas (February, 2007)
- “The Mirror Image Rule Invades Patent Law,” 44th annual Conference on Intellectual Property Law, Institute for Law and Technology, Center for International and American Law, Dallas (November, 2006)
- Moderator, “Patent Local Rules for the Northern District of Texas,” Dallas Bar Association Intellectual Property Section, Dallas (September, 2006)
- Roundtable Participant with U.S. District Judges Barbara M.G. Lynn and David Godbey, Dallas Bar Association Bench Bar Conference, Horseshoe Bay, Texas (September, 2006)
- “Keeping On and Off the Fast Track,” 2nd Annual Advanced Patent Litigation Course, State Bar of Texas, Lake Tahoe (July, 2006)
- “Solutions in an IP Vacuum: What to Do when the IP Laws Provide No Relief,” Dallas Bar Association Computer Law Section, Dallas (April, 2006)
Publications
- Texas Lawyer Intellectual Property Podcast, Monthly, April 2007 – December 2007
- “Keeping On and Off the Fast Track in Patent Litigation,” 13 IP Litigator 27 (January/February 2007)
- “Litigating Intellectual Property Disputes in Texas State Court,” 12 Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal 473 (Spring 2004)
- “Federalism and Intellectual Property Rights,” 6 Computer Law Review & Technology Journal 137 (Winter 2002)
- “The Federal Circuit Reconsiders Equitable Defenses: Does The Chancellor Have New Clothes?,” 2 Federal Circuit Bar Journal 181 (1992)
- “Collateral Estoppel: The Fairness Exception,” 53 Journal of Air Law & Commerce 959 (1988), cited in Sysco Food Services v. Trapnell, 890 S.W.2d 796, 804 (Tex. 1994)