Andy LeGolvan

Intellectual Property Litigation – Patent, Trade Secret, Trademark, and Copyright

• WhaleCo (Temu) v. Shein Technology (D.D.C.) – Representing e-commerce platform provider, Temu, in litigation against e-commerce provider, Shein, alleging various IP infringement claims (copyright, trade dress, and trade secrets), claims relating to false DMCA notices, and unfair competition claims.
• Minka Lighting v. Wangs Alliance Corp. (C.D. Cal., E.D.V.A., and International Trade Commission (ITC)) – Represented lighting and ceiling fan maker, Minka Lighting, against competitor, Wangs Alliance Corp. (WAC), alleging claims for misappropriation of ceiling fan trade dress and unfair competition relating to WAC's misleading claims regarding the parties ITC patent dispute. After WAC removed the case from state court to federal court and filed an anti-SLAPP motion, we successfully remanded the case back to state court, see Minka Lighting, LLC v. Wangs Alliance Corp., No. 24-cv-965, 2024 WL 3183217, at *1 (C.D. Cal. June 26, 2024), and we subsequently secured a favorable global resolution of all claims.
• East West Bank v. Aeldra Financial (N.D. Cal.) – Represented Aeldra Financial, a start-up fintech company, and its CEO, accused of misappropriating an international bank's trade secrets relating to technology for onboarding of non-resident aliens onto a banking app. We appeared in the case after a TRO and preliminary injunction had been issued against our clients, and we developed a strategy that successfully compelled the case to arbitration and dissolved the preliminary injunction. We then prevailed on an attorneys' fees motion securing nearly $500,000 in fees. See East West Bank v. Shanker, No. 20-cv-7364, 2021 WL 6049912 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 20, 2021). This string of victories gained recognition by way of an AmLaw "Litigator of the Week" recognition and The Daily Journal's "Top Verdicts" award.
• Polygon Labs v. Vox Media (polygon.com) (C.D. Cal.) – Represented Polygon Labs, developer of the Polygon blockchain network, against Vox Media, owner of the online gaming publication, polygon.com, in a multi-national trademark infringement dispute over use of the POLYGON trademark in the emerging blockchain gaming space. After aggressively litigating in the U.S., the U.K., Spain, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, and Brazil, we secured a favorable global settlement of all claims, including a co-existence agreement.
• Polygon Labs v. Polygon.io (D. Del. and N.D. Ga.) – Represented Polygon Labs in a multi-district trademark infringement litigation over use of the POLYGON trademark in the blockchain space, securing a favorable global settlement of all claims.
• Demaray v. Applied Materials (N.D. Cal.) (related actions in W.D. Tex. Against Intel and Samsung) – Represented Applied Materials, Intel, and Samsung in patent infringement actions involving patents in the semiconductor reactor space. Successfully opposed a motion to dismiss challenging the N.D. Cal. Court's jurisdiction, and successfully opposed a motion to dismiss a potentially dispositive license defense.
• BlackBerry v. Snap (C.D. Cal.) – Represented Snap in patent infringement suit brought by BlackBerry in relation to targeted advertising technology. Secured summary judgment invalidating the primary patents, which was subsequently affirmed by the Federal Circuit on appeal.
• Canon v. TCL Electronics (E.D. Tex.) (related actions in W.D. Tex. and C.D. Cal. against Roku) – Represented Canon in six-patent suit relating to Internet TV technology. Secured a favorable settlement after a favorable Markman ruling and key discovery victories.
• SecurityProfiling v. Trend Micro (Fed. Cir.) – Represented Trend Micro in patent infringement litigation. Following a favorable decision from the PTAB on the invalidity of SecurityProfiling's patent, we successfully secured an affirmance from the Federal Circuit, resulting in dismissal of the parallel district court infringement claims.
• HDMI Licensing v InfoComm (D. Nev.) – Represented InfoComm, a consumer electronics trade show producer, in a lawsuit brought by HDMI Licensing, alleging claims for contributory trademark infringement, dilution, and counterfeiting in relation to the HDMI trademark. Obtained a favorable settlement after vigorously prosecuting counterclaims for cancellation of the registered trademarks at issue and business tort claims.
• Connectus v. Ampush Media (M.D. Fla.) – Represented Ampush, a social media advertising company, in a suit involving allegations of trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and various other statutory and common law claims with respect to the acquisition and use of consumer lead data. After obtaining dismissal of most claims on the pleadings and successfully arguing for pre-trial enforcement of the limitation-of-liability provision in the parties' contract, which significantly capped the plaintiff's damages, see Connectus LLC v. Ampush Media, Inc., No. 8:15-cv-2778, 2017 WL 275944 (M.D. Fla. Jan. 20, 2017), Ampush was able to obtain a favorable settlement of the remaining claims in both cases.
• Invenger v. Enservio (C.D. Cal.) – Represented Enservio, a software company, in a lawsuit brought by a competitor (Invenger) alleging claims for contract interference and defamation. Obtained a favorable settlement after vigorously prosecuting business tort counterclaims, including claims for trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and contract interference.

