Michael C. Cannata is a seasoned litigator with extensive experience litigating complex insurance coverage, intellectual property, and other commercial disputes in federal and state courts throughout the country.

A leader in his fields, Michael frequently publishes and lectures in his practice areas. He is routinely consulted by media outlets such as Newsday for commentary and analysis concerning trends in the intellectual property arena. Michael is also a co-author of the New York State Bar Association, Insurance Law Practice treatise chapter entitled “Excess and Extended Coverages and Excess Coverage Issues” and is presently co-authoring a chapter styled “Insured Injuries Under Coverage B: Personal and Advertising Injury” in the forthcoming edition of the American Bar Association’s Reference Handbook on the Commercial General Liability Policy.

Michael represents a wide range of clients, including insurers, product manufacturers and suppliers, pharmaceutical companies, contractors, medical practice groups, and municipalities, as well as animation companies, websites, artists, jewelers, actors, musicians, restaurants, and entrepreneurs.

Apart from his active litigation practice, Michael also counsels clients on their intellectual property rights and how best to protect their intellectual property portfolios. To that end, he also has significant transactional experience in the prosecution of trademarks and service marks before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Michael has successfully registered numerous trademarks and service marks, including those connected to several high-profile brands.

While attending law school, Michael clerked with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of New York, representing indigent criminal defendants before the federal district court. Michael also served as executive editor for the Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce and as associate editor of The Labor Lawyer, an ABA publication now known as the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law>. Michael also served on the Moot Court Honor Society and received the CALI Award for Excellence in Trial Practice.

Court Admissions

U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Bar Affiliations

Nassau County Bar Association

New York Intellectual Property Law Association

Education

Syracuse University College of Law, J.D. cum laude

Cornell University, B.S., Tradition Fellow

News & Publications

• Keeping ‘Happy Valley’ Happy: A Cautionary Tale For Promo Firms
  September 4 | 2025
• There’s Coverage for That? The ‘Ins & Outs’ of Personal & Advertising Injury Coverage
  June 25 | 2025
• A Sleeping Giant: New York’s Grieving Families Act
  December 20 | 2023

Michael enjoys taking an active role in several charitable endeavors, including supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation through his membership in the Long Beach Polar Bear Club. He has served as co-chair of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Insurance Law Committee and co-chair of the Trademark Law and Practice Committee of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association.

Michael has been recognized multiple times in the Long Island Business News’ “Who’s Who in Intellectual Property.”

The New Jersey Law Journal named Rivkin Radler’s Intellectual Property Practice Group the Intellectual Property Litigation Department of the Year (Midsize) for 2018.

Since 2019, Legal 500 has recommended Rivkin Radler’s Insurance Coverage practice in the Insurance: Advice to Insurers category. Additionally, the group has been recognized in the Chambers USA directory since 2015.

In a seminal decision issued by the New York State Appellate Division, Third Department, Michael successfully convinced the appellate court to reverse the trial court’s refusal to dismiss reformation claims against a national insurer client. In addition, Michael has secured the early resolution of lawsuits for his clients, including the summary dismissal of certain trade-dress infringement claims in a precedential decision concerning the applicability of trade-dress protection to consumer products. And perhaps most importantly, through the use of creative, forward-thinking negotiation strategies, Michael has also leveraged favorable business resolutions of countless matters before litigation even commences.