Intellectual Property
R. Wayne Thorpe, Esq. has been a full-time ADR neutral since 1998. He has served as mediator, arbitrator, facilitator, special master, and case evaluator in over 1500 cases in at least 15 states. These engagements have included mediations in class action, MDL, mass tort, and other large scale multi-party cases, as well as more than 400 arbitrations as sole arbitrator, panel chair, or party-appointed arbitrator.
Mr. Thorpe was named by the Best Lawyers in America publication as the 2012 Atlanta Mediation Lawyer of the Year, and he is listed in International Who’s Who of Commercial Mediation, (less than 100 in the US), Best Lawyers in America, and Georgia Super Lawyers. He is Past Chair of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section, and before he became a full-time neutral, Mr. Thorpe was a litigation partner in an Atlanta-based national law firm.
Representative Matters
- Copyright, Trademark, Patent, and Trade Secret Cases
- Copyright, Trademark, Patent, and Trade Secret Cases
- Alleged infringement of right of publicity, trademarks, and copyrights by estates of deceased rock/jazz musicians based upon allegedly wrongful use of celebrity images, songs, and song lyrics for restaurant décor and advertising; nine claimants, 100+ defendants, and ten or more insurers
- Alleged theft of trade secrets concerning medical software
- Trade secret dispute between large telecom company and alleged inventor of game application for wireless phone use
- Copyright case brought by architect/design firm against large national home builder alleging improper use of home plans, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars
- Copyright and contract dispute between global advertising company and professional training contractor concerning rights to training program and materials
- Copyright dispute between large manufacturer of home products and designer of home products
- Mediation of cases in California and Mississippi involving right of publicity and trademark claims brought by estate of a leading classic movie actor
- Arbitration of patent license dispute between pharmaceutical company and research university
- Multi-party litigation among artists, producer, manager, recording label, insurer, concerning U.S. and international use of similar names of pop and gospel music groups
- Mediated sale of corporate assets to resolve licensing dispute
- Non-compete, trade secret, and tortious interference dispute between suppliers of aviation maintenance services and products
- Patent contribution/indemnity/warranty claims
- Patent infringement and licensing dispute
- Trade dress dispute surrounding childcare franchise, including termination issues
- Dispute concerning non-competes and trade secret issues between technology outsourcing company and employees who left to form competing company
