Marc S. Whitfield

Marc S. Whitfield is a partner at Taylor Porter and works primarily with the Firm’s Commercial Litigation Section, Intellectual Property Law Group and its Healthcare Section.

Marc has practiced since 1988 in the areas of commercial business contracts and litigation, including contract negotiations and litigation, intellectual property law, including intellectual property licensing and litigation involving copyright, trademark, and trade secrets, data security, cyber security and data breach litigation, HIPAA and data licensing, and non-compete disputes.

Marc is admitted to practice in all Louisiana and Texas state courts and admitted to practice in all Louisiana federal district courts, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Marc has previously served on the Louisiana Committee on Bar Admissions as chief bar examiner for the Business Entities and Negotiable Instruments section of the Louisiana State Bar Examination.

Marc is a graduate of Louisiana State University (J.D., 1987) and received his LL.M in taxation from Southern Methodist University in 1988. He is a member of both the Louisiana and the Texas State Bar Associations.

In his free time, Marc is active within the special needs community through Young Life Capernaum, which is a Young Life ministry specifically devoted to children with special needs, and also serves on the Board of Directors for GaitWay Therapeutic Horsemanship, which provides equine therapy to children and adults with a variety of disabilities.

• Successfully obtained verdict in favor of defendant in copyright infringement, Lanham Act, and trade dress infringement case tried in the Eastern District before Judge Vitter.
• Successfully settled and resolved trademark infringement case on behalf of national insurer and defendant insured in the Western District.
• Advised multiple local clients in development of data security plans.
• Represented multiple local clients in data breach investigations.
• Lead counsel for large national insurer and its insured in data breach litigation.
• Lead counsel for large national insurer and its insured in trademark infringement litigation.
• Lead counsel for Louisiana State University in breach of contract litigation against international conglomerate.
• Represented local universities in trademark litigation to successfully recover full ownership of their trademarks.
• Louisiana local counsel for trademark litigation pending in the Eastern District, Middle District and Western District Courts.
• Served with team of Taylor Porter attorneys to represent Louisiana State University in restructuring the operations of the statewide public hospital system into a public-private hospital model.
• Representation of both employers and employees in non-compete litigation and arbitration proceedings.
• Lead counsel for the State of Louisiana and Louisiana State University in trademark opposition proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appellate Board.
• Representation of both licensors and licensees in software license agreements.
• Lead counsel in trademark/cybersquatting case widely reported in the New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, The National Law Journal, and various Internet media.
• Lead counsel in copyright infringement case reported in Forbes magazine.
• Lead counsel for Louisiana State University in trademark infringement litigation and licensing of intellectual property.
• Litigation counsel for publicly traded company in successful defense of unfair trade practice litigation and breach of contract claims exceeding $750,000,000.
• Lead counsel in mergers and acquisitions involving both domestic and international companies.
• Registration of federal trademarks with the United States Patent & Trademark Office and copyright registrations with the United States Copyright Office for various works including computer source codes and user manuals, music and sound recordings, books, newspapers, screenplays and architectural works.

• Southern Methodist University, LL.M., Taxation, 1988
• Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, J.D., 1987
• Louisiana State University, B.S., 1984

• Texas, 1988
• Louisiana, 1987

• Louisiana State Bar Association
• Texas State Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel
• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• American Health Lawyers Association

• GaitWay Therapuetic Horsemanship (Board of Directors)