Arthur (Art) Beeman is a partner in the San Francisco office of Crowell & Moring. He focuses on the trial and management of complex intellectual property and commercial litigation and has extensive experience handling matters in the telecommunications, internet, software, hardware, medical device, and construction machinery industries. Art's cases have involved cutting-edge legal issues in patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright law. An accomplished trial lawyer, Art has successfully represented his clients over the years in numerous "bet-the-company" disputes.
Nationally recognized by numerous legal publications for his courtroom achievements, Art has tried more than 30 cases to jury verdict in venues throughout the United States including: New York; Boston; Chicago; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; Cleveland; Minneapolis; Billings, Montana; and Lexington, Kentucky. As lead trial counsel, he obtained a $47 million jury verdict in a patent infringement dispute for the inventor of a shock hazard protection device, a defense jury verdict for a Terex subsidiary in a patent infringement case, an $8.5 million jury verdict, plus an award of attorneys’ fees and costs, for CollegeNET in a patent infringement and Lanham Act case, and a defense jury verdict for a French sports equipment supplier in a breach of contract and fraud case. A focus of Art's current practice today also involves the representation of licensees in major disputes with enterprise database licensors, including serving as lead counsel on behalf of Mars, Incorporated against Oracle Corporation in the only publicly filed complaint against the software giant for its audit tactics and conduct.
In 2008, the Daily Journal named Art among California’s “Top Ten Patent Lawyers” in its first-ever listing of the state’s top intellectual property lawyers. Most recently, Art was named in the 2014 and 2015 editions of Managing Intellectual Property’s IP Stars, recognizing his work on high-stakes matters throughout the United States. In 2002, Art won a jury verdict for the inventor in Gaus v. Conair, which was listed by The National Law Journal as one of the top 10 jury verdicts that year. He also has been named in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, where he was described in that publication’s inaugural edition (2003-2004) as an “outstandingly energetic and creative IP lawyer... (who) enjoys a national reputation.” Art has been selected for inclusion in the 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 issues of the Northern California Super Lawyer Magazine and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America. Additionally, Art was recognized by Martindale-Hubbell as one of San Francisco's Top AV-Rated Lawyers in 2015. Art is also recognized as an "IP Star" by Managing Intellectual Property.
In 2014, Art received the Marc L. Fleischaker Pro Bono Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Public Interest related to his work for the protection and preservation of early 20th Century American art.
Art was previously the managing partner of a global law firm’s Silicon Valley office, where he was also the chair of the firm’s Patent Litigation practice.
In his spare time, Art keeps his trivia competition skills honed by regularly viewing Jeopardy (Art had been a College Bowl champion at Northwestern University). Art is also an avid runner and accomplished foodie.
