William Coston is Chair of Venable's Intellectual Property Division. He concentrates on litigation and counseling in antitrust and intellectual property matters.

Mr. Coston is experienced with consumer products and technology industries, notably distribution, intellectual property, advertising, and trade regulation issues. Mr. Coston regularly appears before courts, regulatory agencies, and private dispute resolution bodies to solve clients' business needs.

Mr. Coston spent three years in the appellate section of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, including a stint as Special Assistant United States Attorney. He briefed and argued in many notable antitrust cases involving price fixing, bid rigging, boycotts, and statutory exemptions.

Representative Clients

Mr. Coston lists as representative clients Acambis, Inc., Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Gemmy Industries, Zachry American Infrastructure, Software AG, Paul Reed Smith Guitars, Compaq Computer Corporation and the Information Technology Industry Council (“ITI”), the trade association of the high tech industry.

Significant Matters

Recent significant matters include:

(1) Arguing the case and obtaining a favorable Supreme Court decision in a "trade dress" case, setting a precedent for product configuration trade dress cases (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Bros.)

(2) obtaining a favorable precedent from the Federal Circuit on the patent "marking" statute (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Nike)

(3) Compaq Computer Corporation v. Packard Bell Electronics, an unfair trade practices case involving a competitor's sale of used computers represented as new

(4) The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company v. Firestone Tire Co., a Lanham Act case regarding false advertising

(5) representation of Compaq in the U.S. v. Microsoft and FTC v. Intel antitrust cases

(6) Pep Boys v. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., defending the introduction of a new tire with a new "signature" brand

(7) Gibson Guitars v. Paul Reed Smith Guitars, a trademark and trade dress case involving the shape of a "single cutaway" guitar

(8) representation of Acambis in patent infringement and conversion of biologic materials proceedings before the International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court for Delaware

(9) representing Software AG in a computer system network architecture patent infringement litigation in Delaware

(10) representing Gemmy Industries in patent litigation in federal court in New York and the Federal Circuit

Activities

Mr. Coston is active in the community in charitable fundraising and school activities. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the American Bar Association, Sections of Antitrust, Litigation and Intellectual Property. Mr. Coston is a member of AIPLA, IPO, and DRI.