David Rivkin

Partner

Litigation and Arbitration | International Business | Intellectual Property

david.rivkin@wg-law.com | 212-509-4716 | vCard | LinkedIn

About David

David Rivkin is a commercial litigation attorney specializing in cross-border business disputes. Many of the matters David handles involve allegations of intellectual property infringement, shareholder and joint venture conflicts, and executive employment agreements. David also has considerable international arbitration experience, and is an expert in obtaining discovery in the United States for use in non-U.S. legal and administrative proceedings. Much of David’s work involves representing clients from around the globe, with an emphasis on Latin America and Europe.

In addition to his commercial litigation and arbitration practice, David counsels businesses ranging from large multi-national industrial concerns to technology startups in a variety of sectors, including software, ecommerce, consumer products, hospitality, professional services, agriculture, manufacturing, financial services, fashion and luxury goods, on a variety of strategic and day-to-day matters including:

• Licensing and SaaS agreements, NDA and other commercial contracts, including vendor agreements and RFPs;

• Employment, data privacy, and bankruptcy issues;

• Corporate governance and shareholder relations, including maintenance of corporate books and records, and attendance at board meetings; 

• Raising capital including through sale of equity, debt and SAFE agreements;

• Due diligence for mergers and acquisitions; 

• Risk assessment and mitigation;

• Trademark and copyright prosecution and protection and trade secret issues.

David maintains extensive contacts with business people and attorneys worldwide, and is well-attuned to the differences in custom, culture, sensibilities, and legal systems that may impact representation of non-U.S. clients.

Prior to joining Wuersch & Gering in 2017, Mr. Rivkin was a partner in the New York office of Carlton Fields. Prior to 2012, Mr. Rivkin was a partner at Fox Horan & Camerini, a New York firm with a prominent international practice.

Experience

Practice Areas

• Commercial Litigation

• Arbitration and Mediation

• International Intellectual Property, Licensing

• Intellectual Property Litigation

• Corporate Governance

• Commercial Transactions

Education

• Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law — J.D. — 1999

• University of Arizona — B.A. (Political Science) — 1992

Admissions

• State of New York

• Supreme Court of the United States

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit

• U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

Professional Associations

• American Bar Association

• Association of the Bar of the City of New York

Civic Engagement

• Former Co-President of Young Israel of Scarsdale (Scarsdale, New York)

• Former Commissioner of a community youth athletic league (Westchester County, New York)

AddiTional Experience

• Represented German software development company in copyright infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court for Northern District of California.

• Represent German aircraft manufacturer in breach of contract litigation with a U.S. based partner.

• Represent Portuguese investors in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in proceeding to obtain evidence for use in a foreign litigation.

• Advise French agricultural company and its U.S. subsidiary in variety of contractual, financial, employment and corporate governance and intellectual property matters.

• Represented New York-based investment bank in litigation related to alleged breach of restrictive covenants and disclosure of confidential information.

• Advised Panamanian investment firm in connection with investment made in an industrial enterprise that was nationalized by the Venezuelan government.

• Advised UK-based SaaS provider on US corporate governance, employment, intellectual property and licensing issues.

• Represented French technology company in arbitration proceeding commenced by U.S. and Canadian investors seeking damages for alleged breach of contract to purchase the French company’s interest in a Caribbean submarine cable company.

• Represented California-based builder and operator of wireless communication networks in litigation against its former joint venture partner for breach of contract and fraud.

• Represented various European, Asian, and Latin American parties in numerous proceedings to obtain evidence located in the United States for use in foreign proceedings.

• Represented Brazilian bank in U.S. litigation involving claims by holder of fraudulent letter of credit.

• Defended Swiss-based major international sports federation in breach of contract action brought by a leading credit card company.

• Defended Chilean technology concern in an arbitration proceeding commenced by a private equity investor in several of the client’s energy projects.

• Prosecuted breach of contract and intellectual property claims against an international beverage company resulting in a settlement at mediation.

• Defended U.S.-based steel distributor in lawsuit brought by competitor, raising novel issues of law on scope of civil RICO; the case was successfully argued for the client before the United States Supreme Court.

• Defended Argentine party to a joint venture agreement in a dispute involving the distribution of sports-related television programming in Latin America.

• Represented Singapore-based production company in negotiations to bring “Bollywood Oscars” to Tampa, Florida and to New York/New Jersey.

• Represented software development company in litigation commenced by a major New York newspaper involving the development and delivery of a computerized circulation management system;

• Represented international textile manufacturer in an arbitration involving licensing and trademark dispute with a New York apparel company;

• Represented prominent foreign clothing manufacturer in arbitration proceeding before the World Intellectual Property Organization concerning unlawful registration by a third party of client’s trademark as a domain name;

• Negotiated and drafted joint development and licensing agreements for the development and commercialization of vertical wind turbine and high power density motor technology;

• Negotiated and drafted key pharmaceutical technology agreement in connection with the sale of a leading Argentine pharmaceutical company to GlaxoSmithKline;

• Negotiated and drafted research and development agreements and manufacturing agreements for a satellite communication company;

• Negotiated and drafted software licensing and acquisition agreements involving currency trading applications;

• Negotiated and drafted agreement for the acquisition of rights to proprietary software for use in the financial services industry;

• Successfully prosecuted numerous trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office;

• Used Digital Millennium Copyright Act to take down unauthorized online images of Swiss watch manufacturer’s products.