Michael R. Graif

mgraif@curtis.com
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Intellectual Property Group Blog
New York Office

Practice

Michael R. Graif is a partner in the Intellectual Property Department and is based in the New York office. Mr. Graif focuses his practice on licensing, technology transactions, patent and trademark portfolio management and enforcement, and copyright matters. He has extensive experience preparing and negotiating licensing, development and joint venture agreements relating to computer software, know-how, trademarks and other technology. In addition, Mr. Graif is routinely involved in conducting due diligence analyses and advising clients on the intellectual property aspects of business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, securitizations, loans, securities offerings and other investments.

Mr. Graif also counsels clients on trademark clearance and enforcement issues, merchandise licensing, publicity and privacy rights, copyrights, digital rights management, domain name proceedings, and other internet-related issues. He has represented clients from Fortune 500 companies to startups, advising on strategic acquisitions, implementing global licensing programs, protecting and enforcing all types of intellectual property rights.

Mr. Graif has appeared on television and has been quoted extensively in national and international press, including Bloomberg Television to discuss MGM v. Grokster file-sharing argument; Reuters Television, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, the Guardian of London, the Daily Deal and other publications to discuss file-sharing and copyright issues.

Mr. Graif is admitted to practice in New York and Massachusetts. He is also registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of New York and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Education

• LL.B., Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 1991
• B.S.E., Electrical Engineering, magna cum laude, University of Pennsylvania, The Moore School of Electrical Engineering, 1988

Associations

• Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario, Canada)
• New York State Bar Association’s Special Committee on Cyberspace Law
• New York Intellectual Property Law Association
• International Trademark Association (INTA)

• “Protecting Your (Intellectual) Property,” The Business of Association Publishing: Contracts, Copyrights & Change Conference, Chicago, IL, November 10, 2008
• “Legal Considerations for Web 2.0 Startups,” Center for International Legal Studies, Symposium on the Internet: Governance and the Law, McGill University, Montreal Quebec, October 26-27, 2008.
• “Protecting Your Intellectual Property,” Society of National Association Publications Conference, Washington, D.C., June 9, 2008
• “Legal Issues: What Editors Need to Know,” Society of National Association Publications Conference, Chicago, IL, November 12, 2007
• “GPL3: The Significant Changes Coming to Open Source Licensing,” ITECH 2007 European Law Conference, Merchant Taylors Hall, London, England, November 1, 2007
• “Intellectual Property: Using It to Your Competitive Advantage,” CHESS 2007 (Chief Housewares Executive Super Session, International Housewares Association) Conference, Chicago, IL, October 18, 2007
• “Detecting and Overcoming New Due Diligence Concerns Presented by E-Business and Internet Services,” ACI Technology Due Diligence Conference, San Francisco, CA, June 24, 2007

• “Re-examining Employee Assignment Agreements in Light of the Bratz Case,” New York State Bar Association Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Fall/Winter 2008)
• “Toward a Freer Community: Highlights of the GPL 3,” Patent Strategy & Management (March 2007)
• “Striking Back: Patent Retaliation Clauses in Open Source Software Licenses,” Patent Strategy & Management (March 2006)
• “A Bow to Innovation: The Supreme Court’s Decision in MGM v. Grokster,” Patent Strategy & Management (August 2005)
• “A License By Any Other Name,” Patent Strategy & Management (May 2005)
• “Covering All the Bases: How and Where to Perfect Security Interests in Patents,” Patent Strategy & Management (September 2004)

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