Intellectual Property and Licensing

For our early stage clients, proper attention to intellectual property rights often begins before the company has been formed. We advise early stage clients on rights and obligations that founders may have with respect to former employers, or with respect to intellectual property that may have been jointly created or was created in a university setting.

We advise on and draft agreements with employees and consultants that cover non-disclosure, invention assignment and work-for-hire. We also provide advice on internal policies and procedures to ensure that confidential information and trade secrets will be accorded maximum possible protection. When access to critical intellectual property assets is provided to potential investors, strategic partners and acquirers, we assist in developing strategies and nondisclosure agreements designed to provide sufficient information to get deals done, while minimizing the risks that intellectual property may be compromised if a transaction is not completed.

We clear and register trademarks and copyrights and assist in enforcing such rights against infringement. We advise with respect to acquisition strategy for domain names and the interplay between domain names and trademark rights. While we do not do patent work in house, we engage and collaborate with highly skilled, cost effective patent counsel to advise our clients on patent strategy and to draft and file patent applications.

Licensing is a central issue for many of our clients, and our attorneys have licensing expertise across a diverse spectrum of industries. From IT to mobile media to publishing to biotech, we have a breadth of experience in the nuanced issues that must be addressed and negotiated in order to enable our clients to derive the full benefit from their intellectual property assets.

Website and e-commerce issues arise for virtually all of our clients, and our attorneys are well-versed in this evolving area of the law. We routinely advise on issues including development agreements, advertising agreements, hosting contracts, domain names and in the legal issues surrounding contests and games.

Privacy and Data Security

Data is a significant asset for many of our clients, bringing both opportunity and risk. Our attorneys are actively involved in advising our clients in the rapidly-developing area of privacy and data security.  Among other things, we can work with you to assess your existing internal data privacy policies and procedures and help you develop additional policies as appropriate to facilitate compliance with regulatory requirements.  We also can review your relationships with your outside vendors to help ensure that you have documentation in place that addresses each party’s legal obligations regarding the protection and handling of personal data, and we can help you assess potential sources of risk, develop a risk management strategy, and address compliance issues if they arise.