Brian C. Carroll
Commercial litigator Brian Carroll represents corporate and individual clients in a variety of intellectual property litigation matters, including primarily patent and trade secret litigation, as well as other complex civil litigation matters.
Brian’s technology experience covers a wide range of applications, including circuitry and electronics (semiconductor devices including analog power detectors and “intrinsically safe” circuitry for industrial controls), mechanical systems (mobile satellite dish apparatus and laboratory automation instruments for nucleic acid assays), software systems (airline reservations systems, MPEG video editing and compression, character animation, 2D bar code optical recognition systems and Internet credit card processing software), medical devices (prosthetic vascular grafts and automated cytological specimen screening and review systems) and pharmaceutical formulations (antibiotics and drugs for palliative treatment of prostate cancer). He represents intellectual property clients in litigation, in obtaining pre-litigation opinions of counsel and in reexamination proceedings at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.
Brian’s other commercial litigation work includes advising and representing clients through every stage of litigation, either prosecuting or defending claims for trade secret theft, Lanham Act violations, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, violations of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 93A and various business torts. He has also represented clients in employment-related disputes, including claims for tortious interference.
There are strong international aspects to Brian’s trial practice as well. He served for five months on a prosecution team at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (The Hague, Netherlands), prosecuting four Bosnian-Serb military commanders for atrocities committed after the fall of Srebrenica in 1995. Among other international disputes since then, Brian has recently represented a number of British and German corporations in U.S. intellectual property litigation and related proceedings.
Brian is active in the firm’s pro bono projects. He successfully represented an individual and her young children seeking political asylum in the United States after fleeing from their home in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Brian also frequently represents victims of stalking and domestic abuse as part of the firm’s Domestic Violence Prevention Project.
Bars and Court Admissions
- Massachusetts
- U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
Representative Experience
The following is a brief summary of Brian's experience and accomplishments:
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Obtained a jury verdict invalidating a competitor’s patent to a mobile satellite dish receiver apparatus.
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Investigated and initiated action against an individual suspected of unauthorized access to a client’s email systems, resulting in a six-figure settlement.
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Obtained summary judgment for client accused of stealing trade secrets in a vendor’s airline reservations system.
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Obtained summary judgment in the U.S. District Court in Utah for a client accused of fraud and other commercial torts.
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Obtained a full defense arbitration award from a FINRA panel on claims for corporate “raiding."
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Successfully defended several motions for preliminary injunction against individuals, ranging from salesman and service technicians to CEOs, accused of breaches of fiduciary duties and tortious interference with contracts.
professional / civic involvement
- American Bar Association, Member
- Massachusetts Bar Association, Member
- Boston Bar Association, Member
- Participates in Citizen Schools after-school Mock Trial program
publications
- Intake Editor for Annual Review of Intellectual Property Developments, American Bar Association, Section of Intellectual Property Law (2010, 2011)
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"Beyond Cost-Shifting: Developing, Implementing and Defending your Company’s Electronic Records Retention Policy," American Conference Institute (2003)