Matthew J. Ricciardi

Leveraging his technical experience, Matt focuses his practice on software-related litigation, software license audits, trademark enforcement, and computer forensics investigations. He has represented corporate clients in federal district courts and courts of appeals across the United States, as well as in the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Matt also devotes a significant portion of his practice to pre-litigation counseling and investigations, seeking to prevent or resolve disputes before they reach court.

Before embarking on his legal career, Matt worked as a software developer in the financial sector and developed technical collection tools for the US Intelligence Community. He is a certified commercial airplane pilot and spends much of his free time flying and maintaining a homebuilt airplane.

• Represents leading national insurance company in software trade secret and trademark enforcement litigation, for example:
  • Capricorn Management Systems, Inc. v. GEICO, 2025 WL 2778968 (2d Cir. 2025) (affirming summary judgment for defendant against software trade secret misappropriation and related claims).
  • GEICO v. Clearcover Insurance Co., et al., Case No. 3:22-cv-793 (E.D. Va. 2022) (trade secret misappropriation claim against former employee and upstart competitor favorably resolved by consent injunction).
  • GEICO v. Accretive Capital LLC d/b/a Benzinga.com, Case No. 8:20-cv-3036 (D. Md. 2020) (trademark infringement and dilution claims favorably resolved by consent injunction).
• Represents companies in software license compliance reviews and audits, as well as software disputes, for example:
  • Cincom Systems, Inc. v. LabWare, Inc., 2025 WL 2742573 (6th Cir. 2025) (affirming summary judgment for defendant against software copyright and trade secret misappropriation claims).
• Represents national restaurant franchise in breach of contract litigation with franchisees, for example:
  • Calzone King, LLC v. Midwest Dough Guys, LLC, et al., 2024 WL 4008117 (D. Neb. 2024) (granting ex parte temporary restraining order against former franchisee for breach of franchise and non-compete agreements).
• Represents leading supermarket chains in software license audits and retail products trademark litigation.
• Serves as pro bono counsel to The George Mason University Ice Hockey Foundation, promoting college and youth ice hockey in northern Virginia and negotiating a build-to-suit lease for a new hockey facility.
• Assists several commercial space companies in navigating international trademark issues and securing rights in future mission names.
• Advises a toy and home goods retailer on trademark, trade dress, and related IP issues in connection with new product development and package designs.
• Defended a name brand consumer electronics company against patent infringement claims, not only securing a dismissal of all claims, but also recovering nearly half a million dollars in attorneys’ fees.
• Represented a Fortune 500 chemical company in a series of related patent, antitrust, and business tort cases involving flexographic printing technology.
• Represented a European API supplier in Hatch-Waxman pharmaceutical patent litigation involving chiral platinum-based compounds.

• Selected as a Rising Star for Intellectual Property Litigation (2014-2021), The Washington Post Magazine
• Named a Rising Star in Washington, DC (2014-2019), Washington, DC Super Lawyers magazine