Intellectual Property

The lawyers in AlvaradoSmith’s intellectual property practice help clients develop IP strategies that align with their business and financial objectives, perfect and protect their trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and other intellectual property, and defend and prosecute their IP rights in court.

We work with clients to audit existing intellectual property – products, processes, and everything in-between – determine its value, and identify protections already in place so they can find and eliminate gaps in coverage that create unnecessary risk. We help them draft and negotiate licensing agreements that improve revenue streams, and prosecute applications to extend trademark coverage. And we assert their rights by prosecuting and defending opposition and cancellation claims, infringement and dilution claims, and lawsuits involving trade secrets.

Trademarks

We have particular strengths advising clients with large trademark portfolios that include both U.S. and international registrations, and guide clients seeking to maximize counterfeit import protections afforded U.S. trademarks under the laws and regulations of the United States.

Copyrights

In addition, we protect and enforce copyrights held by our clients – authors, companies, colleges, and other organizations – through counseling, registration, and licensing agreements. This includes, in particular, advising them on privacy rights, publicity rights, website related issues, fair use, the TEACH Act, and the prosecution and defense of copyright infringement claims.

Trade Secrets and Employment Issues

Our intellectual property lawyers regularly assist their employment law colleagues to help prevent the theft and misappropriation of client trade secrets and other confidential company information, and to quickly resolve issues that arise, including the breach of non-compete and confidentiality agreements, employee defections, industrial espionage, and other threats to proprietary information and processes.

Recent intellectual property work includes:

• Representation of an international aircraft parts supplier in the rebranding of its company name which included trademark research, legal issues relating to brand proposals, trademark registration, domain name acquisition, and international trademark registrations.
• Representation of an organization on managing and protecting its trademark portfolio for various goods and services in connection with the evolving and highly regulated cannabis industry.
• Obtaining federal trademarks for a craft distillery which included successfully defending an Opposition proceeding brought by an international supermarket chain alleging confusion, and negotiating a Concurrent Use Agreement with a French winery.
• Advised an international beverage manufacturer on securing and protecting trade secrets, pledging trade secrets as collateral for financing, and negotiating trade secret escrow agreements.
• Settled a trademark dispute on behalf of one of the largest Chilean wineries with a solution in which both sides comparatively agreed to allow the other winery to use certain trademarks in order to prevent confusion.