David W. Marston Jr. advises companies on intellectual property (IP) litigation, class actions, and complex commercial matters. He counsels a diverse group of clients, including those in manufacturing, computer software and hardware, media, and information technology, with their patent, trademark, copyright, and complex commercial litigation. Dave represents plaintiffs and defendants in US federal and state courts, handling all aspects of litigation from inception through trial and post-trial appeals. Clients have also turned to him for international arbitration counsel. He is managing partner of Morgan Lewis’s Miami office.
Dave has experience litigating copyright, trademark, and patent matters. Dave has represented an international publishing company against numerous copyright infringement suits in federal courts across the country. He obtained summary judgment in three cases on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked statutory standing to assert claims under the Copyright Act. Dave litigated a trademark infringement case for a manufacturer of high-end, collectible watches in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. In that matter, the manufacturer’s U.S. distributor tried to assume the manufacturer’s trademarks by registering the marks in the United States. Dave also represented a condom manufacturer in a trademark infringement case in the District of New Jersey. Dave defeated the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction which resulted in the plaintiff dismissing all claims against his client with prejudice. In 2012, Dave was second chair at a patent infringement trial in the Western District of Pennsylvania in a case filed by a university against a medical manufacturing company. A Pennsylvania federal jury awarded nearly $37 million to his client after finding that the defendant willfully infringed a patent for a device used in radiation cancer treatments. The jury verdict represented one of the Top 100 Verdicts of 2012.
A member of Morgan Lewis’s Class Action Working Group, Dave has also achieved multiple successes for his clients in complex commercial matters. He successfully defended a hospital company against qui tam and whistleblower claims under the federal False Claims Act, when the court dismissed all of the allegations the whistleblower asserted against Dave’s client. He defeated certification in a class action filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York claiming copyright infringement against an international publishing company. Dave also successfully defeated certification and obtained summary judgment in a class action filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey for breach of express and implied warranties, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
Dave served on active duty with the US Coast Guard in Miami from 1993 to 1996. After graduating from law school, Dave served as a law clerk to Judge Roderick R. McKelvie, US District Judge for the District of Delaware.
Member, Litigation Department of the Year–Intellectual Property, The American Lawyer (2019)
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Delaware State Bar Association