INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Patent
We work with clients to develop a patent strategy that relates to their business strategy and product roadmap, and then prepare and prosecute patent applications in the US patent office and patent offices around the world, accordingly. We negotiate and draft patent licenses, and litigate patent infringement claims when needed. We provide opinions of non-infringement and invalidity of third party patents, and conduct patent due diligence investigations in mergers and acquisitions.

Copyright
We provide counsel on national and international copyright issues, including the defense and protection of rights and the preparation of applications for registration of such rights with the United States Copyright Office. We regularly represent clients with copyright disputes and claims, and we have experience with complex copyright issues, such as those arising from work-made-for-hire situations and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The firm is a member of the Copyright Society of the USA (NW Chapter).

Trademark
We provide trademark advice, counsel, prosecution, and related services to small and large companies and individuals. Our dedicated trademark staff provides assistance with trademark searches and analyses, pre-use counseling, intellectual property audits, and maintenance of trademark portfolios and related assets and rights. We have wide experience working with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and with foreign registration, enforcement, and screening issues. We are experienced with complex trademark litigation and dispute resolution matters.

Our firm won one of the first widely-publicized domain name arbitrations in the world for a celebrity (www.jimihendrix.com), using the new rules established by the Internet Community for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the services of the World Intellectual Property Organization. Our firm is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA).

Licensing
We deal with a wide range of licensing matters on a regular basis, including software licenses, licenses of entertainment and media properties, submission agreements, and acquisition deals. We provide efficient and capable licensing assistance in both traditional and new industries, responding to the needs of clients as they pursue rights in others’ intellectual property or as they license or transfer their own rights to third parties. We also have broad experience dealing with nondisclosure, noncompete, employment, work-made-for-hire, and independent contractor agreements that may affect intellectual property and competitive rights.

Other Intellectual Property Areas
The firm has experience in the areas of trade secrets, publicity rights, patent disputes, neighboring rights, and unfair competition claims.