Lin Medlin

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

April 1, 2009 to present.  Lin Medlin Law, P.C.  Appellate practice and contract work writing briefs, including in copyright, patent, and general commercial cases.   

January 2001 to March 31, 2009. K&L Gates LLP, Counsel. Practice focused on appellate, commercial and intellectual property litigation.  Argued for the prevailing Appellees in the landmark case, Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., 543 F.3d 665, (Fed. Cir. 2008) (en banc), in which the Federal Circuit dramatically changed the standards applicable to design patent infringement.  Previously argued the case successfully before a panel of the Federal Circuit, resulting in a split decision.  Named “Litigator of the Week” in September 2008 for this case by American Lawyer Magazine’s AmLaw Daily.

Extensive experience in, in addition to patent litigation,  cases concerning copyrights, software copyrights, software licensing, trademarks and trade names, First Amendment, misappropriation of trade secrets, civil RICO, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence claims, and contract disputes.

August 1996 to January 2001. Wolin, Ridley & Miller, Senior Counsel. With this firm when it merged into what is now K & L Gates, LLP.  Practice focused on commercial and intellectual property litigation.  In 1999, won a then rare plaintiff’s summary judgment on liability in a right of publicity case, Henley v. Dillard Department Stores, 46 F. Supp. 2d 587 (N.D. Tex. 1999).

June 1987 to August 1996. Solo Practice. Worked on a variety of cases as a sole practitioner, and wrote briefs for various firms as a contract lawyer.

October 1985 to June 1987. Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Dallas.  Associate. Commercial litigation.

September 1980 to Sept. 1985. Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP.  Associate. Trained in complex commercial litigation at premiere Wall Street law firm.

EDUCATION

J.D., Yale Law School, 1980 (Articles Editor, Yale Studies in World Public Order, now named the Yale Journal of International Law).

Kress Foundation Fellow, Oberlin College 1975-77. Graduate work in art history.

B.F.A. with Highest Honors, Southern Methodist University, 1974.

CIVIC ACTIVITIES

Commissioner from November 2008 to February 2012, City of Dallas Cultural Affairs Commission; during which time was Commission liason to Undermain Theatre , Kitchen Dog Theater, and Dallas Theater Center.  Ex Officio Trustee of Dallas Theater Center from 2011 to February 2012.  Member of the Board of Undermain Theater since April 2012, Board Secretary from April 2013 through July, 2014, Vice President from August 2014 through July 2015, and President from August 2015 to 2016.  Thereafter member of the Governance Committee and other committees until present.  Presently President of the Board again.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Guest Lecturer, Professional Practice Seminar, Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, April 10, 2014 and April 13, 2013.

Guest Lecturer, Intellectual Property Law Class, SMU Dedman  Law School, October 10, 2012

Recent Decision Reads Egyptian Goddess Correctly: Functionality Is Critical To Design Patent Analysis, 78 BNA’S PATENT, TRADEMARK & COPYRIGHT JOURNAL  17 (May 1, 2009).

Speaker,  April 3, 2009, as part of  “Hot Topics in DesignLaw:  Fifth Avenue to Main Street—Egyptian Goddess, Runway Chic and Dominoes,”  American Bar Association’s 24th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference in Arlington, Virginia, and in conjunction, author of a paper, “The New Rules for Design Patent Infringement After Egyptian Goddess.”

Speaker, “Design Patents after Egyptian Goddess,” Texas State Bar Intellectual Property Law Advanced Course 2009, San Antonio, March 6, 2009, and in conjunction, author of “Design Patent Infringement After Egyptian Goddess,” Texas State Bar CLE materials.

Functionality of Individual Features in Design Patents: A New Role After Egyptian Goddess, 77 BNA’S PATENT, TRADEMARK & COPYRIGHT JOURNAL 139 (December 5, 2008).

“Farewell to the Point of Novelty Test: The Egyptian Goddess Case Changes the Rules for Design Patent Infringement,” K&L Gates webinar, October 29, 2008.

“Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa: Fundamental Change for Design Patent Law,” Practicing Law Institute Webinar, October 17, 2008.

“A Post Argument Discussion on Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa,” a Federal Circuit Bar Association Webinar, June 2, 2008.

STATE BAR ADMISSIONS
New York, California (Inactive), and Texas

COURT ADMISSIONS

United States Supreme Court
United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Eighth, and Federal Circuits
United States District Court for the Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York