William C. Groh

In practice since 2005, Bill Groh is an experienced Colorado commercial litigator with a focus on intellectual property claims. Bill Groh has handled a wide variety of complex cases for individuals and small businesses and can offer the type of focused approach not always emphasized at larger law firms. Attorney Groh can help you identify the key issues in your case and develop an economical approach to help you achieve your objectives. For six years in a row, Attorney Groh has been named a "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers for Intellectual Property litigation for 2015 through 2020.

Attorney Groh frequently handles matters involving both intellectual property and commercial litigation issues, including trademark infringement, copyright infringement, trade secret infringement, civil disputes involving breach of contract, business partnerships, allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, civil theft, actions for dissolution of partnership interest, and other such disputes that are increasingly common in modern business. He has successfully tried cases to verdict in state and federal court. Examples of cases that he has handled include the following:

Attorney Groh is currently litigating claims for breach of contract and securities fraud in connection with an online auction of purported royalty rights in a record catalog. Attorney Groh is currently litigating trademark infringement claims on behalf of a national company against a company attempting to trade on its goodwill and cause consumer confusion. Attorney Groh achieved a successful settlement in the defense of a trademark infringement lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado involving contested issues of actual infringement relating to several registered trademarks. Attorney Groh achieved the successful settlement of a claim for fraud and reformation of a contract for the purchase of a small business and associated real property involving claims of fraudulent accounting in connection with the business's value. Attorney Groh achieved the successful settlement of a business break-up dispute involving claims of misappropriation of contractual relationships and opportunities to a competing venture. Attorney Groh achieved the successful resolution of a matter involving infringement of copyrighted photographs taken on behalf of a professional photography company by a former employee. Attorney Groh successfully settled lawsuit against marketing website involving claims of copyright and trademark infringement on behalf of accused infringer. Attorney Groh participated in the successful representation of individual homebuyers accused of infringing copyrighted architectural works, including the successful dismissal of the case on summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and the affirmation of the dismissal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Savant Homes, Inc. v. Collins, 809 F.3d 1133 (10th Cir. 2016), and an award of attorney's fees under the U.S. Copyright Act. Attorney Groh successfully defended a multimedia website sued for copyright infringement in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, obtaining dismissal of the case on a motion to dismiss and award of attorney's fees under the U.S. Copyright Act. Attorney Groh achieved a successful settlement of a business torts case involving claims of breach of a prior settlement agreement, trademark infringement, trade dress infringement, trade libel, and design patent infringement claims. Attorney Groh participated in the successful enforcement of a non-compete and protection of trade secrets by a small business against a former employee, which included obtaining preliminary injunctive relief against the former employee.Other Intellectual Property Litigation Matters

Attorney Groh represented a nutritional supplement vendor in a federal trademark infringement lawsuit against another vendor for use of the same trademark. Attorney Groh represented a video gaming website in a copyright infringement suit brought against another website for copying and posting copyrighted material. Attorney Groh achieved a successful settlement on behalf of a national online job search company in a federal trademark and trade dress infringement lawsuit relating to over one hundred websites nationwide. Attorney Groh also filed a counterclaim for tortious interference and declaratory judgment in response to defamatory communications to the company's customers. Attorney Groh achieved a successful settlement on behalf of a used software vendor in a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit involving the alleged re-sale of counterfeit software. Attorney Groh helped defend a small business accused of trademark infringement, breach of contract, unfair competition, and cybersquatting in a dispute arising from the termination of a product and trademark licensing agreement between the parties. Attorney Groh successfully settled a copyright infringement lawsuit in defense of a website designer for allegedly copying and posting infringing materials on the client's website. Attorney Groh participated in the representation of photographers and stock photo agencies in multiple copyright infringement lawsuits against textbook publishers for violation of publication licenses governing the use of those photos in textbooks. Each of these lawsuits involved dozens and even hundreds of separate copyright infringement claims. Attorney Groh participated in the defense of former employees of a food delivery service in a lawsuit for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy, and unjust enrichment. Attorney Groh defended a small corporation accused of copyright infringement by challenging the copyrightability of the work and the enforceability of the non-compete agreement at issue in state and federal court, achieving a favorable settlement.Recent Business and Civil Litigation Matters

Attorney Groh successfully settled a business breakup involving the rights to retail kiosks, including claims of breach of fiduciary duty, civil theft, and accounting. Attorney Groh successfully settled a dispute on behalf of a buyer of a business and associated real property in a lawsuit including several claims including assertion by the buyer of claims for reformation of the contract of sale on ground of unilateral mistake procured by fraud. Attorney Groh successfully settled a dispute involving a failed business partnership venture on behalf of partner who had provided funds and resources in anticipation of the venture. Attorney Groh successfully settled a claim on behalf of a lighting services company for work performed by the company for which it had not been paid by asserting a claim for quantum meruit for the reasonable value of the work performed in the absence of a binding contract. Attorney Groh successfully settled a dispute on behalf of an employee claiming breach of an employment agreement involving payment in the form of company stock where the company stock had been diluted. Attorney Groh successfully settled a dispute on behalf of a small business against a former employee in lawsuit involving allegations of theft of property by the former employee and defamation. Attorney Groh successfully settled a breach of contract dispute for consulting services on behalf of the consultant. Attorney Groh achieved the successful resolution of a dispute on behalf of a member of a limited liability company with deadlocked management and inability to conduct dissolution proceedings without court intervention.Other Business and Civil Litigation Matters

Attorney Groh has handled several lawsuits involving the sale of goods between merchants and claims arising under the Uniform Commercial Code. Attorney Groh has helped numerous commercial clients in lawsuits to obtain collection of unpaid debts. Attorney Groh successfully settled a dispute on behalf of a consumer for violations of the consumer protection act in connection with online services. Attorney Groh represented an equipment leasing company in an effort to collect a commercial debt owed by an insolvent company by asserting a claim on behalf of the insolvent corporation to recover misappropriated assets under the "trust fund" doctrine. Attorney Groh represented a former government contracting business which had sold its assets to another business and had not been paid for those assets. Despite a multitude of potential issues, Attorney Groh was able to obtain bifurcation of the case and move for judgment on a key issue, leading to a favorable settlement. Attorney Groh participated in the successful defense of a major restaurant franchise in federal court in the District of Columbia in a suit for violation of geographic non-compete restrictions involving the placement of franchise locations. Attorney Groh participated in the successful defense of a bank in an adversary bankruptcy proceeding brought by the bankruptcy trustee to recover monies that the bank had unknowingly lent to a mortgage broker who was running a mortgage fraud scam. Attorney Groh represented an interior designer in a breach of contract action for unpaid fees against a construction contractor. Even though the court found the contract was too vague to enforce, Attorney Groh obtained a judgment for the reasonable value of the interior designer's services. Attorney Groh participated in the successful defense of a church-affiliated developer in a federal lawsuit to enjoin the developer from building lower income housing on First Amendment grounds. The lawsuit was dismissed on summary judgment and the judgment was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Attorney Groh represented a Washington, DC Area hospice in federal court against a tenant which had breached its lease and had filed a counterclaim, obtaining summary judgment against the tenant. Attorney Groh represented a government contracting company in a partnership dispute involving allegations of breach of fiduciary duty and the proper disposition of the partnership assets, achieving a favorable settlement after a two-week federal jury trial. Attorney Groh has handled business disputes involving the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Attorney Groh has helped many clients deal with disputes involving business partners, and has litigated several lawsuits involving partnership claims, allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, civil theft, and actions for dissolution of partnership interest. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-indent:.5in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}