Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets

Davis Malm’s intellectual property attorneys counsel individuals, start-ups, emerging companies, and private and public companies in all aspects of trademark, copyright, and trade secret matters. We work with a wide range of industries, including, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications and networking, process control instrumentation, complex mechanical technologies, industrial engineering, biotechnology, health care, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, financial services, education, restaurants, retail, and consumer products.

For companies that rely on brand recognition and loyalty, trademarks are an essential component of their intellectual property assets. We commission searches to ensure the use of marks is in good faith and to minimize the potential for a challenge. We regularly prepare and file trademark applications domestically and throughout the world through our extensive network of foreign associates and prepare and negotiate effective trademark licenses. We also provide effective trademark watch services to help our clients stay abreast of their competition. If challenges do arise, our experienced litigators are ready to enforce and defend infringement claims.

Our attorneys counsel clients on best practices for protecting copyrights. We assist companies in creating strategies to safeguard and maximize the value of original works through registration, acquisition, assignment, licenses, and sales. We have extensive experience negotiating and preparing licensing agreements for clients that want to generate revenue from their creative works. For businesses that use the copyrighted works of others, we advise on the responsibilities of fair use to ensure compliance with copyright laws and avoid infringement claims.

Advancements in technology have made information mobile and vulnerable to theft. Davis Malm’s attorneys assist clients to protect confidential and proprietary information from unauthorized use. Our intellectual property and employment attorneys often collaborate to identify employer trade secrets and perform audits of employment policies and agreements. We prepare contracts and agreements for employees, independent consultants, and vendors and negotiate restrictive covenants, such as nonsolicitation, noncompetition, and nondisclosure clauses. Our successful track record of prosecuting and defending breach of contract claims serves us well in representing both employers and employees in contract negotiation and in such litigation.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

• Established and managed a worldwide trademark portfolio for a closely-held, high-growth-rate media company.
• Represented a financial services company in developing and managing patent and trademark portfolios for novel financial products.
• Obtained reversal in the U.S. Court of Appeals of a copyright infringement verdict, setting precedent on apportionment of profits in copyright infringement cases.
• Defended companies from claims of copyright infringement, violations of licensing agreements and Trademark Counterfeiting Act.
• Successfully enforced a noncompetition agreement against a former high level employee in the medical services industry.
• Represented numerous senior level executives in negotiation and preparation of executive employment and compensation agreements in a variety of high technology and financial businesses.
• Negotiated numerous CEO, CFO and CMO employment, noncompetition and severance agreements.
• Counsel to many employers in drafting and negotiating noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements.