Patricia Bayer Cunningham, a member of Sutherland's Intellectual Property Practice Group, is an intellectual property litigator whose practice focuses on trademark, trade dress, copyright, trade secret, unfair competition and e-commerce disputes including Internet domain name, advertising and metatag infringement disputes. She also has experience in patent, antitrust, contract, franchise and dealer litigation, as well as other commercial litigation. Patricia has represented clients in numerous civil actions in state and federal trial and appellate courts, in trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, in Section 337 actions before the U.S. International Trade Commission, and in domain name arbitration proceedings before the World Intellectual Property Organization. Prior to attending law school, Patricia was an assistant golf professional at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Representative Experience Patricia's extensive representative experience includes: · Serving as one of the lead counsel representing a bearing importer/wholesaler in a Section 337 trademark infringement parallel import case tried before the U.S. International Trade Commission, culminating in a favorable client decision, which was affirmed by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. · Serving as trademark litigation counsel for a global financial services and communications company in trademark, service mark and trade dress matters throughout the United States, including suits in California, Colorado, Texas and Georgia. · Representing a wire and cable manufacturer in a trademark infringement suit in Georgia against distributors selling competing wire products under an infringing mark. · Representing a large health care company in a trademark infringement suit in Texas involving the name of a suite of software products. · Representing a software developer and marketer of remote medical monitoring devices in a suit in Florida involving claims of misappropriation of trade secrets and copyright infringement. · Representing several franchisors in trademark infringement suits against former franchisees involving continued use of the franchisors' marks. · Representing a large carpet manufacturer in various copyright infringement suits in Georgia concerning carpet designs. · Representing a manufacturer of hosiery products and apparel in trademark matters involving the client's trademark and in copyright matters involving the client's packaging designs. · Representing an e-commerce company in California litigation involving copyright infringement claims based on the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. · Representing a payment processing company in defense of a suit in California alleging contributory trademark infringement based upon the actions of third-party Web sites. Professional Honors and Awards · Named among the "Legal Elite" by Georgia Trend magazine (2006, 2007) · Selected for inclusion in Georgia Super Lawyers® (2008-2010) Professional and Community Involvement · Member, International Trademark Association · Former Member, North American Parallel Imports Subcommittee, International Trademark Association · Member, International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association · Member, Litigation Section and Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law Section, American Bar Association · Member, Editorial Board of the Model Jury Instruction Project on Trademark, Trade Dress and Copyright Litigation for the Intellectual Property Litigation Committee, American Bar Association · Member, Intellectual Property Owners Association · Member, Litigation Section and the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law Section, State Bar of Georgia · Member, Atlanta Bar Association Recent Publications · Co-author, "First 100 days and labor law," Daily Report (May 2009) · Featured, "A Lawyer's Former Life on the Links," "Former Golf Pro-Turned-Lawyer Anticipates Getting Back to the Game After a Three-Decade Absence," The Daily Report (February 12, 2008) · Co-author, "Ninth Circuit Addresses Standard for Proving Likelihood of Trademark Dilution," Globe Business Publishing, Ltd., appeared in Lexology (January 10, 2008) · Co-author, "Private-Label Versions: Free Enterprise or Freeloading?" The National Law Journal (August 27, 2007) · Co-author, "Addressing Parallel Import Goods Under U.S. Law," International Trademark Association Bulletin (July 1, 2007) · Co-author, "Click with Caution: Liability for Breach of Click-Wrap and Browse-Wrap Agreements," The Computer & Internet Lawyer Journal (July 2006) News Sutherland Attorneys Named 2010 Georgia Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
March 1, 2010 Legal Alerts Legal Alert: President Obama Signs Into Law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
February 2, 2009 Legal Alert: PRO-IP Act Promises Increased Focus on IP Rights and Expanded Counterfeiting Remedies
January 5, 2009 Legal Alert: States' Liability for Trademark Infringement Limited as "Trademark Remedy Clarification Act" Found Unconstitutional
August 25, 2008 Legal Alert: Fourth Circuit Rejects SOX Whistleblower Appeal Based on Employee's Failure to Show Protected Activity
August 11, 2008 Legal Alert: High Court Rules in Favor of Free Speech for Employers in Workplace Labor Organization Debate
July 1, 2008 Legal Alert: Pension Plan May Vary Imputed Service Based, in Part, on Age
July 1, 2008 Legal Alert: Supreme Court Addresses Conflicts of Interest in ERISA Benefit Claims - Metropolitan Life Insurance Company v. Glenn
July 1, 2008 Legal Alert: Supreme Court: Employers Must Prove "Reasonableness" in Age Discrimination Cases
July 1, 2008 Legal Alert: Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Signed Into Law
June 16, 2008 Legal Alert: U.S. Supreme Court Allows Retaliation Claims Under Section 1981
June 2, 2008 Legal Alert: Eleventh Circuit Finds Meta Tag Use Actionable Under the Lanham Act
April 25, 2008 Legal Alert: Right of Publicity and Trademark Claims Insufficient Bases for Preliminary Injunction Preventing Sale of Popular Software Game
April 16, 2008 Legal Alert: High Court Declines to Draw Bright Line on Admissibility of "Me Too" Evidence in Employment Discrimination Cases
March 3, 2008 Legal Alert: Ninth Circuit Addresses Standard for Proving Likelihood of Trademark Dilution
January 10, 2008 Legal Alert: Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 Increases Federal Minimum Wage
July 23, 2007 Legal Alert: Ninth Circuit Finds "Linking to" and "Hosting" Websites Does Not Violate Copyright Law
April 18, 2007 Legal Alert: The Supreme Court Addresses Inducement of Copyright Infringement Through Software in Anticipated Grokster Case
July 7, 2005 Publications First 100 days and labor law
May 1, 2009 Reprinted with permission Daily Report Former Golf Pro-Turned Lawyer Anticipates Getting Back to the Game After a Three-Decade Absence
February 12, 2008 The Daily Report A Lawyer's Former Life on the Links
"Former Golf Pro-Turned-Lawyer Anticipates Getting Back To the Game After A Three-Decade Absence" Former golf professional and partner in the Intellectual Property practice group, Pat Cunningham, is featured as a golf pro-turned-lawyer...
February 12, 2008 Reprinted with permission Fulton County Daily Report A Lawyer's Former Life on the Links
February 12, 2008 The Daily Report Ninth Circuit Addresses Standard for Proving Likelihood of Trademark Dilution
January 10, 2008 Reprinted with permission, Globe Business Publication, Appeared in Lexology Private-Label Versions: Free Enterprise or Freeloading?
August 27, 2007 Reprinted with permission, The National Law Journal Addressing Parallel Import Goods Under U.S. Law
July 1, 2007 Reprinted with permission International Trademark Association Bulletin Click with Caution: Liability for Breach of Click-Wrap and Browse-Wrap Agreements
June 2006 Reprinted with permission, The Computer & Internet Lawyer Journal |