Melissa Reinckens

Melissa A. Reinckens

Partner
About

Melissa Reinckens is a Chambers recognized litigator that concentrates her practice on intellectual property matters involving false advertising, trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, as well as other commercial litigation matters. In describing Melissa, clients have said: Her broad experience and friendly-but-firm approach make her a secret weapon. She is also detailed, responsive and practical” praising her work as "truly excellent," and "obtained great results."

She is a substantive expert in the litigation of false advertising disputes and has in-depth experience with competitor lawsuits (state and federal Lanham Act), as well as regulatory and administrative challenges (FTC, FCC, state regulatory bodies, NAD, BBB), and related class actions. She regularly partners with clients, helping them to investigate, protect and defend advertising claims and fend off or assert claims against competitors, while providing key guidance on matters of claim development, assessment and substantiation. Additionally, Melissa has developed an expertise in IP damages who works regularly with experts on developing cutting edge damages theories and is a key strategist in this area. 

Melissa has significant trial experience and has taken various intellectual property matters and several complex commercial matters to trial and arbitration. In this capacity, clients tout Melissa as an "outstanding trial lawyer," who "put together very good evidentiary records, and did a superb job examining the opponent's witnesses, and handling our defense against IP infringement claims."

Melissa is committed to the advancement of women in the legal profession and serves as a mentor to many women attorneys at DLA Piper. She serves as a San Diego delegate for DLA Piper's Leadership Alliance for Women (LAW), which is committed to the hiring, development and advancement of women lawyers. Melissa was selected to participate in DLA Piper's New Perimeter program – a global pro bono initiative – where she trained a group of 30 women lawyers in Nepal on intellectual property law.

Bar admissionsCaliforniaMassachusettsNew York
CourtsUnited States Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia CircuitUnited States District Court for the Southern District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Central District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New YorkUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

EXPERIENCE

Representative cases include:

