Victor Jih

Partner

Victor Jih is a partner in O’Melveny’s Century City office, a member of the Business and Trial and Litigation Practice, and a member of The American Lawyer’s 2004 “Litigation Department of the Year.”  Victor has significant experience in a broad selection of complex litigation matters, at both the trial and appellate levels.  His areas of practice include entertainment, copyright and trademark, First Amendment, unfair competition, contract and other commercial disputes in forums across the nation, including the Eastern District of Virginia, Louisiana State Court, and throughout California.  Major clients whom Victor has served in recent years include computer software companies and hardware manufacturers, major motion picture studios, national rental-car companies, and other large companies in the Internet, entertainment, and retail industries.

Illustrative Professional Experience

• Represented national package delivery company in more than 50 pending putative class action lawsuits in 42 states seeking to reclassify as "employees" thousands of independent contractors engaged in package pick-up and delivery services
• Litigated complex commercial disputes on behalf of and against foreign companies (based in Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea), in cases involving the application of the laws of over a dozen foreign jurisdictions, thousands of foreign language documents, and/or foreign language depositions
• Prosecuted claims of trade dress infringement on behalf of one of the largest global designers of personal computers against Korean infringers
• Represented the major motion picture studios in an unfair competition action brought under California's Business & Professions Code § 17200 alleging that the studios unlawfully marketed R‑rated motion pictures to persons under the age of 17
• Litigated the application of Business & Professions Code § 17200 to expressive speech, including both creative works and corporate commercial speech
• Opposed efforts by former California Governor Davis and others to block the California Gubernatorial Recall Election, which culminated in en banc action by the Ninth Circuit
• Represented a major global manufacturer of personal computers in the defense of a trademark infringement action brought by a provider of operating system software
• Successfully litigated first-impression issues on the application of copyright law to architectural works at both the district court and Ninth Circuit, see Leicester v. Warner Bros., 232 F.3d 1212 (9th Cir. 2000)
• Defended a film director and a media company accused in a wrongful death suit in Louisiana arising from a "copycat crime" at both the trial and appellate levels
• Represented an international entertainment and media company, securing a judgment of dismissal following trial of a motion for terminating sanctions
• Represented the bipartisan leadership of the House of Representatives on copyright issues before the United States Supreme Court against constitutional challenges to the 1998 adoption of a twenty-year extension to the term of copyright, see Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186 (2003)
• Represented media companies in connection with litigation over the films Crimson Tide, Contact, Batman Forever, The Devil's Advocate, Natural Born Killers, The Patriot, and The Lord of the Rings, and over the television series Sports Night and Friends—in a variety of matters ranging from copyright to unfair competition and contract disputes

In addition to his legal practice, Victor serves as one of the partners in charge of the Firm's national professional development programs.

Professional Activities

Admitted to Practice,  US District Court, Central, Northern, and Eastern Districts of California; US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Member,  Los Angeles County Bar Association; American Bar Association, Litigation Section; California State Bar, Litigation Section; Los Angeles Film Teachers Association; Century City Employment Committee
Speaker,  "Bottom of the Ninth (Circuit): Pirates 1, Yankees 1-What Happened to the Napster Decision?" CLE International, Film & Television Law (June 2004); "Violence in the Media," CLE International, Film & Television Law (August 2001)