Jason Mueller

Jason Mueller is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group with a nationwide practice, and is the Chair of the firm’s Veterans at Sheppard group. He serves on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and has also been active in state and local bar efforts in the Diversity and Inclusion space for many years.

Areas of Practice

Jason provides strategic business counseling on intellectual property, commercial and advertising issues, and he is particularly experienced in trial and appellate matters concerning creative expression and innovation.  Jason has advised many Fortune 100 companies on matters concerning content protection, commercial speech, copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent and false advertising.

Jason has led trial teams in jury cases in the Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of Texas as well SDNY, CD Cal, ND Cal, and many other jurisdictions. Jason has successfully tried multiple cases through verdict.

Jason's trial experience informs the practical advice and counsel he delivers to clients on intellectual property and advertising issues, and he was former Global Co-leader of the firm’s Advertising Industry Team.  Beyond the courtroom, Jason represents clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board and defends claims or investigations initiated by the Federal Trade Commission, the Texas Attorney General’s Office, the New York Attorney General’s Office and several AG offices in California.

Jason and his team handle all aspects of advertising and marketing law, including sweepstakes, contests, raffles and other promotions. The team provides practical risk analysis and litigation avoidance advice related to national print, radio and television advertising campaigns and issues opinions relating to the adequacy of claim substantiation. The advertising review team is experienced in serving as primary, overflow or escalation counsel for the review of advertisements.

Experience

Jason has represented clients in cases worth collectively over $1B, and served as lead trial counsel in 6 jury trials, including patent, copyright and trademark matters.  His first-chair experience includes cases in all four districts in Texas as well as numerous courts around the United States.

Representative Matters

• Streaming Short-form Video App Company – won the first transfer motion from the Western District of Texas based purely on public and private factors.
• Popular Social Media App Company – resolved a competitor case favorably after constructing invalidity contentions based on prior art systems.

• Leading Financial Services Company – won rare motion to dismiss patent infringement claims at the pleading stage in the Eastern District of Texas based on a failure to state a cognizable claim of infringement.

• Public downstream energy company – obtained favorable settlement as lead trial counsel defending copyright infringement claims in Northern District of Texas
• Website technology patent owner – obtained complete jury verdict on issues of infringement and validity in Judge Gilstrap’s court as co-lead trial counsel (Eastern District of Texas)
• Major hedge fund – obtained favorable jury verdict as lead trial counsel defending claims of copyright infringement and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claim in Southern District of Texas
• Silicon Valley startup – obtained dismissal of core copyright claim brought by craigslist relating to copies of user generated content in Northern District of California as co-lead trial counsel
• Large accessory products company – obtained walk-away settlement as lead trial counsel defending trademark infringement matter in Southern District of Texas
• Energy operations company – obtained favorable settlement as lead trial counsel defending copyright infringement claims in Southern District of Texas
• Consulting and engineering services firm – obtained favorable settlement as lead trial counsel defending copyright claims in the Northern District of Texas
• Construction company – obtained complete victory against claims of copyright infringement of architectural plans in the Northern District of Texas
• Entertainment services company – defend claims alleging misappropriation of celebrity’s right of publicity
• Major Airline – provide advice and counsel regarding advertising claim formulation and analysis of substantiation
• Leading retailer – manage trademark enforcement and disputes
• Leading online dating services provider – provide advice and counsel on trademark, copyright and advertising matters
• Several leading insurance providers – provide advice and counsel on the advertising and marketing claims for services and products related to P&C, life, health and related lines
• National advertising agency – matters involving national marketing campaigns including pre-clearance and substantiation review
• Large national media company – trademark litigation matter involving a major newspaper
• Major national clothing retailer – routinely provide regulatory compliance counsel on matters of federal and state laws governing advertising, pricing and promotions
• International real estate developer – advice on acquisition of substantial domain name portfolio
• Medical device manufacturer – represented company in its false advertising and patent infringement claims against its primary competitor
• Medical device manufacturer – enforced trade secret and patent claims against foreign competitor
• Leading architectural firm – managed copyright portfolio registration and strategy
• Architectural and development company – asserted copyright claims against infringer
• Major production studio – defended multiple intellectual property lawsuits alleging copyright, trademark and related claims
• Energy services company – managed client review and purchase of IP asset portfolio that included patents and pending applications, software and underlying copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets
• Major airline – managed trademark globalization process involving the worldwide expansion of client's most strategic trademarks
• Major national sporting goods retailer – routinely provide advice and counsel on IP sweepstakes, contests and general advertising matters
• Represented entrepreneurs and startups by providing advice and counsel regarding protection of intellectual property, business structuring and general business issues. Examples include Terra's Dancewear; Breastaurant Uniforms; Opposite, Inc.; AI Intellectual Property; Fat Boy Labs; and Utility Concierge, 3 taps, live lovely, MOBI and others
• Developed and drafted official rules for scores of sweepstakes, contests and premium promotional marketing campaigns involving complex arrays of entry methods, user generated submissions, post-promotion media blitz coverage and many other legal challenges

Honors

DAYL Foundation Sustaining Life Fellow

Best Lawyers in Dallas, D Magazine, 2020

BTI Client Service All-Star, Intellectual Property, 2016

Texas Rising Star, Texas Monthly Magazine, 2010, 2012, 2015

2000, Honorable Discharge, U.S. Army, Infantry NCO

Articles

Corporate & Securities Law Blog Posts

• "Negative Option Practices Under Increased Scrutiny in the US," March 27, 2023

Covering Your Ads Blog Posts

• "FTC Increases Scrutiny of Negative Option Marketing," March 23, 2023

• "California’s Fair Pay to Play Act: This is Only The First Quarter," October 4, 2019 

Intellectual Property Law Blog Posts

• "Easier Copyright Registration Coming for Blogs and Social Media Posts," August 10, 2020

• "U.S. Supreme Court Rules that Profits Available Even from Non-Willful Trademark Infringers," April 23, 2020

Media Mentions

Speaking Engagements

• Speaker, "Mine, Yours and Theirs: IP Concerns for Event and Trade Show Organizers," Expo! Expo! IAEE's Annual Meeting & Exhibition, December 13, 2018
• Speaker, “Retail Prize Promotions: How to Run Successful (and Legal!) Contests, Sweepstakes, and Giveaways,” RILA Retail Law Conference, October 11, 2018
• Speaker, “Protecting and Enforcing Your Brand in the Intellectual Property Domain Name and App Arenas,” The 2017 ANA/BAA 39th Marketing Law Conference, November 13-15, 2017
• Speaker, "Enforcing Trademarks & Protecting Your Brand," The 2016 ANA/BAA 38th Marketing Law Conference, November 9-11, 2016

Events

Memberships

Member, Dallas Business Journal Leadership Trust

Member, Rockwall County Bar Association

Member, Texas Bar Association

Member, Dallas Bar Association

Member, College of the State Bar of Texas

Former Member, Board of Directors, Qualtrust Credit Union

Former Member, Steering Committee, Texas Minority Counsel Program (TMCP)