Intellectual Property Asset Protection and Transactions

 

Our practice assists clients with the protection of intellectual property through registrations, litigation and other adversarial proceedings, transactions and licensing.  We regularly advise and assist clients with intellectual property protection issues in the U.S. and overseas.

 

In the U.S., patents and trademarks can be registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and copyrights are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.

 

U.S. Federal courts evaluate and rule on disputes in trademark, trade dress, patent and copyright matters, and domain name disputes are handled through arbitration proceedings under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

 

Business transactions such as mergers, acquisitions and financing involving intellectual property assets require consideration of the impact of the transaction on the ownership and use of the intellectual property assets, as well as the impact of the intellectual property assets on the underlying transaction. Trade secret and confidential information can be protected through non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements and also through setting up best practices.

 

Services offered by this firm:

 

• Advice about cost-effective approaches to protection of intellectual property rights

• Patent, trademark and copyright registration and portfolio management

• Dispute resolution  litigation, arbitration and mediation

• Representation of applicants in trademark opposition proceedings and registrants in trademark cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

• Licensing agreements for technologies, inventions, brands, creative works, and merchandising

• Content sharing and information technology agreements

• Web site agreements, including terms of use, privacy policies and development agreements

• Software licensing and development agreements

• Copyright compliance, clearance and counseling

• Domain name arbitration and litigation

• Nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements

• Advertising agreements

• Intellectual property audits of clients and their competitors

• Intellectual property due diligence in business transactions

• Acquisition, development and divestment of intellectual property assets

• Business transaction support for intellectual property issues arising in strategic partnerships, joint ventures and other business entities developing and protecting intellectual property assets

• Freedom to operate and validity studies