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Matthew Digby
Senior Partner
Matthew E. Digby’s practice concentrates on litigation, US- and Japan-based commercial relations, and international commercial law matters. Matt advises international and Japan-based corporations concerning legal aspects of importation and distribution of goods in the United States; protection of trademarks, trade secrets and other intellectual property matters; avoiding unfair import and trade practices; antitrust; and manufacturer-dealer relations.
Matt has successfully enforced trademark rights for a variety of companies based in Japan, Europe and the United States in litigation in the United States District Court in Los Angeles and has been involved in patent, trade secret and other intellectual property litigations throughout the United States.
Matt is a member of several professional organizations including the Tokyo Daiichi Bar Association and serves on the Board of Governors of the Japan America Society of Southern California. In 2006 and 2008, Matt was recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer by Law & Politics and Los Angeles magazines.
- Defending five major Japan-based manufacturing companies and several of their US subsidiaries in federal and state court cases arising out of claims for forced labor by prisoners of war and civilians during World War II. The defendants prevailed in all of the cases, which reached the US and California Supreme Courts.
- Defending a major Japan-based logistics company against allegations of horizontal price-fixing by the US Department of Justice and in companion US District Court civil litigation.
- Defending a luxury-brand cosmetics and clothing manufacturer in employment litigation.
- Representing a subsidiary of one of Japan’s largest electronic products manufacturers before New York’s highest court in a dispute with a distributor over goods sold and delivered.
- Defending a Japan-based manufacturing company against charges of theft of trade secrets in a proceeding in the US District Court in Ohio, including the defense of the president and several executives of the company at Japanese-language depositions in Japan. Claims exceeded US$500 million.
- Defending a Japan-based manufacturer of high-tech machine tools in a patent infringement action before the US International Trade Commission in Washington DC including defense of the company president and several executives at Japanese-language depositions in Japan.
- Defending a major Japan-based manufacturer and its subsidiary in environmental litigation in the California Superior Court.
- Defending a Japanese beverage distributor in arbitration proceedings administrated by the International Center for Dispute Resolution in dispute over marketing of certain products in Japan.
Education
- Columbia University, J.D., 1978
- Sophia University, M.A., 1975
- University of Notre Dame, B.A., magna cum laude, 1973
Admissions
- Japan (gaikokuho jimu bengoshi), 2009
- California, 1984
- New York, 1979
Courts
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
Memberships & Affiliations
- Member of the Tokyo Daiichi Bar Association
- Serves on the Board of Governors of the Japan America Society of Southern California.
Languages
- English
- Japanese
- Recognized in 2006 and 2008 as a Southern California Super Lawyer by Law & Politics and Los Angeles magazines