David J. Goldstone
Areas of Practice
David Goldstone, a partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property and White Collar Crime & Government Investigations Practices, focuses on litigation relating to computer technologies and the Internet. He has extensive experience in patent, copyright trademark, and trade secret litigation, governmental investigations and white collar matters, computer security breaches and licensing disputes. As a former federal prosecutor and a registered patent attorney with undergraduate and graduate degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mr. Goldstone is uniquely qualified to litigate cases relating to computer technologies, the Internet, intellectual property, privacy and data security.
Work for Clients
Mr. Goldstone has extensive experience in all manner of complex litigation, with particular depth in cases relating to computer technology and the Internet. He has litigated cases nationwide, in both federal and state courts. Mr. Goldstone’s experience includes patent, theft of trade secret, and copyright cases , licensing disputes and other criminal and commercial litigation. He has also provided extensive advice to clients on retention of electronic documents and compliance with electronic discovery requirements. Mr. Goldstone also focuses his practice on representing companies and individuals in actual or potential disputes against federal and state government agencies. He has conducted internal investigations in areas ranging from accounting irregularities to computer security. Similarly, Mr. Goldstone often represents companies that have fallen victim to Internet fraud or forms of computer misuse and hacking, sometimes resulting in breaches of corporate data security or privacy, and exploring a variety of potential investigative, civil and law enforcement responses at the company’s disposal. Some of Mr. Goldstone’s recent significant cases include the following: - Representation of the leading bar code printer manufacturer against a competitor who claimed that nearly every printer it sold was infringing a patent concerning “intelligent” printers, i.e. those that incorporated an on-board computer to interpret programming commands. After extensive...more »
Mr. Goldstone has extensive experience in all manner of complex litigation, with particular depth in cases relating to computer technology and the Internet. He has litigated cases nationwide, in both federal and state courts. Mr. Goldstone’s experience includes patent, theft of trade secret, and copyright cases , licensing disputes and other criminal and commercial litigation. He has also provided extensive advice to clients on retention of electronic documents and compliance with electronic discovery requirements. Mr. Goldstone also focuses his practice on representing companies and individuals in actual or potential disputes against federal and state government agencies. He has conducted internal investigations in areas ranging from accounting irregularities to computer security. Similarly, Mr. Goldstone often represents companies that have fallen victim to Internet fraud or forms of computer misuse and hacking, sometimes resulting in breaches of corporate data security or privacy, and exploring a variety of potential investigative, civil and law enforcement responses at the company’s disposal. Some of Mr. Goldstone’s recent significant cases include the following: - Representation of the leading bar code printer manufacturer against a competitor who claimed that nearly every printer it sold was infringing a patent concerning “intelligent” printers, i.e. those that incorporated an on-board computer to interpret programming commands. After extensive investigation and litigation that identified extensive evidence of invalidating prior art, and after the summary judgment hearing, the case settled on favorable terms.
- Representation of the founders of Direct Revenue, a company that distributes software to display pop-up advertisements on a consumer’s computer via the Internet. The New York Attorney General alleged that Direct Revenue fraudulently installed this software (which it calls “spyware”) on more than 100 million computers. The case involves fundamental issues of Internet law, including establishing the proper jurisdiction over Internet transactions, and the enforceability of Internet contracts. Mr. Goldstone argued the motion to dismiss, which is currently pending in New York state court. This case was highlighted as the cover story of the July 17, 2006 edition of Business Week magazine.
- In other patent matters, Mr. Goldstone has represented and advised (i) a leading Internet networking company in patent litigation relating to the use of ATM technology in its routers and switches used for Internet communications; (ii) a major New York financial institution in patent litigation relating to the use of the Internet to transmit check images for on-line banking, that was settled on very favorable terms based on an extensive investigation that uncovered important prior art; (iii) a patent-holder evaluating litigation against a major e-commerce firm for its method of selecting and displaying advertisements on the Internet; and (iv) a major fund evaluating a potential investment in a pharmaceuticals manufacturer whose primary customer was in the midst of patent litigation.
