Jeff Joyner
Jeff Joyner is a partner in Glaser Weil’s Century City office. Jeff has successfully protected and litigated key intellectual property assets for over 25 years. In addition to his focus on intellectual property, Jeff serves as a trusted advisor and outside general counsel to Fortune 100 companies, entrepreneurs, investment funds, and high-net-worth individuals on a variety of matters. His broad legal acumen allows him to address the universe of his clients’ legal and strategic business decisions.
Jeff is regularly sought after to serve as lead trial counsel in intellectual property litigation involving substantial damage claims in the U.S. and abroad, including patent, trademark, trade secret, trade dress and copyright infringement, anti-counterfeiting, reverse confusion and dilution, unfair competition, contractual, licensing, domain name, and rights of publicity disputes.
In addition, Jeff has significant experience in the execution of worldwide intellectual property development, acquisition, protection, enforcement, branding, and licensing programs for patents, trademarks, trade dress, and copyrighted works.
Jeff’s practice focuses on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) companies, including those in the climate tech, alternative energy, advanced transportation, and health and wellness industries. He also has experience in consumer products, electronics, entertainment and media, clothing and apparel, and food and beverage.
Jeff’s passion for sustainability, human rights, and emerging technologies has made him a leader at the forefront of these industries. He has advised and been an active limited partner in one of the first clean technology venture funds, which has included a portfolio of Internet protocols, efficient lighting, energy efficiency rebates, solar, carbon credit management, water purification, and biopesticide companies. He has also cofounded and cochaired alliances and foundations to help develop client industries resulting in jobs and economic growth through organizations like the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.
In the entertainment industry, Jeff advises clients on matters ranging from assisting celebrities with the launch of clothing, product, and technology companies to representing music icons in copyright audits and sophisticated analysis of their estates for the exploitation of copyrighted works with a combined value in the millions of dollars.
Jeff has been instrumental not only as lead counsel on significant transactions and litigation, but also in supporting clients by founding coalitions advocating for policy and legislative frameworks for industry clusters, such as natural care products; advanced transportation (electric, autonomous vehicles, and smart cities); AI; blockchain; and the convergence of entertainment and media with technology, including the metaverse.
Representative Matters
Patent Litigation
Secured high damages awards through final judgments in pretrial and trial proceedings, exceeding $200 million.
Obtained summary judgment of invalidity of patent and noninfringement in numerous actions, including interactive website technology for consumer marketing; design patent for a game canister; HTML tags for photos, video and sound; and Ethernet technology, among others.
Secured dismissals for Fortune 100 companies, avoiding costly discovery and trials regarding various technologies such as needleless valve technology for an international medical device company, a method for allegedly filtering SPAM, and collapsibility of plastic bottles, among others.
Secured settlement and indemnity for a Fortune 50 company in a patent action brought regarding alleged flame-retardant pallet technology.
Successfully defended a motion to stay upon re-exam, immediately enforced by way of executing on bank accounts, and recovered for client the $5 million monetary judgment.
Trademark Litigation
Obtained attorneys’ fees and trademark damages at trial of more than $120 million based on the defendants’ sales in the amount of only $36 million, by proving willful infringement.
Obtained trebled damages and punitive damages in the amount of $5 million based on separate deceptive trade practices and unfair competition claims.
Trade Dress Disputes
Represent a large restaurant chain in dispute over former managers launching a competing chain with the same look and feel as the client’s restaurants.
Represent an Italian haute couture company in dispute over competing retail stores using the client’s trade dress.
Trade Secret Disputes
Represent a large electric car company with respect to investigations and litigation over a former CFO leaving to launch a competing car company.
Represent an international surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding apparel company in relation to the CEO leaving to start a competing company.
Intellectual Property Enforcement
Obtained more than 100 seizure orders from federal courts and significant damages as a result of the U.S. Marshals Service and local law enforcement officers seizing thousands of pieces of infringing product and millions of pages of electronic and physical documents, including at the Consumer Electronics Show and warehouses throughout the U.S.
Obtained exclusion orders and orders for border seizures throughout the United States as well as abroad.
Licensing
Advise companies and inventors, among others, on the development, clearance, acquisition, protection, licensing and enforcement of their technologies.
Design, maintain or advise with respect to international licensing programs that include more than 500 licensees.
Branding
Advise celebrities regarding the development of brands and clothing lines launched in high-end department stores.
Developed logo enforcement program for patented products of an international company so they can pursue stronger remedies to deter infringers.
Business Litigation
Obtained $9.5 million award in arbitration and 10 lawsuits related to the installation of 10 solar farms by a solar company client.
