LES J. WEINSTEIN, ESQ.

Les Weinstein serves as a mediator and arbitrator, with a focus on technology, internet, competition law and intellectual property disputes.  He has degrees in law ( J.D. and LL.M) and engineering and is a USPTO registered patent lawyer.  He is listed annually as among “The Best Lawyers in the United States” and as a “Super Lawyer” in both arbitration and mediation.  Mr. Weinstein is also a panel member of the following ADR sponsoring organizations: AAA/ICDR, CPR, CIAdr, WIPO and IAA.

EXPERIENCE AND SPECIALTIES

Mr. Weinstein is an attorney, mediator and arbitrator, with over 40 years of extensive litigation, counseling and ADR experience in patents, copyrights, trademarks, unfair competition, technology licensing, antitrust, business and commercial matters, trade regulation, international trade and real estate.

As a lawyer, he represented in litigation and advised domestic and multinational companies regarding patent and licensing disputes, including the formation of technology joint ventures.  He frequently lectures on the topics of antitrust, trade regulation, litigation, patent law and ADR law.  Under the auspices of the Austrian Center for International Legal Studies (CILS), he in 2011 taught arbitration, mediation and intellectual property law in Tirana, Albania.

GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE

United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.:  Appointed as the first USPTO registered patent lawyer to join the Antitrust Division under the Attorney General's Honor Program.  Served five years with the Antitrust Division, trying civil and criminal antitrust cases.  He also handled criminal grand jury investigations, appellate and legislative matters. Mr. Weinstein also served as a policy advisor to the Assistant Attorney General for patent matters, and was instrumental in the formation of the Patent Section of the Antitrust Division.  He conceived and drafted a statute regarding patent interference settlement agreements which President Kennedy requested in his legislative agenda to Congress and which was enacted as 35 USC §135(c).  He also assisted in the preparation of the Government’s successful amicus briefs in the Stiffel v. Compco, and Daybright v. Sears Supreme Court cases.

USDOJ-Antitrust Division: Responsible for cases in the pharmaceutical, chemical, automotive and electronics industries, including United States v. Ely Lilly, et al., United States v. General Motors and companion civil action in the Supreme Court in United States v. General Motors; and U.S. v. Singer Manufacturing Company (trial and appeal). Principal attorney in United States v. Monsanto and Farbenfabriken Bayer (MOBAY), the first successful government antitrust case challenging technology joint ventures as being anti-competitive.

United States Patent and Trademark Office: Patent Examiner (electro-mechanical servo system art).

PRIVATE PRACTICE:

Retired partner, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey.   Private law practice focused on antitrust, intellectual property and other complex commercial disputes, with extensive litigation and trial experience in patent, unfair competition and antitrust cases, class actions in the state and federal courts, ITC and federal MDL cases.  He also defended a major product liability case (e.g., In re Agent Orange) and was the primary lawyer in significant real estate fraud cases brought by California financial institutions.  

Cases in which he had hands on and/or supervisory responsibility include: Genentech, Inc. v. Centocor, Inc., U.S.D.C. (N.D. Ca.), Case No. 98-01046CW; IMS Technology, Inc. v. Okuma America Corp., U.S.D.C. (E.D. Ill.), Case No. 95-C-5779; Mitsubishi Electric Corp. v. IMS Technology, Inc., U.S.D.C. (E.D. Ill.), Case No. 96-C-499; Hoover Universal Inc. v. Graham Packaging Corp. (C.D. Ca.), Case No. 95-3331 (KMW) and 95-8706 (KMW); IMS Technology, Inc. v. Bridgeport Machines, Inc., U.S.D.C. (E.D. Ill.), Case No. 96-C-3002; IMS Technology, Inc. v. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, U.S.D.C. (E.D. Va.), Case No. 96-206A; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation v. Jerome H. Lemelson, U.S.D.C., Central District Case No. SACV93-142-LHM (RWRx); Go Video v. Akai, (U.S.D.C., Arizona).

Mr. Weinstein conceived of and was instrumental in bringing one of the first RICO cases - and the first one of significance – challenging the abuse of patents in a patent licensing and enforcement program (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation v. Lemelson, (D.Nev.).

He represented a variety of domestic and international clients, including Idemitsu Petroleum (Japan), Radius Inc., Centocor Inc., General Scanning, Inc., Honda Motors (Japan), Honda Motors (America), Mitsubishi Electronics America, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (Japan), Panasonic. Sylvania Electric Meal Inc. (Taiwan) and numerous financial institutions.  This work spanned antitrust and intellectual property advice and counseling, litigation, arbitration, joint venture formation, real estate, licensing, consumer rights and class actions.

