Chris Mathews is a partner in the Los Angeles office, and his practice includes a variety of litigation and counseling services in the areas of intellectual property and commercial litigation. Mr. Mathews has over 35 years of experience representing a wide variety of both state-of-the-art "start-ups" and established, brand-name companies, and has consistently helped clients navigate the treacherous waters of high-stakes patent and copyright litigation. Motivated by his clients' desire to resolve the dispute and get back to business, in every litigation Mr. Mathews' primary focus is working to secure the best (and quickest) result for his clients, and he has on multiple occasions obtained early victory without the need for trial. A registered patent attorney with dual degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, Mr. Mathews successfully uses his expertise to explain complicated technologies in simple, straight-forward terms that judges and juries find both accessible and easy to understand. In addition to handling litigation matters, Mr. Mathews has counseled clients over a broad spectrum of intellectual property related matters, including technology evaluation and licensing, intellectual property portfolio strategy and management, and patent infringement prosecution and avoidance.
Mr. Mathews has been repeatedly recognized as one of Southern California's Super Lawyers by both Law & Politics Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine.
- Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems
- Boston Scientific Corporation
- Channell Commercial Corporation
- Chi Mei Optoelectronics
- Cisco Systems
- Covidien
- Cribl
- DiscoVision Associates
- EMC Corporation
- Gamevice
- General Motors
- Harbor Freight Tools
- HTC
- Intertrust Technologies Corporation
- Irradiant Partners LP
- Isuzu Motors
- Mattel
- McNeil-PPC
- Motorola Mobility
- NeXT Computer
- Novell
- Pioneer Electronics
- Pixar
- RF Micro Devices
- Samsung Electronics
- Seiko Epson Corporation
- Tennenbaum Capital Partners
- Walt Disney Corporation
- Persuaded Court that software client's activities related to developing and maintaining interoperability with plaintiff's software are fair uses under the Copyright Act, immune from liability. At trial, Plaintiff also sought $155 million in contract damages, but jury awarded just $1.
- Represented digital rights management and trust computing technologies company against AMC, Cinemark, Dolby, Regal, and other prominent entities in enforcement of patents in the Eastern District of Texas related to enabling secure and trusted distribution and management of digital content. Obtain multiple favorable settlements.
- Defended aerospace fastener manufacturer in a trade secrets case related to specialized aircraft fastener technology. Obtained denial of plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction, and favorable settlement
- Represented digital rights management and trust computing technologies company as plaintiff against Apple in the Northern District of California, asserting 23 patents from the client's portfolio covering trusted computing and digital rights management against virtually every Apple product and service. Case settled on favorable terms
- Represented a manufacturer of power system enclosures in its assertion of key patents against an industry competitor. After obtaining favorable claim constructions from the Court—including a ruling that eliminated one of the competitor's primary non-infringement arguments—the case settled on favorable terms, including the competitor's upfront payment plus ongoing licensing royalties on future product sales.
- Obtained summary judgment for a medical devices manufacturer being accused of patent infringement by an industry competitor, thereby preserving the client's annual revenue stream of over $300 million.
- Defended mobile phone manufacturers, and operating system developer, in Eastern District of Texas patent case related to the online payment for and distribution of digital content, such as apps, videos, and music. Obtained stay pending covered business method review shortly before trial, leading to invalidation of the patents.
- Trial counsel patent licensing entity in a patent infringement and antitrust lawsuit regarding compact disc technology licensed to nearly the entire disc industry. Successfully convinced the Court (after an eight-week trial) that defendant's compact discs infringed client's patent, thereby preserving client's $100 million annual revenue stream.
- Obtained summary judgment of invalidity of an Internet-based distance learning patent related to technology for virtual meetings, and subsequent affirmance on appeal, on behalf of a multinational networking equipment manufacturer.
- Defended retail tool and equipment company in patent and trade dress case related to power control systems in welding power supplies. Obtained denial of plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction and favorable settlement.
- Obtained summary judgment of infringement on client's key inkjet printer cartridge patents, as well as dismissal of defendants' defenses of inequitable conduct and fraud. Case settled on favorable terms, including entry of a permanent final injunction against the defendants' infringing products.
- Represented a manufacturer of dissolving tooth whitening strips against a charge of patent infringement. After obtaining several beneficial pretrial rulings from the Court, the case settled on favorable terms three days before trial.
- Represented multiple automobile manufacturers in a patent infringement lawsuit involving tire pressure monitoring systems. The Court granted summary judgment of non-infringement in favor of clients as to all claims.
- Represented LCD panel manufacturer accused of infringing seven patents. After successfully moving Court to dismiss on summary judgment several of the asserted patents on invalidity or noninfringement grounds, and days before trial on client's claim that the remaining patent was unenforceable because of inequitable conduct before the Patent Office, all cases settled favorably.
- Represented LCD panel manufacturer and its OEMs in multiple cases involving patents on LCD and thin film transistor display technology. Months before scheduled trial on the merits, convinced Court to throw out all patent claims in 4 patents.
- Represented leading manufacturer of distributed data processing systems in a patent infringement case targeting client's key product line. Resolved the case favorably for client without the need for trial after convincing the Patent Office to re-examine and cancel all of the claims of the asserted patent.
- Litigation counsel in patent infringement litigation involving technology related to mainframe and networked computer file server/disk storage systems. The case settled favorably prior to trial.
- Litigation counsel in patent infringement litigation involving aircraft Terrain Awareness Warning Systems, which provide pilots with warnings of potential terrain collision hazards in an aircraft's flight path. After vigorously contesting infringement, plaintiff voluntarily dismissed all of its claims against client.
- Counsel in patent infringement/antitrust litigation involving methods for delivering, targeting and measuring the effectiveness of Internet advertisements. The matter was settled favorably just two days before a trial on client's claim that the asserted patent was unenforceable because of fraud and other inequitable conduct before the U.S. Patent Office.
- Counsel in trade secret litigation involving processes and techniques for making polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) covers for vascular stents. The matter settled favorably during jury selection.
- Stanford Law School
- (J.D., 1989)
- R. Hunter Summers Trial Practice Award Recipient
- R. Hunter Summers Trial Practice Award Recipient
- University of California, Berkeley
- (B.S., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, magna cum laude, 1985)
- The State Bar of California
- The Supreme Court of California
- United States Court of Appeals:
- Ninth Circuit
- Federal Circuit
- United States District Court:
- Eastern District of Texas
- District of Delaware
- Southern District of New York
- Northern District of California
- Southern District of California
- Eastern District of California
- Central District of California
- Registered to Practice Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office
- Howrey LLP:
- Partner
- Registered Patent Attorney, U. S. Patent and Trademark Office
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association
- Member, Federal Circuit Bar Association
- Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association