Michael Kwun’s practice focuses on the legal issues raised by cutting-edge technologies. He has worked on many of the most-watched high-tech cases of the Internet era, both as in-house and outside counsel. He has a natural curiosity about, and affinity for, technology issues and can communicate as effectively with a client's engineers as their lawyers.
His in-house experience has given him a deep understanding of the issues confronting clients in the fast-paced world of high technology. Mr. Kwun served as the first in-house litigation counsel for Google, handling all manner of cases, including copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other complex litigation. He then served as a senior staff attorney in the intellectual property group at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Cases of Note
Amicus brief in support of Internet Companies: We filed an amicus brief in support of leading Internet companies, regarding the application of the Section 512(c) safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The final judgment was entered for our clients and against the plaintiffs on all claims.
Costco Wholesale Corp v. Omega, S.A.: We filed an amicus brief on behalf of eBay Inc. in support of Costco's petition for certiorari. This case involved cutting-edge copyright issues, including extraterritorial influences on copyright law, and the rights of downstream sellers and purchasers of goods under the first-sale doctrine. The U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for writ of certiorari.
Insurer v. Internet Search Engine: This landmark trademark case was the first U.S. trial to address the cutting-edge issue of keyword-triggered advertising and trademarks on the Internet. The plaintiff alleged our client, a leading Internet search engine, improperly allowed companies to place ads that appeared when users searched for a competing company. At the close of the plaintiff’s case, we won judgment as a matter of law on the key issue. The remaining issues were resolved by a settlement between the parties.
Plaintiff v. Internet Search Engine: We defended a trademark dispute concerning our client's “broad matching” advertising algorithms. The case was dismissed before trial.
Software Corporation v. Search Engine: We defended our client against numerous state and federal court actions alleging trade secret misappropriation. The litigation began when our client left a leading computer software corporation to head the China operations of one of its competitors. We litigated the case through the preliminary injunction stage and resolved it on favorable terms.
AIME v. The Regents of the University of California: We convinced a federal judge to dismiss a breach of contract suit which alleged the University of California, Los Angeles violated the copyrights of educational-video makers when it implemented a system for streaming videos online to students and faculty. The suit, the first of its kind in the nation, asserted federal causes of action for copyright infringement and unlawful circumvention under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as well as state law claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, interference with contract, and interference with prospective business advantage. In addition to vindicating UCLA, this case may impact the rights of colleges and universities to bring educational videos into the virtual classroom space.
Awards and Honors
Top 75 IP Litigators, Daily Journal, 2009
Winner, James Patterson McBaine Honors Moot Court Competition
Executive editor, Berkeley Women’s Law Journal
Web editor, Berkeley Technology Law Journal
Bentley Scholar, University of Michigan
Regent Scholar, University of Michigan
National Merit Scholar, University of Michigan
Professional Affiliations
Board of Directors, East Bay Community Law Center
Advisory Board, Korea Policy Institute
Advisory Board, Green Bag Reader