Daniel J. McMullen

Dan also handles intellectual property matters across traditional business, new media and entertainment sectors. He represents public and closely held business clients in all forms of intellectual property negotiations, and occasionally, dispute resolution, including patent, copyright and trademark infringement actions, as well as complex computer system litigation.

He uses his expertise in intellectual property law, contracting practices and dispute resolution techniques to help clients – creators and users, buyers and sellers, licensors and licensees – to protect and grow their businesses.

For the past several years, Dan has authored (as successor to the late Professor Raymond Nimmer) the LEXIS-NEXIS treatise, The Law of Electronic Commercial Transactions. He has published numerous articles on intellectual property and information technology matters, including one on the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 in Intellectual Property Magazine and "Supreme Court Upholds ‘First Sale’ Doctrine," Impact IP, an Intellectual Property Law Newsletter, in March 2013.

Recognized for his expertise, Dan participated in a September 2018, invitation-only Congressional roundtable on “Legislating Certainty for Cryptocurrencies,” that addressed the regulatory treatment of blockchain tokens.

Active in the community, Dan has served as an adjunct faculty member at both Case Western Reserve University School of Law and Cleveland State University College of Law, where he has taught courses on intellectual property and Cyberlaw. Since being appointed by the Chief Judge in 2002 (and subsequently reappointed), he has served on the Panel of Neutrals for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, in which role he has mediated numerous technology and intellectual property disputes.

Dan has served on the board of OHTec (formerly NEOSA) for many years, on the Government Affairs Council of the Greater Cleveland Partnership for several years and was a long-time board member (and former chair) of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. He is a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan and American Bar Associations and a graduate of Leadership Cleveland. 

Before law school, Dan worked as a systems analyst for General Motors. He served as a law clerk to Chief U.S. District Judge Frank J. Battisti, was admitted to the Attorney General’s Honors Program, and practiced as a trial attorney with the U.S. Justice Department.

He later served as Director of the Office of School Monitoring and a Special Master for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He now serves on that Court’s ADR panel and has mediated multiple software and intellectual property disputes to settlement. 

Dan began his tenure with Calfee in 1994 and was elected Partner in 1998.

Honors & Recognitions

• The Best Lawyers in America^®, Copyright Law (2020-2025) and Information Technology Law (2022-2025)
• Ohio Super Lawyers (2013-2017)
• “AV Preeminent Rating,” Martindale-Hubbell
• Corporate Counsel’s “Top-Rated Lawyers Guide to Intellectual Property Law” (2012)

Education

J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1982

B.A., magna cum laude, Harvard College, 1978

Experience

• Representing a publicly traded, Fortune Global 500 company on certain sensitive and highly confidential IP and litigation matters important to the client’s business. Calfee also counsels the client on software and IT-related agreements.

Professional & Community

• United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio; Mediator, Member of Panel of Neutrals (2002-present)
• Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Former Adjunct Faculty Member
• Cleveland State University College of Law, Former Adjunct Faculty Member (1990-2013)
• Harvard Law School Program of Instruction for Lawyers Negotiation Workshop, Teaching Staff (June 1994)
• OHTec (formerly NEOSA, The Northeast Ohio Software Association), Board Member
• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Member
• Ohio State Bar Association, Computer Law Committee, Member
• American Bar Association, Science and Technology and Patent, Copyright and Trademark Law Section, Member
• Leadership Cleveland, Class of 1991
• Greater Cleveland Partnership, Government Affairs Council (2016-present)
• Greater Cleveland Media Development Corporation (Cleveland’s Film Commission), Former Board Chair, Member
• Time Integrated Media Environment Program, Cleveland Institute of Art, Former Advisory Committee Member
• Institute for Educational Renewal, Former Trustee

Presentations & Publications

Presentations

• “Desegregation of Cleveland Schools: Reed v. Rhodes,” Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Cleveland, OH (April 27, 2023)
• "Data Rights Data Privacy - What’s A Business To Do?!," The Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association Meeting, Cleveland, OH (November 11, 2020)
• "Data Rights and Responsibilities: Legal Developments," Data Days Cleveland, Cleveland, OH (October 22, 2020)
• "Cybersecurity for Small to Medium Business," Greater Cleveland Partnership Tech Week, Cleveland, OH (August 27, 2020)
• "What in the (COVID) World are Apple & Google Up To? – Data Privacy in Times of Public Crisis," Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP Webinar, Cleveland, OH (July 8, 2020)
• "Best Practices for Copyright Registration in View of Recent Supreme Court Guidance and Updates on Patentable Subject Matter Under 35 U.S.C. 101," Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP's 2019 Intellectual Property Seminar, Cleveland, OH (June 27, 2019)
• “Cybersecurity Forum: Changes and Trends for 2019,” Panelist (March 15, 2019) 
• “Key Considerations When Advising Clients on Blockchain and IoT,” Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s “Technology & The Law: Blockchain, IoT, and AI, oh, My!” Conference, Cleveland, OH (November 13, 2018)
• "GDPR Is Coming – Is Your Business Ready?!" OHTec Tech Week Even (April 19, 2018)
• "Net Neutrality and What the FCC's Recent Ruling Means Going Forward," Hudson Library and Historical Society (March 29, 2018)
• "Some Things Every Successful Entrepreneur Should Know About Intellectual Property," Women's Business Centers of Ohio (March 22, 2017)
• “Intellectual Property Law Issues,” 2013 Information Security Summit (October 24-25, 2013)
• Intellectual Property Week: Attorney Panel, Case Western Reserve University’s Intellectual Property Week (October 14, 2013)
• “Ongoing Developments in COPYRIGHT IN CYBERSPACE - Change is in the Aereo,” Cleveland Intellectual Property Association, Cleveland, OH (February 19, 2013)

Publications

• “Data Privacy and Cybersecurity – What’s A Business To Do?!” Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Journal (November 2019)
• "Ohio Senate Bill 220  Creates Cybersecurity Safe Harbor," Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP Legal Alert (October 22, 2018), Co-authored Billy Raulerson and Kenneth A. Smith, Calfee Partner and Associate, Intellectual Property
• "GDPR Is Coming. Is Your Business Ready?" Crain's Cleveland Business (May 1, 2018)
• "GDPR Is Coming. Is Your Business Ready?" Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP Legal Alert (March 2, 2018)
• "Intellectual Property Rights in Computer Software," Distributed at OHTec Best of Tech Awards ceremony (April 27, 2017), co-authored with Billy Raulerson, Calfee Partner, Intellectual Property
• "Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016," Intellectual Property Magazine (October 2016)
• "Supreme Court Upholds 'First Sale' Doctrine," Impact IP, an Intellectual Property Law Newsletter (March 2013)