McLane Middleton, Professional Association

McLane Middleton's intellectual property group works diligently with companies seeking assistance with managing and executing intellectual property strategies.

Our attorneys offer expertise on intellectual property development, protection, licensing, and litigation. The intellectual property group primarily focus their practice on:

• U.S. and foreign trademark and copyright law
• Patent procurement
• E-commerce and Internet law
• Domain name/cyber-squatter disputes
• Technology development
• Trade secret protection
• Intellectual property due diligence in transactions
• Licensing agreements for all types of intellectual properties

Trademark

McLane Middleton's intellectual property group makes it their priority to understand its clients’ goods and services, marketing strategies, and technology to provide effectual advice on matters affecting brands and related intellectual property rights.

We represent a wide and diverse variety of clients from start-ups and small businesses to large privately held corporations and publicly traded companies for their trademark legal services and consult.

Our attorneys prosecute and defend an array of trademark infringement and unfair competition actions in state and federal courts, as well as opposition/cancellation proceedings with the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board.

McLane Middleton is a member of Terralex and the International Trademark Association, and assists clients in over 50 foreign countries with trademark protection and maintenance matters.

Our trademark services include:

• Searching state, federal and foreign registers for clearance of marks
• Rendering opinions on ability to use and register, and infringement matters
• National and global brand protection strategies
• Preparing and securing registration applications
• Maintenance filings
• Electronic filing capabilities
• Litigation and enforcement of rights
• Watch/protection service

Intellectual Property Litigation

McLane Middleton's Intellectual Property Practice Group possesses notable experience in handling disputes and litigation involving patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and unfair competition.

Intellectual property infringement claims present complex legal and factual issues, and demand thorough understanding of both the law and science applicable to a case.

McLane Middleton’s intellectual property practitioners and trial lawyers possess the experience it takes to distill issues related to the case to their fundamental basics, and to meticulously identify the factors that help lead to a successful result.

Patent

McLane Middleton's intellectual property group is made up of reliable counsel, including a former patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

We provide sophisticated patent services to clients in many industries, with numerous in a wide variety of technologies, such as chemistry, medical devices, computer science, and mechanical and electrical arts.

McLane Middleton works closely with inventors to acquire strong patent rights when preparing and filing patent applications. And, our patent attorneys are extensively experienced in prosecuting patents. McLane Middleton’s patent law services include:

• Patentability assessment
• Patent and prior art searching
• Patent procurement in the U.S. and foreign countries
• Validity, infringement and enforceability assessments
• Reissue and reexamination applications
• Electronic filing capabilities
• Patent due diligence and portfolio assessments
• IP transfers, licensing and invention assignment agreements

Copyright

McLane Middleton copyright attorneys are experts at advising clients with the development and execution of copyright protection strategies.

McLane Middleton handles numerous areas related to copyright, including software; literary works; advertising and marketing collateral; character designs/logos; photographs; audiovisual works, music; and paintings.

Our well-established copyright practice counsels clients on “fair use,” policing and enforcement of rights, and an array of matters with great emphasis on the following:

• U.S. registration and foreign protection of copyrighted works
• Protection of computer software
• Licensing of copyrighted works
• Work-for-hire agreements
• Development agreements
• Negotiation and handling copyright infringement or ownership disputes/litigation

McLane Middleton has represented successful settlement negotiations on behalf of companies and individuals in connection with copyright infringement claims brought by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a national organization founded by the country's top software and service providers to combat unlicensed use of software and software piracy, and claims brought by the music industry in connection with illegal music downloads, and various other copyright claims relative to infringement of images and video rights.

Trade Secrets

McLane Middleton’s intellectual property practice group is astute in assisting its clients with determining whether trade secret protection is appropriate given the nature of the rights at issue.

We counsel clients on establishing effective procedures to secure and protect valuable trade secret information, such as drafting and enforcing non-disclosure agreements; creating internal trade secret protection procedures; negotiating trade secret licenses; and litigating trade secret rights.