Charles D. Ossola

Chuck is a veteran trial and appellate lawyer whose practice has spanned a broad spectrum of intellectual property litigation for more than 35 years. His breadth of trial experience and long engagement with intellectual property disputes enable him to achieve effective, client-focused solutions to intellectual property issues. Chuck has served as lead trial counsel in numerous patent, trademark, false advertising, unfair competition, copyright, and trade secret lawsuits in federal and state courts throughout the United States. He is also an experienced appellate advocate in intellectual property cases, having argued more than fifteen cases in various US courts of appeals, including patent matters before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and trademark and copyright cases before the regional federal courts of appeals, including the Second, Fourth and Ninth Circuits.

Chuck has also served as first-chair litigation counsel in numerous ANDA cases in federal courts around the country, including in Delaware and New Jersey, involving a broad range of chemical compounds.

He successfully tried the first patent jury case on behalf of the plaintiff before the Hon. Rodney Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall, Texas, winning a jury verdict of willful infringement that was later upheld on appeal. In addition, he has litigated antitrust counterclaims in patent litigation, as well as independent antitrust claims arising from the use or enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Chuck’s practice further encompasses Section 337 litigation before the International Trade Commission (ITC) and arbitration proceedings involving intellectual property claims. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Virginia.

• Co-lead counsel on behalf an international oil company and its US affiliate in a trade secrets dispute involving fracking technology. A preliminary injunction was granted and was subsequently affirmed in a per curiam order (S.D.Tex.; 5th Cir.)
• Recently argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a patent and antitrust case involving genetics technology.
• Lead trial counsel for a national auto insurance company in litigation related to the use of its trademarks in paid advertising in search engine results (E.D. Va.)
• Lead trial counsel for one of the world’s largest chemical companies in a family of related patent, antitrust, and business tort cases involving flexographic printing technology (D.N.J.)
• Lead trial counsel for a national auto insurance company in its efforts to protect the value and distinctiveness of its world famous trademarks by stopping infringing and diluting uses both in and out of court (D. Md.; N.D. Il.)
• Lead trial counsel for a national auto insurance company in ongoing trade secret litigation involving software (E.D.N.Y.)
• Lead trial counsel in patent litigation involving semiconductors, software, communication systems, MRI technologies, pharmaceutical compositions, dermatology products, medical devices, and mechanical systems
• Lead trial counsel in numerous Hatch-Waxman pharmaceutical patent cases in federal district courts across the country, as well as provided strategic counseling in worldwide pharmaceutical patent litigation
• Lead trial and appellate counsel on behalf of photographers, architects, music companies, advertising agencies and advertisers in intellectual property litigation in federal district and appellate courts

• Cited for being “about as smart as they come,” Chambers USA, 2005-2006
• Named among IP Stars for Trademark and for Patent (2014-2019) and named a Notable Practitioner (2021-2024), Washington DC, Managing Intellectual Property
• Listed as a Local Star in Litigation, District of Columbia, Benchmark Litigation, 2016
• Named among the Leading Lawyers in Copyright and Trademark Law, Washington DC, Legal Times, 2007
• Named among the Top Lawyers for Intellectual Property Law, Washingtonian magazine, 2013-2015
• Named among the Stars of the Bar for Intellectual Property Law Washingtonian magazine, 2011
• Selected as a Best Lawyer for Litigation-Intellectual Property (2007-2020, 2023-2024) and Litigation-Patent (2014-2020), The Best Lawyers in America
• Selected as a Super Lawyer for Intellectual Property Law, Washington DC, Super Lawyers magazine, 2010-2019

• Law360 Intellectual Property Editorial Advisory Board, 2016
• Intellectual Property Owners Association (Trade Secrets Committee, 2015- 2016)
• American Intellectual Property Association
• International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association
• Union Internationale des Avocats
• Master of the Bench and Founding Member, The Pauline Newman IP American Inn of Court in Alexandria, Virginia