Handled sophisticated collection actions for a Fortune 150 company, recovering damages exceeding $150 million through asset freezes, repatriation orders related to assets transferred out of U.S., incarceration of defendant CEO for contempt, impounding inventory, and assignment of defendants’ accounts receivable.
Represented an international media streaming company over breakup fee in a $2 billion merger deal with a large electronics company.
IT & Standards
Draft and negotiate master services agreements (MSAs), software as a service (SaaS) agreements, privacy policies, and terms and conditions, among other documents related to intellectual property, standards and risk management.
Design framework for international standards in relation to electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Entertainment, Sports & Media
Develop production agreements with respect to various subjects, including Atari’s first video game of a feature film, the Stanley Cup, Mother Teresa and spoken word group The Last Poets, among others.
Conducted copyright audit of hundreds of copyrights and prepared sophisticated analysis for the estates of musical icons to assist in the exploitation of the copyrights with combined value in the millions of dollars.
Private Equity, Venture Capital and Emerging Technologies
Draft and negotiate technology transfer agreements for companies, universities, incubators and labs.
Serve as active limited partner and advisor with respect to fund formation, seed capital, convertible notes, series paperwork and exits.
Advise regarding opportunities, regulations and legislation for private-public funding.
International Trade
Draft and negotiate manufacturing, distribution, co-packing and joint venture agreements, and licensing programs for companies in various industries, including advanced transportation, LED lighting, and consumer products such as TVs, optical media and optical hardware.
Government Law and Policy
Advocate for positions on legislative and regulatory issues, state and federal law regarding funding sources, demonstration or pilot projects, government contracts, and private-public partnerships.
Advise companies and nonprofits on fundraising, stakeholder collaborations, advocacy, government relations, consumer outreach, economic development, industry cluster development, technology transfer and workforce development, among other matters.
Testify before a California Senate Select Committee related to the above issues on an annual basis.
Associations
Member, Board of Advisors, Resilience Fund
Board member, U.S.-China CleanTech Center
Member, Advisory Board, e4 Advanced Transportation Centers
Co-chair and Co-founder, e4 Mobility Alliance, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC)
Chair, e4 Autonomous Vehicle Branding Task Force, LAEDC
Member, Green Economy Committee, LAEDC
Member, Leadership Council, Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator
Board member, CleanTech Los Angeles
Active limited partner, Clean Pacific Ventures
Board member, Seven Arrows School
Board member, Westside Music Foundation
Member, International Trademark Association (INTA)
Committee member, INTA Harmonization of Trademark Law and Practice
Committee member, INTA International Classification
Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association
Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers Los Angeles
Member, International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition
Co-chair, Patent Disputes Forum North, 2010-2017
Honors & Awards
WTR 1000, Enforcement and Litigation, California, World Trademark Review, 2019 – 2021
Top Intellectual Property Lawyers, Daily Journal, 2021
Southern California, Super Lawyers, 2012 – 2013, 2017 – 2019
The World’s Leading Patent Professionals, Litigation, IAM Patent 1000, 2015 – 2018
WTR 1000, Prosecution and Strategy, California, World Trademark Review, 2015 –2017
75 Top IP Litigators in California, Daily Journal, 2010
Publications
Co-Author, "Anti-counterfeiting 2016 – A Global Guide (USA Chapter)," World Trademark Review, Winter 2016
"Understanding Options in the New Patent Landscape," Counsel-to-Counsel Forum Press, Lexis-Nexis, Volume 1, Issue 10, January 6, 2012
"Future Technology Clauses: Would Their Lack of Compensation Have Discouraged Shakespeare's Creativity and Denied Society's Access to His Works in New Media?," 31 S.U.L. Rev. 575, 2002
"Laws Against IP Piracy May Stop Some Purveyors of Porn," The National Law Journal, March 25, 1996
"Counterfeiting Reaches New Levels: Organized Crime," The National Law Journal, May 8, 1995
Speaking Engagements
Panelist, “Intellectual Property and Rights,” Future Worlds 2022 Metaverse Conference, November 12, 2022
Panelist, “Mobility,” Bioscience LA, October 6, 2022
