Steve Auvil is the managing partner of our Cleveland office and previously served as leader of the US litigation segment of the firm's Intellectual Property & Technology Practice Group for nearly a decade. His practice focuses on intellectual property (IP) and technology disputes. Based on experience as an engineer and patent lawyer, Steve is familiar with a wide variety of technologies, including control systems, power electronics, communication systems, medical devices, steel production, complex mechanical systems and software systems. Steve is listed in Chambers USA Leading Lawyers (Band 1) and The Best Lawyers in America.
In more than 25 years of practicing law, Steve has served as lead trial counsel and successfully represented clients in numerous patent, trade secret, copyright and trademark/trade dress cases in federal district courts throughout the US. In addition to successfully trying cases to verdict, he has argued patent-related appeals before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In addition, he has handled numerous disputes before US administrative agencies, including section 337 actions before the US International Trade Commission and IPR proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board. Steve has also tried IP-related disputes before arbitration tribunals.
While Steve’s practice focus is in litigation, he has considerable non-litigation experience, including counseling clients on IP matters, preparing and prosecuting patent applications, and negotiating agreements that involve IP. He has been appointed by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center as an arbitrator in more than 75 domain name disputes.
Steve is a current or past member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, the Naples Roundtable, Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association (CIPLA), ITC Trial Lawyers Association and the Federal Circuit Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation.
Steve is a frequent speaker on IP law topics and has addressed to clients, industry groups and IP organizations throughout the US and abroad on a wide variety of intellectual property law topics. He previously taught a patent law and practice course as an adjunct faculty member of the Cleveland State University College of Law. He has been quoted in numerous news articles relating to intellectual property matters, including those appearing in Law360, Bloomberg Law and World Intellectual Property Review.
Steve is a past-president of CIPLA, he previously held a number of leadership positions in American Intellectual Property Law Association, and he was the inaugural president of The Kathleen M. O’Malley American Inn of Court. Steve is a voluntary board member of the American Red Cross, Northeast Ohio Region and of the Playhouse Square Foundation. He is a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2024.
Representative Experience
- Successfully prosecuted patent infringement action for one of the world’s largest tire and rubber companies, resulting in cessation of infringement.
- Successfully defended leading provider of corporate identity uniforms in trade secrets dispute related to garment tracking systems.
- Successfully defended leading provider of underground utility location and damage protection services in patent infringement action involving vehicle tracking systems.
- Successfully tried to verdict patent infringement action on behalf of a leading producer of key duplication systems against competitor.
- Successfully defended national retailer in patent and trademark dispute involving consumer product.
- Successfully defended leading marketer of hoverboards in multiple patent infringement actions brought by competitors, including one in which asserted patent claims were invalidated in parallel PTAB proceeding.
- Successfully defended producer of product marking systems in patent infringement suit brought by competitor.
- Successfully defended watch marketer in trademark and unfair competition litigation brought by competitor, and related TTAB proceedings.
- Successfully defended national marketer of CBD products in litigation relating to restrictive covenants and claims of unfair competition.
- Successfully defended leading medical equipment provider in patent infringement suit involving Operating Room integration systems in which settlement was reached after IPR filed against patent in suit and evidence of fraud in the procurement of the patent was presented to the court.
- Successfully defended national retailer in patent infringement action involving wallet app in which plaintiff dismissed suit in response to motion to dismiss suit and threat of Rule 11 sanctions.
