Intellectual Property
Approach
Your Firm has long been committed to the pursuit and protection of our clients' intellectual property rights. With more than 80 members and more than a century of successes, our IP Practice Group is one of the firm's largest and one recognized nationwide for providing exceptional guidance and representation to IP clients.
Attorneys
In addition to impressive legal credentials, many of our attorneys and engineers have extensive backgrounds and advanced degrees in electronics, computer science, electrical engineering, avionics, physics, e-commerce and information technology, chemistry, mechanical and chemical engineering, food science, biotechnology, biology, medical and dental devices and structural and civil engineering. In addition, many of our lawyers have worked for major corporations and as government examiners in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, giving them a valuable perspective on our clients' IP issues.
Several of our attorneys teach IP classes in area law schools, regularly speak and publish articles on IP issues, and are actively involved in IP legal organizations around the country. One of our attorneys is the author of the 4th Edition of Callmann, Unfair Competition, Trademarks and Monopolies, a nine-volume treatise and one of only a few well renowned resources on trademark and unfair competition law. The firm is also co-author of Intellectual Property Law in Cyberspace, one of the first treatises to deal with ever-evolving Internet law.
Clients
We represent large and small companies throughout the nation and around the world. See representative clients below.
Practice
Our IP group offers a complete range of intellectual property services and guidance including but not limited to:
- Patent Prosecution and Counseling
- Mechanical
- Biotech
- Electrical
- Chemical
- Computer Software
- Business Method
- Trademark and Copyright Prosecution and Counseling
- Litigation
- Internet and E-Commerce
- Licensing, Technology Transfer, and Joint Venture Agreements
- Computer Software, System Acquisition, and Data Processing Agreements
- Advertising, Promotions and Sweepstakes Law
- IP Audits
- M & A Due Diligence
- Rights of Publicity and Privacy
- Trade Secrets
An effective intellectual property practice requires a dedicated team of professionals who can merge their knowledge, legal and technical experience, and business acumen with the right combination of negotiation and advocacy skills to produce legal solutions that match clients' business goals and competitive philosophies. In approaching any project, we make sure we know the "big picture;" that is, we learn how the project fits into our client's short- and long-term goals; what the client hopes to achieve by protecting or licensing a particular piece of intellectual property; whether the project is global in nature or territorially limited; what the competitive landscape is in which the client's IP strategies will be implemented; and our client's budgetary constraints and financial expectations for the project. Armed with this knowledge, we are able to recommend a balanced but aggressive approach that meets the client's goals and objectives, maximizes the return on their investment, and limits downside risks.
We utilize state-of-the-art research, imaging, docketing, communication, and litigation support software and hardware to enhance the impact of our work.
Patents
Our attorneys are skilled in the art of preparing and prosecuting domestic and foreign patent applications in all disciplines; analyzing patentability, invalidity and infringement issues; counseling clients in the design and development of new technology and products; and negotiating patent licensing and technology transfer agreements.
Trademarks
Our attorneys also use sound business and marketing judgment to counsel clients in the selection, protection, enforcement and licensing of trademarks to address the global brand management issues which necessarily confront any company in today's international economy. Among the strategies employed by our attorneys to address such issues are the preparation and prosecution of trademark registration applications and management of clients' trademark portfolios worldwide; registration of clients' trademarks with Customs Offices around the world to prevent importation of counterfeit goods; pursuit of cybersquatters and other Internet infringers; prosecution and defense of trademark oppositions and cancellations worldwide; and review of clients' advertising materials, packaging, and websites to ensure proper trademark usage and compliance with advertising, labeling, and unfair competition laws.
For the past three years, the firm has received the NameProtect? "Trademark Insider Award" for the number one Milwaukee Trademark Law Firm. Nationally, the firm ranks 20th among the top trademark law firms, according to NameProtect.
Litigation
When our clients choose litigation as the right strategy for a given situation, we offer them a roster of experienced litigators whose practices are dedicated to intellectual property. Our superior IP litigation experience is demonstrated in the July 2011 issue of IP Law & Business, which ranked Your Firm among the top twenty law firms in the nation for patent litigation in terms of number of cases filed in 2010. In the same publication, Your Firm ranked number 16 in the nation in terms of number of intellectual property cases defended. We are proud to be ranked among the most prestigious firms in the country.
IP litigation is complex; we believe it should be handled by attorneys who are well-versed in its substantive and procedural challenges. Our IP litigators have argued cases to judges and juries in almost every circuit in the country, as well as the International Trade Commission, involving every type of IP issue: patent, trademark and copyright infringement; dilution; ownership disputes; Internet cybersquatting, metatagging and hidden text; false advertising; trade secret misappropriation and economic espionage; and rights of publicity and privacy.
Other Services
Our intellectual property attorneys are also experienced in international and domestic joint ventures; the negotiation of computer system acquisition and data processing agreements; the registration, protection and licensing of copyrights; intellectual property audits and M & A due diligence; and sweepstakes/promotions compliance issues.