Co-Convener, “Charrette: To See The Future Of Cities, Pay Attention To The Curb, Imagining Street, Curb, and Building-Interfacing Infrastructure Through a Planning Lens,” VerdeXchange, Jan 1, 2019
Moderator, “Electric Scooters, Sidewalks, and First/Last Mile (B3),” VerdeXchange, Jan 1, 2019
Moderator, "The Best Defense Can Be A Great Offense and Save the Expense of Trial," Patent Disputes Forum North presented by the Daily Journal, Apr 18, 2017
Panelist, “An Update on Urban Mobility: ATNs Coming of Age Around the World,” VerdeXchange, Jan 1, 2016
Panelist, “NextGen Passenger Cars: Will They Be Zero-Emitting, Connected, and Eventually Autonomous?,” VerdeXchange, Jan 1, 2016
Co-Chair and Moderator, "Government Law & Policy, Politics and Intellectual Property for Advanced Transportation and Infrastructure," LAEDC e4Mobility Alliance, Century City, CA, July 9, 2015
Co-Chair and Moderator, "Patent Disputes Forum for Corporate Counsel; Avoiding and Resolving Patent Disputes: Structuring a Game Plan for Licensing, Legislation, Business Partnerships, and More,” Orange County, CA, May 20, 2015
Panelist, “Protecting Emerging Technologies and Start-ups with Intellectual Property,” Angel Capital Association Summit, San Diego, CA, April 14, 2015
Co-Chair and Moderator, “Roundtable Discussion on Autonomous Vehicles Roundtable Discussion on Autonomous Vehicles,” LAEDC e4Mobility Alliance, Century City, CA, March 12, 2015
Co-Chair, "eCarFest: Glendale Cruise Night – Tesla, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, Chargepoint, and AQMD," Glendale, CA, 2014/2015
Co-Chair, "Patent Disputes Forum," Silicon Valley, CA, The Daily Journal & West LegalEdcenter, December 4, 2014
Co-Chair and Moderator, “Connecting the Dots in Advanced Transportation: Zero Emission Bus Manufacturers,” LAEDC e4Mobility Alliance, Century City, CA, June 12, 2014
Co-Chair and Moderator, "Best Practices for Avoiding and Resolving Patent Disputes: Licensing, Legislation, and Business Partnerships," Patent Disputes Forum, Daily Journal and West LegalEdcenter, Costa Mesa, CA, May 6, 2014
Co-Chair, "Patent Disputes Forum," Silicon Valley, CA, The Daily Journal & West LegalEdcenter, 2013
Speaker, "Patent Prosecution in a Post-AIA World," US Patent and Trademark Office, & National Institute of Science and Technology, Patents Webinar Series, November 20, 2013
Co-Chair & Moderator, "Patent Disputes 2013: How the AIA, USPTO and Patent Aggregation Have Changed the Landscape," Silicon Valley, CA, Thomson Reuters, November 5, 2013
Speaker, "The New Frontier: Next-gen Product Development (Advanced Transportation)," 2nd Annual Cleantech Revolution, Los Angeles, CA, November 28, 2012
Co-Chair and Moderator, "Patent Disputes and Best Practices for Litigating and Managing Disputes under AIA, Patent Disputes: Uncover the Changing Patent Landscape from Patent Portfolio to Litigation -Transitioning in a Post AIA World," Thomson Reuters & West LegalEdcenter, Silicon Valley, CA, November 14, 2012
Local Outreach Committee Member, 26th Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS26), Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA, May 6-9, 2012
Moderator, "Next Generation Transportation Fuels and Technologies," VerdeXChange Conference, Los Angeles, CA, January 23, 2012
Speaker, "Increasing Your IP Value: Build, Manage and Defend - Best Practices for Post Grant Patent Review Under the America Invents Act," Counsel-to-Counsel Forum, LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, Los Angeles, CA, 2011
Moderator, "Patent Reform 2011: The America Invents Act," Silicon Valley, Thomson Reuters & Daily Journal, 2011
Co-Chair, "eCarFests: Bringing the Electric Car Experience to You," Glendale and Venice, CA, Nissan, Coda, Tesla, Aeroenvironment, Ecotality, 350 Green, LA Department of Water and Power, Glendale Water and Power, LAEDC, 2011
Co-Chair, "Patent Disputes: New Models for a New Market," Silicon Valley, Thomson Reuters & Daily Journal, 2011
Moderator, "Electric Vehicles on the Grid: Energizing EVs," Cleantech Forum, San Francisco, March 2011
Moderator, "Successfully Managing Costs in Patent Litigation," Silicon Valley, Thomson Reuters & Daily Journal, 2010
Moderator, "CEO Case Studies - Green Transportation," Cleantech Forum New York, New York City, 2010
Co-Chair, "Patent Disputes: Bridging the Gap Between In-House Counsel and Law firms," Silicon Valley, Thomson Reuters, 2010
Co-host, "Texas General Counsel Forum Institute for Leadership in the Law," Dallas, Texas, 2010
Moderator, "Successfully Managing Costs In Patent Litigation," Silicon Valley, Thomson Reuters, 2010
Moderator, "Clean Tech, Alternative Energy and Climate Change After the Stimulus," Silicon Valley, 2009
Moderator, "Current Ethics Issues in Patent Litigation," USC Intellectual Property Institute, 2009