Sean co-founded Dovel & Luner in 1998 and is head of the firm's patent litigation practice. Sean has successfully litigated numerous patent and other high-tech matters.

Sean is a graduate of the University of Southern California where he obtained a J.D. (Order of the Coif) and an M.B.A. (Beta Gamma Sigma). Sean is also a member of the Patent Bar and holds a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to partnering with Greg Dovel, Sean worked at Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hayes & Handler, specializing in litigation and intellectual property matters.

In addition to his litigation practice, Sean is the founder and manager of Visual Victory, a trial-consulting firm that conducts mock trials, prepares cross-examination strategies, and creates multimedia presentations for trial and mediation using state-of-the-art technology. Visual Victory's clients include many of the country's most prominent law firms, including O'Melveny and Myers, Irell & Manella, Paul Hastings Janofsky and Walker, Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin, Greenberg Traurig, Winston, Strawn & Greene, Broillet & Wheeler.

Sean is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Law Center where he teaches Persuasion.

Representative Cases:

• Currently representing the owner of two patents covering "memorabilia cards," an invention that reinvigorated the sports trading card industry. Sean brought a patent infringement action on behalf of the patents' owner against manufacturers of the trading cards. Sean has successfully negotiated settlements with five of the manufacturers.

• Currently representing Space Systems Loral in a patent litigation against Lockheed Martin Corporation for infringing a patent for an improved method of maintaining the orientation of a satellite in space. Dovel & Luner's client recently prevailed in the Federal Circuit.

• Represented the inventor of a patent covering energy-saving thermostats used widely in the hotel industry. Sean promptly brought the case to mediation, before any discovery had been conducted, and negotiated settlements with the two major manufacturers of thermostats in the United States.

• Represented RSA Data Security, Inc., in a patent infringement action concerning software encryption technology that is the industry standard. Sean's client held the rights to a group of patents developed by researchers at MIT, while the opposing party owned patents in the same field developed by programmers at Stanford University. The parties each claimed prior invention and counter-sued each other in a widely publicized dispute. The case was successfully settled.

• Represented Panavision Int'l L.P. in one of the earliest "cyber-squatter" cases. Panavision brought a trademark infringement action against a company that had registered web domains with names implying a connection to Panavision. At the outset, Sean assisted in defeating the defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, successfully arguing that the defendant's Internet contacts with California were sufficient to satisfy due process requirements. The court's decision established one of the earliest precedents in the United States on the issue.

• Represented ASR Data Acquisition & Analysis, LLC, a forensic data recovery company, in an action to enforce its intellectual property rights relating to its software application against a former licensee. The case went to arbitration where Dovel & Luner's client was awarded substantial damages, plus attorneys' fees, and the defendant was enjoined from further sale of its competing product.

• Represented musician Bret Michaels in an action brought against a website company that had advertised and prepared to display online a private home video created by Michaels and his then girlfriend Pamela Anderson. Sean negotiated a settlement resulting in a stipulated judgment of $4 million and a permanent injunction preventing display of the video. The defendant company went out of business, but Sean was successful in piercing the corporate veil on an alter ego theory and reaching the assets of its investors.

Prior Associations:

• Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hayes & Handler

Education:

• University of Southern California, J.D. (Order of the Coif)

• University of Southern California, M.B.A. (Beta Gamma Sigma)

• University of California, Los Angeles, Mechanical Engineering