Trademark & Copyright Prosecution

In today’s crowded marketplace, consumer purchasing decisions are strongly influenced by trademarks and the reputation a brand represents. Establishing and protecting a strong brand is pivotal to business success. Doing so means preventing competitors from stealing your brand image or creating substantially similar identities that create marketplace confusion.

HOW WE HELP

We protect our clients’ distinct, recognizable identities for their products and services, allowing them to create and profit from their unique positions in the marketplace. We inform businesses of the complex rules governing these protections, counseling them to make informed decisions regarding its uses, applications, and the best means to defend their valuable assets.

OUR SERVICES

Trademark Prosecution. We have handled the preparation and prosecution of thousands of trademark applications around the world for a diverse roster of clients. Our trademark attorneys work with, and understand the business realities facing, companies today, handling global trademark matters. We manage the trademark portfolios for major brands in many product categories around the world, including footwear and clothing, beauty and cosmetics, insurance and financial services, software, technology, restaurant chains, alcoholic beverages, entertainment businesses, vitamins and supplements, and many more.

We offer clients a comprehensive line of trademark counseling services, including clearance, prosecution, monitoring, and beyond. As counsel of record for the owners of many well-known trademarks and service marks, we make sure that our clients are in the best possible position at every phase of the trademark prosecution process to develop a cleared trademark, service mark, or trade name; obtain clearance and proper licensing of that mark; and think ahead to identify potential points of infringement.

We regularly prepare and prosecute trademark applications and renewals, domestically and internationally, and manage more than 30,000 US and foreign trademark registrations and applications.

We handle numerous domain name disputes, website takedowns, social media takedowns, online marketplace policing operations, and related activities annually. We also function as domain name portfolio managers for some of our trademark portfolio clients.

Copyright Transactions and Counseling. Whether the subject matter is software, a literary creation, or cutting-edge multimedia content, clients look to Seyfarth to protect and enforce their copyrights in an increasingly complex marketplace where digital copying of these assets is all too easy and rampant.

We strategically review and assess the value of our clients’ copyrightable material and, if appropriate, prepare and prosecute a copyright registration through the US Copyright Office. Furthermore, we ensure those rights remain protected by prosecuting and defending infringement actions in the federal district courts.

Our attorneys also understand the value of legally using creativity owned by others. We regularly counsel clients on fair use of copyrighted materials, and negotiate and draft license agreements on behalf of technology, medical, and educational institutions. We are especially well-versed in assisting computer software companies with the unique issues they face in the development and licensing of their products. We manage: the registration process, which can be somewhat nuanced and complex with international overlays due to the Berne Convention; special issues in seeking registration of multiple versions of software code; complex regulations regarding the registration of databases; and the use of specialized deposit allowances designed to achieve copyright registration while maintaining trade secret protection.

THE SEYFARTH EXPERIENCE

We pair legal excellence with our award-winning, proprietary service delivery platform to create our Trademark Solution for global trademark prosecution and portfolio management, which is unique among law firms. We are able to deliver matter streamlining, reduced cost, greater efficiency, reduced in-house bandwidth consumption, better information management, reporting and sharing, and improved outcomes in trademark matters. These benefits are provided through a mix of process design, best-in-class advanced technology solutions, data measurement and metrics in the trademark portfolio, and fixed fee and alternative fee portfolio management billing arrangements.