Eric Carsten is a litigation associate in the Los Angeles office of Irell & Manella LLP, where he specializes in intellectual property, entertainment, and commercial litigation. In addition, Mr. Carsten provides counseling on copyright and trademark matters to a variety of business clients. 

Mr. Carsten earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan, which he attended as a Clarence Darrow Scholar. He graduated magna cum laude and was admitted to the Order of the Coif. While in law school, Mr. Carsten served as an Associate Editor of the Michigan Law Review and as a Legal Practice Senior Judge.

In 2007, Mr. Carsten was selected for inclusion in Los Angeles Magazine's Southern California "Rising Stars."

Representative Matters

Representative matters include:

• Mr. Carsten recently defended a high tech company in confidential arbitration proceedings.
• Mr. Carsten represented Activision in litigation against a videogame developer related to the development of the World War II-based videogame Call of Duty: Finest Hour.  The case included claims by both parties of breach of contract and fraud.  In 2007, the parties achieved a confidential settlement.
• Mr. Carsten currently represents MTV Networks and Viacom Inc. in a class action lawsuit alleging copyright infringement related to MTV Networks original television programming.
• Mr. Carsten has advised a leading university on copyright termination issues involving works of a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
• Mr. Carsten has advised DivX, Inc. on a variety of trademark matters, including successful foreign oppositions and the successful appeal of a denial of registration.

Bar & Court Admissions

• 2004, California
• U.S. District Court, Central District of California