- In other matters relating to software, Mr. Goldstone has represented and advised (i) a telecommunications systems corporation accused of misappropriating technical and marketing trade secret information in a case that was settled on favorable terms prior to discovery; (ii) a software company in a dispute with its distributor, after the distributor released a competing software product apparently based on client’s trade secret information shared by the client and then defamed the client’s product, resolving the matter favorably without litigation; (iii) a leading developer of manufacturing software as part of their anti-piracy efforts to identify unauthorized users of their copyrighted and patented software; and (iv) a leading software company with respect to a dispute with their vendor arising out of non-functional software.
- In additional Internet-related matters, Mr. Goldstone has advised numerous financial institutions and other entities regarding responses to hackers and “phishers” who used the Internet to compromise computers containing credit card and other account data. He has also represented and advised (i) a publicly traded medical device company in its efforts to stop the dissemination on a Yahoo! bulletin board of highly confidential company information through attempted anonymous methods (Mr. Goldstone not only caused the information to be promptly removed, but also used civil subpoenas and investigative methods to trace the postings back to the source computers); (ii) a pharmaceutical company considering monitoring of employee emails for misuse and improper dissemination of company confidential information; (iii) a publicly traded technology company where a Fortune 50 competitor had used an automated “bot” to systematically “scrape” data from its Web site contrary to the posted terms of service; (iv) a nationally recognized college where a “name-napper” misappropriated the college’s name by establishing a Web site that was used to display advertisements, and successfully eliminated the Web site; and (v) a marketing services company in responding to an unauthorized user (who was an employee’s former boyfriend) who accessed the company’s e-mail system without authorization and thereby anonymously disseminated false and defamatory information.
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Professional Activities
In participation with the American Bar Association, Mr. Goldstone is currently co-chair of the Criminal Justice Section’s Cyber Crime Committee and participated in the program committee for the American Bar Association’s National Institute on Computers and Law. For several years, he taught courses on “Law of Cyberspace” as an adjunct professor at the law schools of Georgetown University and George Washington University.
Publications/Presentations
Mr. Goldstone speaks frequently at conferences and has published numerous articles on legal issues raised by the use of computers and the Internet. A selection of publications he has authored or co-authored include “Privacy Rules and Board Investigations,” Corporate Board (2007); “Presumptive Injunction Against Infringers to Be Relic of the Past?,” Patent Strategy & Management (2006); “International Dimensions of Crimes in Cyberspace,” 22 Fordham Int’l L.J. 1924 (2001); “The Criminalization of Trademark Counterfeiting,” 31 Conn. L. Rev. 1 (1998); “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Cyberforum: Public vs. Private in Cyberspace Speech,” 69 U. Col. L. Rev. 1 (1998); and “Foreign Web Sites Pose Problems for U.S. Affiliates,” Nat’l L.J., Nov. 18, 1996, at B9.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining Goodwin Procter in 2005, Mr. Goldstone practiced at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C. Mr. Goldstone was previously a Senior Litigation Counsel and Trial Attorney in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., from 1996 to 2001. In 1998, he served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. While at the Justice Department, Mr. Goldstone litigated numerous cases nationwide relating to intellectual property and computer crime, including copyright piracy, trademark counterfeiting, theft of trade secrets, computer hacking, Internet fraud, and Internet harassment. He authored the Justice Department’s manual Prosecuting Intellectual Property Crimes, and was actively involved in developing department policies relating to intellectual property prosecution, electronic commerce and encryption. In 1994-1995, Mr. Goldstone clerked for the Honorable Herbert P. Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Bar and Court Admissions
Mr. Goldstone is admitted to the bars of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the District of Columbia; and the U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. He is registered to practice with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Education
J.D., Harvard Law School, 1994 (cum laude)
M.S., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1991
B.S., Computer Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1991
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