Shane E. Olafson

Education

  • J.D., cum laude, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, 2002
  • B.S.E., Biomedical Engineering, cum laude, Arizona State University, 1999

Bar Admissions

  • Arizona, 2006
  • New York, 2003

Shane E. Olafson

Partner
40 North Central Avenue
Suite 1900
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
Phone 602.262.5327
Fax 602.734.3756

About Shane Olafson

Shane Olafson is a partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property and Litigation Practice Groups. As an engineer and artist, he understands the importance of innovative expression. For this reason, Shane enjoys helping businesses preserve and protect their intellectual property rights.

Trademark, Trade Secret and Unfair Competition Disputes. Shane has represented early-stage businesses as well as large multinational corporations in disputes involving trademark infringement, trade secret theft, unfair competition and related matters. He has successfully obtained numerous preliminary and permanent injunctions on behalf of his clients. Recently, Shane played a key role in helping Cricket Communications obtain summary judgment against several defendants for willful trademark infringement and unfair competition; the court permanently enjoined the defendants’ tortious conduct and awarded the client its attorneys’ fees and costs.

Patent Disputes. Shane has significant experience resolving patent disputes involving a wide variety of technologies. When Ericson Group accused Digital Sports Graphics of patent infringement, Shane helped Digital Sports Graphics obtain a ruling that the plaintiff’s patent was both invalid and unenforceable. Presently, Shane is representing an international Wi-Fi technology company in ongoing patent disputes coupled with patent re-examination proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Internet-Related Disputes. Shane also protects his clients’ intellectual property rights on the Internet. He has resolved several domain name disputes on behalf of a spa ranked #1 in the world by Conde Nast Traveler. He has handled proceedings involving the Digital Millennium Cybersquatting Act (DMCA) and Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), and has successfully obtained transfer and/or takedown of numerous websites.

IP Licensing and Registration. In addition to litigation, Shane has experience registering and licensing intellectual property, performing due diligence and opinion work, and negotiating and drafting agreements.

Other Litigation. Shane also helps businesses resolve contract and other commercial disputes. For example, Shane represented a biopharmaceutical services company in a breach of contract case, where he successfully negotiated dismissal of a $70 million claim against his client.

Representative Cases/Matters

  • Represented largest hotel chain in the world, successfully obtaining judgment against defendants for cybersquatting, direct and contributory trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair competition, counterfeiting, and related common law causes of action. Shane helped the client obtain a permanent injunction as well as transfer of an offending Internet domain and an award of the client’s attorneys’ fees and costs. 
  • Successfully defend medical device manufacturer against claims for patent infringement, trade dress infringement and unfair competition. 
  • Defended nationally insured bank against claims for infringement of point-of-sale and payment processing patent claims.
  • Obtained preliminary and then stipulated injunction against former CEO and director of medical device developer accused of trade secret misappropriation.
  • Successfully defended national chain restaurant against allegations of trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, consumer fraud, conversion, unfair competition and negligent misrepresentation.
  • Represented large scale wealth and asset management firms in lawsuit against former broker employee. Obtained injunction to enforce restrictive covenants and prevent use and disclosure of clients’ confidential information.
  • Represented world’s largest specialized staffing firm to obtain consent judgment and injunction against former management employee accused of violating restrictive covenants and misappropriating client trade secrets.
  • Defended client accused of infringing patent claiming a method of electronically dispensing insurance through a computer network.
  • Represented both innovator and generic pharmaceutical companies in Hatch-Waxman (Paragraph IV) proceedings relating to patents involving various pharmaceutical compositions.
  • Represented pro bono client victimized by real estate equity theft scheme. Successfully obtained compensation for the amount of equity stolen by defendants.

Memberships and Affiliations

  • Federal Bar Association Phoenix Chapter, Board of Directors 
  • Maricopa County Bar Association, Member 
  • Arizona Association of Defense Counsel, Member 
  • Arizona State Bar Intellectual Property Section, Member 
  • Arizona State Bar Litigation Section, Member 
  • Sandra Day O'Connor Inn of Court, Pupillage Team Leader
  • Greater Phoenix Mensa, Member at Large
  • 5th Annual Step N Out for Pancreatic Cancer Research Committee, Member
  • Ballet Barre, Member

Publications

  • Author, "Patents vs. Trade Secrets – Giving Your Business the Competitive Edge," Arizona BioInsider, April 2007

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 2003
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 2003
  • U.S. District Court, Arizona, 2006
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2010
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, 2012

Other Distinctions

Shane is a strong supporter of the arts and frequently interacts with artists, photographers and musicians. He has served as a member of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, is a member of Ballet Arizona's "Ballet Barre," and has completed the Business on Board program offered by the Arts & Business Council of Greater Phoenix. In addition, Shane is an avid photographer and rock musician, and he devotes much of his free time to artistic pursuits.

Before joining Lewis and Roca, Shane was an attorney with Jones Day (and formerly Pennie & Edmonds LLP) in New York, New York. During law school, he served as Associate Editor of Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science, and Technology and was the Vice President of the ASU American Bar Association Law Student Division.

Shane has an "AV/Preeminent Attorney" with Martindale-Hubbell. He is listed in the 2012 and 2013 editions of Southwest Rising Stars in the category of Intellectual Property Litigation.