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

Experience in major litigation, trial and/or appellate matters includes:

U.S. v. General Motors, (criminal antitrust)
U.S. v. Eli Lilly, et al., (criminal antitrust)
U.S. v. Singer Mfg. Co., (civil patent/antitrust)
Goldman v. Glendale Federal (Consumer Class Action – Lending Practices)
Home Savings v. Superior Court (Home I) (Consumer Class Action/Constitutional law)
Home Savings v. Superior Court (Home II) (Consumer Class Action/Constitutional law)
Glendale Federal v. Marina View (fraud, contract, commercial real estate)
Laks v. Coast Federal (civil, commercial real estate)
Richards v. Home Savings (contract, fraud)
Go-Video v. AKAI Electric (antitrust/patent)
Sunkist v. RJR Nabisco (arbitration, contract)
Cornwell v. CTS (antitrust)
Security Title vs. Great Western S&L (antitrust, insurance)
Van der Ahe v. Sylvania (antitrust)
W.T. Thompson v. GNC (antitrust)
Davis v. Hawthorne Financial (fraud)
Turturicci v. Miller Brewing Co. (antitrust)
CIT v. Galen (contract)
In re Beef, (MDL) (antitrust)
In re Master Key, (MDL) (antitrust)
Wang v. Mitsubishi Electric (patent, antitrust)
Mitsubishi Electric vs. Ampex (patent, antitrust, unfair competition)
Ampex vs. Mitsubishi Electric (patent)
Tandem Computer (ITC, patent)
National Semiconductor (ITC, patent)
Wang Technology (ITC, patent)
Idemitsu Petroleum vs. Chevron Oil (arbitration, contract)
Twitchell vs. US et al. (USDC, copyright)
Prosecutor in three grand jury criminal investigations while at the DOJ.
Defense counsel in five federal grand jury criminal investigations.

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Weinstein, “The Future of Corporate Disputes” (2012, Acquisition International Journal)
Weinstein, "The Application of Section 7 of the Clayton Act to Patents," George Washington University Patent, Copyright and Trademark Journal
Weinstein & Smith, "Going on the Offensive: Countering the Pro-Patent Trend in Patent Litigation," The General Counsel Advisor, Vol. 2, No. I (Spring 1994)
Panelist: American Bar Association, Litigation Section, Application of general litigation and antitrust principles in patent cases .
Lecturer: Korean Invention Promotion Association (KIPA), Soul, Korea (1997)
Lecturer: Korean Intellectual Property Association, Seoul, Korea, The Patent-Antitrust Interface: Risks and Opportunities .
Guest Lecturer: Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois: Cross-Cultural Negotiations .
Panelist: American Bar Association, Intellectual Property Committee of the Antitrust Section, Recent developments in CAFC decisions as they relate to antitrust and unfair competition issues in patent cases .
DecisionQuest: featured trial lawyer, American Lawyer and National Law Journal (
Featured Speaker: Meeting of the Chinese (PRC) Bar Association, Plenary Meeting, on the topic of China, the WTO, International Trade and U.S. Antitrust law Enforcement (Beijing, China)
Lecturer: Patent law and competition, The John Hopkins University Department of Economics.
Presenter and Member of the Advisory Committee of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Leadership Conferences (2000-2004) on Intellectual Property and other Complex litigation

AFFILIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

American Bar Association, Antitrust, Litigation and Intellectual Property Sections
Los Angeles County and California Bar Associations (Antitrust, International Law, Intellectual Property Sections)
American Arbitration Association, Member, National Panel Member
Member, University of Pennsylvania President’s Council and Harrison Society
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (Director, Emeritus)
Los Angeles County Art Museum (Founder)
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (Founder)

EDUCATION

B.S., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Engineering)
J.D., George Washington University Law Center, Washington, D.C. (with Distinction)
LL.M., George Washington University Law Center, Washington, D.C. (Antitrust, Trade Regulation and Intellectual Property)
Completed advanced ADR Course: “Mediating the Litigated Case,” Pepperdine Law
School, sponsored by the United States District Court. Completed numerous ADR courses sponsored by the AAA and CPR

ADR SPECIALTIES

Intellectual Property
Patent law
Copyright Law
Trademark Law
Trade Secret Law
Real Estate
Special Master/Discovery Referee
Technology Law
Business/Commercial
Class Actions
Complex Litigation