Practice Focus

John C. Ulin is a commercial litigator and member of the intellectual property and technology litigation group in Arnold & Porter LLP's Los Angeles office. He is experienced in all aspects of commercial litigation, including jury and nonjury trials, appeals, arbitration, and class actions.

In his intellectual property practice, Mr. Ulin represents clients in a variety of industries (including consumer products, entertainment, toys, pharmaceutical, electrical, semiconductor, publishing, and financial services) in a variety of trademark, copyright, trade secret, and patent matters. He has successfully litigated over 150 intellectual property cases in more than two dozen federal courts across the country. Mr. Ulin's recent matters include two cases in which he acted as first chair at trial and won significant recoveries for his clients. He also counsels intellectual property owners on brand protection, anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting strategy.

Mr. Ulin has significant experience in products liability and consumer class action litigation, in which he has represented clients in the defense, tobacco, plumbing, and automotive industries. He has also helped clients to recover over US$600 million in coverage through litigation against their insurance carriers, including in representation of the principal lender on the buildings at the World Trade Center that were destroyed in the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Mr. Ulin enjoys a rich pro bono practice focusing primarily on voting rights, political reform, and other civil rights issues. In 2002, he received the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) Voting Rights Award and Common Cause's Pro Bono Award.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Ulin served as judicial law clerk to Hon. Wm. Matthew Byrne, Jr., US District Court for the Central District of California (1992-93), and Hon. Ferdinand F. Fernandez, US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1993-94).

Representative Matters

Intellectual Property Litigation

• Represented tobacco company in over 125 federal trademark actions in more than 25 courts throughout the country against traffickers in counterfeit and contraband cigarettes. Served as lead counsel at trial in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas.
• Served as lead trial counsel for toy manufacturer in trademark litigation concerning use of a trademark in the color yellow for water slide toys and continue in advising the client in connection with protection of the brand and enforcement of the judgment. SLB Toys USA, Inc. v. Wham-O, Inc.; Wham-O, Inc. v. Manley Toys, Ltd., US District Court for the Central District of California.
• Represented optics company in trademark litigation concerning use of the descriptor "high definition optics" for prescription lenses. Oakley, Inc. v. Ophthonix, Inc., US District Court for the Southern District of California.
• Represented pharmaceutical company in Lanham Act litigation against other companies marketing competing drugs that lacked FDA approval to sell. Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al., US District Court for the Central District of California.
• Represented patent holder in litigation concerning interactive call processing. In re: Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, US District Court for the Central District of California.
• Represented electronics parts manufacturer in trademark and unfair competition litigation against seller of improperly labeled, non-conforming parts. Texas Instruments, Inc. v. Cornett, Riverside County Superior Court.
• Represented handbag company in trademark and copyright case brought by a handbag designer. Baumann v. Y & S Handbags, US District Court for the Central District of California.
• Represented original manufacturers in trademark litigation against sellers of mislabeled, used and refurbished circuit breakers. In re Circuit Breaker Litigation, US District Court for the Central District of California and US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Product Liability/Mass Tort Litigation

• Represented leading plumbing fixtures manufacturer in class action and product liability litigation concerning fixtures installed in over 2 million structures nationwide. Vasconcellos v. Kohler Co., US District Court for the Central District of California; Acosta v. Award Homes, Monterrey County Superior Court
• Represented home builder in litigation alleging construction defects. Allen v. H/S Development Co., Merced County Superior Court.
• Represented defense contractor in mass tort suits alleging cancer cluster near an ordnance assembly and testing facility.Baier, Kerr, Taylor and Yeh v. Aerojet-General Corp., US District Court for the Central District of California.
• Represented cigarette manufacturer in class action litigation by underage smokers alleging that they were targeted by defendants' advertising and marketing. Daniels v. Philip Morris Inc., San Diego County Superior Court.
• Represented cigarette manufacturer in healthcare cost recovery action brought by the government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Republic of the Marshall Islands v. American Tobacco Co., High Court of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Other Complex Commercial Litigation

• Served as trial counsel for coal mining company in first party insurance recovery litigation arising from one of the largest coal mine explosions in United States history. PinnOak Resources LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, Wyoming County, West Virginia Circuit Court;
• Represented toy company in litigation concerning manufacture of interactive play units. Playhut, Inc. v. EI HK Development, Ltd., US District Court for the Central District of California;
• Represented commercial lender in property and liability insurance recovery litigation arising from the operation of a nursing home chain. American Empire Surplus Lines, Inc. v. GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., US District Court for the Central District of California.
• Represented commercial lender in property insurance litigation arising from the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. SR International Business Insurance Co, Ltd. v. World Trade Center Properties LLC; US District Court for the Southern District of New York; In re 9/11 Liability Insurance Cases, US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
• Represented Holocaust victims and their families in litigation seeking recovery under World War II era insurance policies. In re Assicurazioni Generali, S.p.A. Insurance Litigation, US District Court for the Southern District of New York; United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.