James A. Clark

Of Counsel

James A. Clark is an accomplished litigator in a variety of fields. His work has recently emphasized intellectual property litigation, including particularly trademark and trade secret cases.

Experience

Trademarks

• Mr. Clark was the lead attorney for Sanford Corporation in the International Trade Commission case that in 2005 awarded Sanford a General Exclusion Order broadly banning from the United States all markers that appear similar to the trade dress of Sanford's SHARPIE® marker.
• He has been Newell Rubbermaid's lead lawyer in litigation relating to that client's most valuable marks including RUBBERMAID®, SHARPIE®, LITTLE TIKES®, and others.
• He also has been at the forefront of developments in trade dress laws having tried ground-breaking cases involving planning notebooks, markers, hand tools and grills and represented Thermos LLC in its recent successful defense of trade dress infringement claims involving the design of an insulated bottle.

Trade Secrets and Non-Compete Agreements

• Mr. Clark successfully represented PepsiCo in the seminal case establishing the doctrine of inevitable disclosure of trade secrets, PepsiCo v. Redmond.
• In 2006, Mr. Clark was the lead lawyer in a complex inevitable disclosure case that applied the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in the trade secrets context: Sanford v. McHenry.
• He also has tried numerous covenant-not-to-compete cases, obtaining preliminary and permanent injunctions against violations of these agreements.

Awards and Honors

AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

Education

Clerkships

Honorable John M. Manos, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio

Teaching Appointments

Adjunct Professor, DePaul University College of Law
Pretrial Litigation Strategies

Lecturer, National Institute for Trial Advocacy
Trial and deposition skills