The Firm provides its clients with a full range of counsel and representation in domestic and international trademark prosecution and advice; domain name disputes; trade secret and patent protection matters; copyright transactions; enforcement actions and litigation to protect and defend our client’s rights; and intellectual property licensing.

Prosecution and Registration

In the trademark area, the Firm designs and implements domestic and foreign registration programs for its clients and works closely with foreign associates throughout the world.

After a client proposes a new trademark or service mark, the Firm provides expert advice and counsel concerning the client’s ability to use, protect, register and enforce that mark with respect to the relevant goods or services. After an appropriate application is prepared, the Firm vigorously prosecutes and protects the application and resultant registration in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The Firm has been highly successful in obtaining registrations for many “difficult” marks, such as many that have been initially rejected as being “merely descriptive,” or as confusingly similar to existing marks.

In the copyright field, the Firm’s lawyers have secured, on behalf of one of our clients, the first (and, as far as we can determine, the only) stage director’s copyright registration granted by the United States Copyright Office. Given the many published arguments against granting a copyright in a director’s work, and the initial resistance of the Copyright Office, this registration is considered a landmark determination.

The Firm provides on-going international protection and enforcement services for many clients with very valuable trademarks, and it has been highly successful in dissuading infringers through cease and desist actions and litigation. The Firm has also been successful in removing online content that infringes our client’s copyrights and trademarks through, among other means, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In addition, the Firm has prosecuted domain name disputes utilizing both the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act and the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy administrative procedures.

Licensing

The Firm is also highly experienced in worldwide brand licensing campaigns and in the negotiation and drafting of licensing agreements involving a wide variety of brands and merchandise including magazines, clothing lines, furniture, pharmaceuticals, household products, appliances, vitamins, and restaurant and bar chains. Through negotiating and drafting license agreements, as well as coordinating trademark registration filings in foreign countries, the Firm has assisted many clients as they have expanded brand awareness both throughout the United States and around the world. Utilizing our assistance, our clients have often been able to fully exploit the value of their intellectual property.