SoCal IP Law Group LLP - Michael D. Harris

Practice Areas
IP litigation, patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, licensing and IP counseling

Admitted to the Bar
California and District of Columbia; Federal trial and appellate courts including the Ninth Circuit, Federal Circuit, and Court of Federal Claims. Admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office

Education
Purdue University, B.S. Engineering, 1969
American University Law School, Washington D.C., J.D. 1972

Michael D. Harris
mharris@socalip.com

Tel: (805) 230-1350 Ext. 246
310 N. Westlake Blvd., Suite 120
Westlake Village, CA 91362-3788

Resident in Westlake Village
and Irvine Offices

Highlights
Michael D. Harris joined SoCal IP Law Group in May 2007, as a partner in the firm.

Mr. Harris has focused his legal practice on intellectual property, concentrating on IP litigation as well as patent and trademark filings. He started his career as a patent examiner with the United States Patent and Trademark Office during law school.

Except for a short time in a small suburban practice, Mr. Harris spent most of his career as a partner of Poms, Smith, Lande & Rose, a former intellectual property boutique in Los Angeles. Mr. Harris then joined Kleinberg & Lerner in 2003. He has been active in bar association activities and was president of the Century City Bar Association and a trustee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Mr. Harris believes that filing and prosecuting patents and trademarks improves patent and trademark litigation strategy.

Mr. Harris’s litigation expertise includes:

Win at trial leads to favorable settlement in right of publicity case.
Obtained favorable patent license after filing suit.
Sued the federal government for patent infringement.
Won trade dress infringement suit summary judgment.
Forced opponent to dismiss patent infringement suit.
Obtained trademark registration through another trademark owner's consent.
Settled patent infringement suit against client after uncovering potentially invalidating acts.

Representative Written Work:

Harris, Michael and Cyrus Morton, “New Examination Guidelines for Business Method Patent Applications – The PTO Responds to Criticism,” Cyberspace Lawyer (May 2000).
Patent No. 6,295,849 – High Security Electronic Dial Combination Lock (Masco Corp).
Patent No. 6,106,067 – Seat Adjustment and Dumping Mechanism with Memory Adjustment Coordinated with Seat Positioning (Porter Engineered Systems).
Patent No. 6,098,635 – Motorized, Rotating Hair Brush (MM&R Corp).