Overview

Intellectual property law often presents complex questions for businesses to solve—questions that require broad and practical experience to answer. In start up and early stage growth companies, founders often struggle with the allocation of scarce capital and the need to protect foundational technology, creative works, and brand elements. Opportunities for scaling partnerships also call for transactional expertise at this stage, as well as the need to address IP ownership considerations.

Matt's patent practice has produced foundational protection for his clients in many technological fields, including manufacturing, artificial intelligence, IEEE transport layer protocols, software platform technologies, robotics, medtech hardware, healthtech systems, automotive accessories, flight instrumentation, optical signal processing, consumer products, and more.

Once established in a marketplace, business leaders are often confronted with threats from incumbent competitors, seek guidance on shoring up IP portfolios with an eye toward due diligence, and generally aim to build out strategic action items that went unfulfilled in leaner years. New markets are also on the horizon for these clients, when execution on international IP strategy becomes important as well.

Large established portfolio companies are confronted with myriad IP matters that directly impact core business goals, such as adapting to changes to domestic and foreign IP laws, complex litigation, and the development of anti-counterfeiting programs, to name a few. IP-driven business intelligence is also useful in R&D planning, capital allocation, targeted talent acquisition, and competitive intelligence.

Matt's practice has presented him with a unique "cradle-to-grave" experience in intellectual property. He has assisted countless small businesses and startups in forming businesses, procuring IP assets, perfecting ownership, and developing practical and realistic budget and strategic plans. He routinely counsels growing companies with respect to international expansion, litigation threats, technology transfers, and other technical agreements. He has conducted fundraising due diligence for both businesses and investors, litigated many high-stakes IP matters for both plaintiffs and defendants, and argued several precedent setting appeals.

Matt also works closely with a global network of trusted professionals to navigate international markets for clients and is often called upon to solve complex problems in uncertain landscapes.

These experiences allow Matt to offer comprehensive strategic advice to clients commercializing technology, provide legal opinions, and supply valuable insights to business leaders.

Courts & Bar Associations

• Supreme Court of Ohio
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
• United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• United States Patent and Trademark Office
• The Ohio State Bar Association
• The Columbus Bar Association

Professional Honors & Awards

• CALI Award for Excellence in Legislation
• Jeremiah P. Farrell Mathematics Award
• Raytheon Systems Outstanding Engineering Student

Professional & Civic Affiliations

• Midwest Pediatric Device Consortium, Advisory Board (2024-present)
• The International Trademark Association, Member
• Intellectual Property Owners Association, Past Member
• Electraphi Inc., Advisory Board (2023-present)
• Honor Flight Network
• The Ohio State Bar Association
  • Intellectual Property Section: Member (2007-2018, 2020-present), Chairman (2016-2018), Vice Chairman (2015-2016), Secretary (2014-2015)
  • Federal Courts and Practice Committee: Chairman (2024-present), Member (2020-present)
  • Corporate Counsel Section: Member (2020-present)
• I Know I Can
• American Bar Association, Past Member
• Delta Tau Delta Beta Zeta Chapter, Past Executive Board

Representative Engagements

• Secured a favorable settlement for a patent infringement defendant, including a subsequent award of fees against the plaintiff involving multi-state litigation.
• Represented client in Amazon APEX private patent arbitration that resulted in seller's product listing be deactivated from Amazon's marketplace.
• Represented clients in complex business organization restructuring, asset transfer and licensing matters.
• Represented trademark infringement plaintiff at trial, securing a jury verdict in excess of $1M.
• Briefed and argued several IP-related appeals to the Sixth Circuit.
• Obtained foundational patent portfolio for client that was sold to a large entity and successfully enforced in multiple federal district court actions.
• Secured favorable cash settlement for trademark and copyright infringement plaintiff.
• Represented clients in TTAB proceedings and Federal Circuit appeals resulting in precedent designated opinions.
• Represented defendant in trademark infringement litigation and secured summary judgment.
• Designed IP licensing system for national non-profit network.

Presentations & Publications

• Artificial Intelligence in Private Practice, Columbus Bar Lawyers Quarterly (Spring 2025)
• Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers, Ohio State Bar Association CLE (2024)
• Untitled AI Presentation, Columbus AI (2024)
• The Art of Protecting Your Product, Project Medtech Podcast, Ep.186 (July 1,2024)
• Intellectual Property, What The R*sk! Podcast, Ep. 107 (October 17, 2023)
• Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and Central Ohio Growth, Midwest Momentum on CD92.9 (2023)
• Intellectual Property Essentials for Engineers: Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets, Current Issues for Ohio Civil Engineers (2023)
• IP Triage: Intellectual Property Fundamentals, Planning and Issue Spotting, Corporate Counsel Institute, Columbus, Ohio (2022)
• Intellectual Property Essentials for Engineers, Legal, Regulatory and Ethical Issues for Ohio Engineers (2022)
• Patent Law for Engineers, Live, Interactive Webinar (2022)
• Trademark Modernization Act, OSBA IP Section Newsletter (Spring 2022)
• “GUARDING” Your Mark, Dayton Intellectual Property Law Association CLE (2022)
• “GUARDING” Your Mark, Ohio State Bar Association CLE (2022)
• Intellectual Property Overview: Categories, Limits and Applications, Ohio Engineering Law and Ethics (2021)
• IP Current Events, OSBA All-Ohio Legal Forum, Columbus, Ohio (2018)
• IP Interests in State-centric Markets, Ohio State Bar Association All-Ohio Forum, Cincinnati, Ohio (2016)
• Dysfunction Junction, OSBA IP Section Newsletter (Fall 2013).
• Trademarks, Honor Flight Network National Summit, Baltimore, Maryland (2013)
• How Safe is the Harbor? The Impact of the YouTube Decision on DMCA Safe Harbor Protections, OSBA IP Section Newsletter (Summer 2012)
• Specimen Specificity: In re Anpath Group, Inc., OSBA IP Section Newsletter (Summer 2011)
• Lamebook Pokes Facebook, OSBA IP Section Newsletter (Spring 2011)
• Let the Babies Dance: Strengthening Fair Use and Stifling Abuse in DMCA Notice and Takedown Procedures, 7 ISJLP 135 (2011)