Commercial Litigation and Class Actions

• Kent v. PoolTogether Inc. (E.D.N.Y.) – Represented PoolTogether Inc. – developer of the PoolTogether crypto savings protocol and associated front end – in a class action alleging the protocol operated as an unlawful "lottery" under New York law. Secured complete dismissal of the case on the pleadings arguing the plaintiff lacked Article III standing to pursue the claims. See Kent v. PoolTogether, Inc., 676 F. Supp. 3d 144 (E.D.N.Y. 2023).
• Lehman v. Transbay Joint Powers Authority (Millennium Tower Litigation) (S.F. Super. Crt.) – Represented the developers of the Millennium Tower (a luxury San Francisco residential complex) against construction defect, fraud, and other tort claims relating to the alleged sinking and tilting of the Tower, which included a homeowner class action, individual homeowner claims, claims brought by the HOA, and cross-claims against neighboring landowners and their contractors for indemnity and inverse condemnation. After securing several significant motion-practice victories, we obtained a favorable pretrial resolution of all claims.
• Wilkinson v. Meta (N.D. Cal.) – Represented Meta in consolidated class actions alleging Meta violated RICO and California and Kentucky gambling laws relating to "social casino" games operated on the Facebook platform.
• Whalen v. Moon Active (S.D.N.Y.) – Represented Moon Active in a class action alleging Moon Active's game "Coin Master" constitutes unlawful gambling under New York law and is otherwise deceptive. After fully briefing a motion to compel arbitration and a motion to dismiss for lack of Article III standing and failure to state a claim, secured voluntary dismissal of the plaintiff's claims.
• Owens v. Zynga (N.D. Cal.) – Represented Zynga in a class action alleging its online slot-themed games constitute gambling under California law. Secured voluntary dismissal of all claims.
• Van Fleet v. Trion Worlds (San Mateo Super. Ct.) – Represented the publisher of a massively multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG), ArcheAge, in a class action alleging violation of California gambling laws relating to the game's "loot boxes" and misrepresentation claims relating to discounts available within the game, resulting in a favorable class-wide settlement of all claims.
• Engelbretson v. Bagelcode USA, Inc. (W.D. Wash.) – Represented Bagelcode USA, Inc. in a class action alleging its online slot-themed games constitute gambling under Washington law. Secured voluntary dismissal of all claims.
• Wilson v. Playtika (W.D. Wash.) – Represented Playtika in a class action alleging its online slot-themed games constitute gambling under Washington law. Obtained a favorable class-wide settlement of all claims.
• Ferrando v. Zynga (W.D. Wash.) – Represented Zynga in a class action alleging its online slot-themed games constitute gambling under Washingon law. Obtained a favorable class-wide settlement of all claims.
• DeLeon v. Elite Self Storage Mgmt., LLC (E.D. Cal.) – Represented a self-storage management company and the owners and managers of several self-storage facilities in a class action brought by a former storage tenant alleging violations of the California Insurance Code with respect to the sale of self-storage insurance. After impleading third parties for indemnity, and defeating the plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction and motion for remand to state court, see Deleon v. Elite Self Storage Mgmt., LLC, No. 2:15-cv-2087, 2016 WL 3411588, at *1 (E.D. Cal. June 22, 2016), the clients were able to obtain a favorable settlement.
• Sinanyan v. Luxury Suites International (D. Nev.) – Represented a Las Vegas condominium resort property manager in a class action brought by various condominium owners alleging breach of contract and violations of common law and statutory obligations relating to collection of "resort fees" from guests. Obtained a favorable class settlement of all claims.

Pro Bono Litigation

• Beaudette v. McDonough (U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims) – Served as Class Counsel representing a combat veteran and his caregiver and approximately 400,000 similarly situated veterans and caregivers against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to secure judicial review rights for benefits decisions made under the VA Caregiver Program. Argued before a three-judge panel on both the merits and class certification issues. The Veterans Court granted the petition enjoining the VA from denying judicial review rights, certified the proposed class, and ordered that veterans and caregivers denied benefits under the VA Caregiver Program over the last decade are eligible to get review at the Board of Veterans' Appeals and subsequent judicial review. The decision was subsequently affirmed by the Federal Circuit. See Beaudette v. McDonough, 34 Vet. App. 95 (2021), aff'd, 93 F.4th 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2024).
• Lewis v. City and County of San Francisco (N.D. Cal.) – Represented a former inmate of the San Francisco County jail in a civil rights case against the City and County of San Francisco. The former inmate suffered systemic abuse, harassment, and mistreatment at the hands of sheriff deputies, in violation of his constitutional rights. Secured a favorable pre-trial settlement with the City and County of San Francisco.
• Jennings v. Rodriguez (U.S. Supreme Court) – Represented the American Bar Association by preparing and submitting two amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of an automatic bond hearing for certain immigrants facing prolonged detention.