Mr. Degnan works with companies to identify and protect their intellectual property assets. His practice focuses on policing, enforcing and defending his clients' intellectual property rights through litigation and other means. Mr. Degnan's goal is to implement practical, cost-effective, objective-based approaches to protecting and enforcing his clients' intellectual property.

Mr. Degnan is the chair of Holland & Hart's Intellectual Property Group. He previously headed its Intellectual Property Litigation Practice from 2000 to 2005 and served on the firm's Management Committee from 2006 to 2009.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

Mr. Degnan has handled a variety of cases in federal district courts from coast to coast, as well as before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution tribunals and the 8th, 10th and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Patent Infringement Litigation

Mr. Degnan has substantial patent infringement litigation experience. He has litigated the full range of patent litigation issues and addressed the myriad discovery and procedural issues that arise and can be unique to patent cases. In addition to the technical issues pervasive in patent cases, Mr. Degnan focuses on developing simple and compelling story and trial themes early in the case. This is extremely important in conveying complex technical issues in a simple and understandable form to both the judge and the jury. Mr. Degnan has extensive experience with patent claim construction issues and has conducted numerous Markman claim construction hearings. He has also argued and won four appeals in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

Trademark Litigation, Counseling, and Domain Name Enforcement

Mr. Degnan has handled a wide range of trademark litigation involving counterfeit goods, sponsorship confusion, dilution, false advertising, trade libel, the Federal Anti-Cybersquatting Act, Internet-specific infringement involving metatags, and the fair use defense.

Mr. Degnan has conducted intellectual property audits and worked with clients to inventory intellectual property and develop and implement asset protection plans. He has considerable experience in helping clients determine the "scope" of their rights in particular marks and to create guides to assist the client in enforcing and protecting the scope of those rights. He also assists clients with domain name issues, including the negotiation and purchase of rights from third parties, defensive registration strategies and enforcement.

Trade Secret Protection, Audits and Enforcement

Mr. Degnan has successfully represented clients in trade secret actions involving alleged misappropriation of trade secrets by former employees, competitors, and others. He has obtained, and defended against, motions for temporary and permanent injunctions, as well as money damages in actions for trade secret misappropriation.

In addition to litigating trade secret misappropriation cases, Mr. Degnan has conducted a number of trade secret "audits" to define and inventory clients' trade secrets. Once the trade secret assets are identified, a protection program is created and implemented to best protect those assets from inadvertent disclosure and intentional theft by employees and others.

Copyright and Trade Libel Cases

Mr. Degnan has handled a number of actions involving copyright infringement relating to software, Internet-based content, jewelry designs, flatware designs, and clothing patterns and designs.

He has also handled cases and counseled clients involving claims of trade libel. This includes the complex and unique contours of the First Amendment defense regularly asserted in these cases.

License Disputes

Mr. Degnan has handled numerous cases involving claims of breach of license agreements involving trademark and patent rights.

HONORS

Recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business for Intellectual Property (2010)

Selected for inclusion in Colorado Super Lawyers for Intellectual Property Litigation (2006-2010).

Ranked AV® Preeminent" 5.0 out of 5 by peers under Martindale-Hubbell's certification standards

Included in the Corporate Counsel Black Book in 2007 for Intellectual Property Litigation

Selected as a finalist in Denver's 2003 "Best of the Bar" Awards, sponsored by the Denver Business Journal for the Intellectual Property category.

Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association:
- Patent Litigation Committee

Member, International Trademark Association:
- Discovery Practices & Procedures Subcommittee (2006-2008)
- Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (2004-2005)
- Meeting Planning Committee (1998-2003)

Member, Colorado Bar Association:
- Intellectual Property Section, Patent Local Rules Committee

Member, Federal Circuit Bar Association

CIVIC ACTIVITIES

Mr. Degnan serves on the Board of Directors for The Growe Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to educating children through experiential learning about eating and the environment.

"Inventorship: What Happens When You Don't Get It Right?," Annual Meeting of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Washington, DC (October 2006).

"The Present Value of Trade Secret Protection: Do the Costs Outweigh the Benefits?," American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Spring Meeting, Dallas, TX (May 2004).

"State Trademark and Unfair Competition Law," Montana and Wyoming Sections of multi-volume treatise, International Trademark Association (INTA) (2003).

Moderator, "Recent Case Law on Trade Dress Issues," International Trademark Association's Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (May 8, 2001).

"Cyber Litigation Summit: Using Technology in Technology Litigation," CLE sponsored by Glasser LegalWorks, San Francisco, CA (December 4-5, 2000).