Coleman Watson

Coleman W. Watson is the Managing Partner of Watson LLP, and his background has a unique blend of engineering, business, and finance interposed with the practice of law. He is a registered patent attorney with the United States Patent & Trademark Office, and he counsels and advises clients on intellectual property and technology issues.

Coleman also has broad experience in patent litigation, trademark litigation, videogame law, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, government investigations, qui tam claims, and “bet the company” litigation.

Prior to launching the firm, Coleman was an attorney at Baker Hostetler LLP, a national U.S. law firm ranked on the Am 100. He also worked for several leading international companies, including the American Express Company, where he worked in the Intellectual Property Strategy Group managing a global intellectual property portfolio.

Coleman is an engineer by training, and after receiving his undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech, he worked for two global engineering firms ranked by Engineering News-Record magazine in the top twenty-five engineering firms worldwide.

Coleman attended New York Law School, where he earned both his Juris Doctor, with a concentration in Intellectual Property, and his Master of Laws in Financial Services, with a concentration in Capital Markets, Hedge Fund Formation, and Prime Brokerage. During law school, he served as an editor on the New York Law School Law Review and drafted an article on whether federal copyright registration is a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit, or rather, a claim processing rule.

Experience:

• Litigated federal trademark claims against several multinational corporations.
• Obtained dismissal of civil racketeering and alleged illegal gambling claims against videogame development company.
• Represented numerous individuals in federal civil rights claims to establish municipal liability, under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
• Represented video game developers in enforcing intellectual property rights and game development agreements.
• Defended several national companies with respect to claims of patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.
• Litigated misappropriation of trade secrets lawsuit involving coal dust compaction technology used in transcontinental railroad cars.
• Achieved favorable settlement for multinational commercial general contractor in lawsuit alleging breach of contract and construction delay claims.
• Defended issuer of securities in class action lawsuit alleging material misrepresentations in underlying registration statement.
• Represented publicly traded corporation bringing numerous claims against former C level executive, including civil racketeering, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.
• Drafted spoliation motion against plaintiff in federal lawsuit that secured default judgment for client due to destruction of electronic evidence.
• Represented public lodging establishment in federal constitutional lawsuit alleging deprivation of procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.
• Defended public official from criminal indictment for allegedly violating the federal bribery laws.
• Defended financial business from claims of operating an illegal gambling business in violation of federal and Nevada law.

Education:

• New York Law School, LL.M.
• New York Law School, J.D.

Admissions:

• California
• Florida
• Georgia
• New York
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Central District of California
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of California

Affiliations:

• American Intellectual Property Lawyer’s Association
• Atlanta Bar Association
• Citrus Club, Young Executives Board of Directors
• Federal Bar Association
• Los Angeles County Bar Association
• National Association of Patent Practitioners
• National Urban League
• New York City Bar Association
• Orange County Bar Association, Intellectual Property Committee
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Bench Bar Fund Committee
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Judicial Relations Committee