False advertising, Copyright, Trademark, and Trade Secret Litigation
  • Kurin v. Magnolia Medical Technologies, Civil Action No. 18-cv-01060 (S.D. Cal.) – Representing defendant and counterclaimant Magnolia in a Lanham Act false advertising dispute
  • World Trade Centers Association Inc. v. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Civil Action No. 15-cv-07411 (S.D.N.Y.) − Defending the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in trademark infringement action
  • Lisa Frank, Inc. v. The Orb Factory, Civil Action No. 15-cv-00433 (D. Ariz.) – Defended Orb Factory in a trade dress and copyright dispute that resulted in a favorable settlement during trial
  • Yeti Coolers, LLC v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. et al, Civil Action No. 17-cv-00342 (W.D. Tex.) – Defended Home Depot in a trade dress infringement case that resulted in a favorable settlement
  • Simoniz v. Dollar Shave Club, Civil Action No. 16-cv-00688 (D. Conn.) – Represented Dollar Shave Club, Inc. in a pretrial victory attained with a successful motion to dismiss on standing issues in trademark infringement case
  • Ghavamedinni v. AEG Facilities, LLC et al, Civil Action No. 17-cv-00112 (S.D. Cal.) – Defended AEG in a copyright infringement dispute that resulted in a favorable settlement
  • Lights Out Holdings, LLC v. Nike, Inc., Civil Action No. 14-cv-00872 (S.D. Cal.) – Defended Nike in a trademark infringement action relating to sports apparel
  • PaySys International, Inc. v. Atos SE, et al., Civil Action No. 14-cv-10105 (S.D.N.Y) – Represented Atos and Worldline in copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and related tort action concerning credit card and payment processing software; secured pre-trial dismissal of all 11 causes of action brought under federal, state and foreign law
  • SurgiQuest, Inc. v. Lexion Medical, LLC, Civil Action No. 14-382 (D. Del.) – Represented SurgiQuest (now Conmed) in a Lanham Act false advertising case that involving medical devices used in minimally invasive surgery
  • Spanski Enterprises, Inc. v. Telewizja Polska S.A., Civil Action No. 12-cv-957 (D.D.C.) – Represented Telewizja Polska in copyright infringement relating to geo-blocking
  • Matrix v. Macy's Inc. et al (C.D. Cal.) – Represented defendant Macy's in copyright infringement action relating to apparel fabric pattern that ended in a favorable settlement
  • French West v. Macy's Inc. et al (C.D. Cal.) – Represented defendant Macy's in copyright infringement action relating to apparel fabric pattern that resulted in a favorable settlement
  • God, Gold and Moore, LLC, d/b/a Psycho Bunny v. Nike, Inc. (S.D.N.Y) – Represented Nike in lawsuit for trademark infringement and dilution by a men's fashion company in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Successfully defeated Psycho Bunny's request for a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction and eventually obtained a successful settlement for Nike
  • Cambridge Pavers, Inc. v Fiber Composites, LLC et al. (D.N.J.) – Represented defendant Home Depot in trademark infringement action that resulted in a favorable settlement
  • Thoroughbred Legends, LLC v. Walt Disney Company, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., ESPN Productions, Inc., and Orly Adelson Productions (N.D. Ga.) – Represented defendants in trademark and defamation action relating to a movie about the thoroughbred racehorse Ruffian
  • Samuel v. ESPN et al (D.S.C.) – Represented ESPN in copyright infringement action over graphics used during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. After a successful summary judgment motion, Plaintiffs appealed, and the decision was affirmed by the Fourth Circuit, and cert was denied by the Supreme Court
Patent Litigation
  • Valinge Innovation AB v. Halstead New England Corp., et al, Civil Action No. 16-cv-1082, (D. Del.) – Representing defendants Halstead and Home Depot in a patent litigation involving vinyl flooring
  • Autoloxer LLC v. Sandvik Mining and Construction USA, LLC (E.D. Tex.) – Represented Sandvik in patent litigation that settled early and favorably for Sandvik
  • Represented Sandvik in offensive patent infringement action and invalidation proceedings against its biggest competitor in China related to slurry technology
  • Alvarado Orthopedic Research, L.P. et al v. Linvatec Corporation et al, Civil Action No. 11-cv-00246 (S.D. Cal.) – Successfully defended ConMed Linvatec in a jury trial in patent licensing dispute regarding surgical saw blades in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California
  • Ethicon Endo-surgery, Inc. and Ethicon Endo-surgery, LLC v. Covidien, Inc. and Covidien, LP, (D. Ohio.) – Represented Covidien (now Medtronic) in patent litigation and obtained a favorable rulings in claim construction and summary judgment to defeat all nine asserted patents
  • Destination Maternity Corp. v. Target Corp. (Ed. Pa; PTAB) – Represented Destination Maternity in patent litigation and related Inter Partes Review concerning maternity apparel patents
  • Echo Design Group v. Arcadia Group Ltd. (S.D.N.Y.) – Represented defendant in patent litigation relating to touchscreen glove technology
  • Tyco Healthcare Group LP and United States Surgical Corporation v. Ethicon Endo-surgery, Inc. (D. Conn.) - Represented Tyco (now Medtronic) in a patent litigation concerning medical device technology in the United States District Court of Connecticut, resulting in an award of damages to Tyco
Other commercial Litigation
  • Aquino v. Integrated Surgical, LLC et al, Case No. 18CV322707 (Cal. State Court) – Representing Conmed in a litigation involving tortious interference with contract allegations
  • In re NCAA Student-Athlete Name & Likeness Litigation (N.D. Cal.) – Represented third parties ESPN and ABC involving the alleged misuse of the names and likenesses of current and former NCAA Division I student athlete football and basketball players
  • White House Black Market et al v. Caché, Inc., et al. (N.Y. State Supreme, N.Y. County) – Represented defendant Caché in theft of trade secret action relating to clothing concepts and designs
  • United Insurance Group Agency, Inc. v. Patterson et al. (Michigan State Court) – Represented plaintiff in theft of trade secret, breach of non-compete agreement and breach of fiduciary duty action
Education
  • J.D., Washington University School of Law 2008
    Senior Editor, Washington University Law Review
  • B.A., Art History, The University of Chicago 2002

Awards

The Legal 500 United States

  • Recommended, Trademarks: Litigation (2022-2024)

Chambers USA

  • Band 4, California Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets (2024)
  • Up and Coming, California Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets (2022-2023)

Bylines

Seminars

  • Panelist, "Athlete's Rights in Evolving Sports Media," 3rd Annual Cardozo Sports Law Symposium, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, March 13, 2015

Prior Experience

While in law school, Melissa worked at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission litigating cases involving federal employment discrimination laws and also as a faculty research assistant.

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