Michael J. Lyons is a partner in Morgan Lewis’s Intellectual Property Practice. Mr. Lyons has focused his practice on litigation of intellectual property rights for more than 20 years. He handles patent, copyright, trade secret misappropriation cases, and other technology-focused litigation. He has worked on cases involving, for example, video streaming, light-emitting diodes, semiconductor processing, software, opto-electronic transceivers, ink jet and laser printers, hard disk drives, hardware for graphics image production, and circuit architecture of consumer electronics devices and chips. Mr. Lyons recently obtained one of the largest patent jury verdicts in Virginia with a total recovery, including post-trial rulings, in excess of $250 million for ActiveVideo Networks in a case involving video-on-demand technology. He has also represented a leading light-emitting diode manufacturer in connection with an International Trade Commission investigation of infringement of its patents. The Commission found infringement and issued an exclusion order barring importation of all of the accused products. Mr. Lyons also represented Intertrust Technologies Corp., a pioneer in the development of digital right management (DRM) and secure computing technology, in a patent infringement litigation against Microsoft. This case settled with Microsoft paying $440 million for a license to the Intertrust patent portfolio.
Mr. Lyons’s practice also focuses on strategic intellectual property counseling. He drafts and negotiates intellectual property licenses and other agreements. He analyzes intellectual property portfolios to advise clients concerning how best to manage and use their own IP rights. He also represents clients in reexamination and interference proceedings in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Mr. Lyons was awarded the 2011 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award in the Intellectual Property category for work representing ActiveVideo and has previously been recognized as one of the “40 under 40” by the San Jose Business Journal. Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Mr. Lyons was one of the youngest partners elected to membership on the Board of Pennie & Edmonds, a leading intellectual property boutique. Mr. Lyons is a frequent lecturer on topics relating to intellectual property and has been a guest speaker at Boalt Hall School of Law on intellectual property enforcement.
Mr. Lyons earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1992. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Pennsylvania State University with his B.S. in physics and a minor in English.
Mr. Lyons is admitted to practice in California and New York and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal and Ninth Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Central Districts of California, and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
