Samuel C. Straight

Sam Straight is a shareholder at Ray Quinney & Nebeker in the Firm's litigation section. His practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright matters from pre-litigation enforcement through trial. He works with high-technology and other companies in the protection of their intellectual property rights, and defense against claims of infringement. Mr. Straight also represents clients in a wide variety of other commercial litigation, including securities, shareholder derivative, real property, and appellate litigation matters. He also has extensive experience with litigation involving the direct selling industry.

Mr. Straight also advises clients regarding compliance with federal and state economic regulations, including Federal Trade Commission regulations, and export control and economics sanctions regulations. In addition, he is a registered lobbyist in Utah and has represented clients in matters before a variety of legislative bodies and administrative agencies.

Mr. Straight is the Hiring Partner and chair of the Firm's Recruiting Committee.

Mr. Straight was recognized in Chambers USA in Intellectual Property Law, and maintains an AV Preeminent (4.6) rating with Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating awarded to attorneys for professional competence and ethics. He has also been selected for inclusion in Mountain States Super Lawyers in the category of Intellectual Property Litigation. Mr. Straight has been included on the list of The Best Lawyers in America in Intellectual Property Law and has also been voted by his peers throughout the state as one of Utah’s “Legal Elite” in the category of Intellectual Property (as published in Utah Business Magazine).

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

• Successfully represented Microsoft in numerous actions to enforce its trademarks and copyrights in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. See, e.g., Microsoft Corporation v. MBC et al., 2:00-CV-217; Microsoft Corporation v. Softwaremedia.com et al., 2:10-CV-526.
• Successfully represented the United States Olympic Committee and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 in a number of actions enforcing their trademarks and copyrights in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, including use of John Doe seizure orders. See, e.g., USOC et al. v. Doe, 2:02-CV-105; USOC v. Quiksilver et al., 2:02-CV-57.
• DigEcor, Inc. v. e.Digital Corporation, 2:06-CV-437, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, obtained judgment in favor of e.Digital as lead trial counsel on all claims asserted at trial, including judgment dismissing claims for over $9 million in damages; also obtained summary judgment in favor of e.Digital against claims to enjoin e.Digital’s business.
• CytoSport, Inc. v. Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 617 F. Supp. 2d 1051 (E.D. Cal. 2009), aff’d, 348 Fed. Appx. 288 (9th Cir. 2009), U.S. District Court for Eastern District of California, obtained Preliminary Injunction, affirmed by the Ninth Circuit, on behalf of the makers of Muscle Milk in trademark and trade dress infringement action.
• Hospital Systems Corp. v. Novarad Corp., 2:07-CV-389, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, successfully defended Novarad against patent infringement claims.
• IOSTAR Corporation v. Stuart et al., 1:07-CV-133, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, obtained summary judgment in favor of client dismissing with prejudice claims of trade secret misappropriation and obtained award of attorneys’ fees.
• Hansen Beverage Company v. CytoSport, Inc., 2:09-CV-31, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, successfully defended CytoSport against trademark and trade dress infringement claims.
• Tahitian Noni International, Inc. v. Thomas H. Thornton et al., Civil No. 100104550, Fourth Judicial District Court, Utah County, obtained Preliminary Injunction against misappropriation of trade secrets and solicitation of network marketing distributors.