Overview
Carlton Fields' intellectual property attorneys represent some of the most respected and recognized brands in the world in patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and false advertising matters.
Intellectual Property Litigation
Our world-class intellectual property litigators and appellate attorneys represent clients in venues where IP cases are most often litigated, including the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, the District of Delaware, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Eastern District of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).
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Our team has first-chaired seminal cases that have changed the IP landscape. And our deep industry experience in high technology, financial services and insurance, media and digital media, entertainment, software, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, construction, and other fields makes every case we litigate more efficient.
Our team regularly handles disputes involving:
- Patent infringement
- Trademark and branding litigation
- TTAB opposition and cancellation proceedings
- Copyright litigation and counseling
- Internet and social media
- Entertainment
- Advertising and promotions
- Pharmaceutical and life sciences
- ANDA, biosimilars and follow-on biologics, biotechnology
- Data security and privacy
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act
- PTAB post-grant review proceedings
- Inter partes reviews, post-grant reviews, and covered business method reviews
- USITC Section 337 proceedings
- Trade secrets and related litigation
- Defend Trade Secrets Act; Computer Fraud and Abuse Act; Stored Communications Act; Electronic Communications Privacy Act; Economic Espionage Act; and various state Uniform Trade Secret Acts, unfair and deceptive trade practices statutes, and computer hacking and privacy statutes
- ICANN domain disputes
- UDRP, URS, cybersquatting
- Commercial disputes and unfair competition
- Restrictive covenant enforcement
Intellectual Property Protection & Portfolio Management
We secure domestic and international IP rights through patents, trademarks, copyright registrations, domain names, and other forms of intellectual property. Our registered patent lawyers and brand specialists devote their practices to helping clients establish and transform their intellectual property rights into business assets.
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Patents
Our registered patent lawyers practice in a wide range of technologies and fields, including software, financial services, medical devices, health care, telecommunications, mechanical devices, and pharmaceuticals. Our team also has deep industry experience and a cutting-edge understanding of high technology, including software design and programming, blockchain, and cybersecurity. Our team provides a variety of patent portfolio services including:
- Patent applications, prosecution, and representation of clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and international patent offices
- Patent infringement, invalidity, clearance, and patentability opinions
- Cease-and-desist letters
- IP audits
- Patent licenses
- Assignments and ownership transfers
Trademarks, Websites, and Domain Names
Our trademark lawyers are recognized by industry publications as among the best in the United States. We establish and manage global trademark and domain name portfolios for world-class brands. Members of our team include the author of World Trademark Law and Practice (LexisNexis, five volumes), a treatise that addresses trademark procedures in more than 150 jurisdictions around the world, and attorneys board certified in Intellectual Property Law by The Florida Bar. Our work includes:
- Global trademark applications, prosecution, and maintenance
- Trademark policing and enforcement
- Opposition proceedings
- Cancellation proceedings
- Domain name registration, maintenance, and enforcement
- Cybersquatting policing
- Unfair competition
- Passing-off claims
Copyrights, Entertainment Law, and Publicity Rights
Our copyright and entertainment lawyers advise clients regarding the acquisition, sale, and licensing of copyrighted works, and all types of development, licensing, and distribution transactions. Our practice includes two nationally recognized specialists in creative talent and entertainment ventures, and our team represents a veritable who's who of Michelin-starred chefs and restaurateurs, and multiplatinum-selling recording artists, songwriters, producers, and mixers.
Our services include:
- Content acquisition and license agreements with major film and television studios and other major content companies
- Copyright applications and registrations and representation of clients before the U.S. Copyright Office
- Copyright licensing
- Authorship and joint ownership agreements
- End-user license agreements
- Work-for-hire agreements
- Copyright audits
- Endorsements agreements
- Personal appearance agreements
- Celebrity commercial real estate transactions
- Talent agreements
Company IP Programs, Policies, and Procedures
We also design and implement internal IP portfolio management procedures for clients, including invention reporting, intercompany licenses, patent incentive programs and committees, employment agreements and procedures, confidentiality agreements, invention agreements, trade secret protection practices and policies, and copyright maintenance, licensing, and enforcement programs.
Technology & IP Transactions
Our IP transactional team negotiates and structures complex deals involving IP assets such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, industrial designs, and other forms of intellectual property. As an integral part of Carlton Fields' corporate, M&A, and private equity practices, our IP transactional lawyers provide expert and efficient advice on IP issues in commercial agreements, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, alliances, and investments. Our team regularly conducts IP due diligence, prepares agreements and assignments, and advises on IP ownership, licensing, website terms of service, and privacy issues.
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Our transactional team provides the following types of IP transactional services:
- Software development and licensing arrangements
- End-user license agreements (EULAs), app licenses, evaluation of open-source software
- Nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), noncompetition agreements, work-for-hire agreements
- Internal IP policies
- Website terms of use and privacy policies
- Patent, trademark, and copyright licensing arrangements
- Technology and know-how licensing and royalty agreements
- IP assignments and ownership changes
- Marketing, reseller, and distribution agreements
- R&D, teaming, and collaborative research agreements
- Evaluation of government-funded patent and technical data rights
Named to BTI's "Honor Roll" for Intellectual Property Litigation.
BTI’s Litigation Outlook 2019: Changes, Trends, and Opportunities for Law Firms
Heavy-hitting Carlton Fields can troubleshoot any branding problem thrown its way. Its IP squad is accomplished working on both sides of the contentious and non-contentious boundary, and it also shines in licensing transactions by working in tandem with the firm's full-bodied corporate group.
World Trademark Review 1000