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We represent many clients in patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret litigation. Our intellectual property matters have ranged from disputes over rooftop owners’ access to Chicago Cubs games, to complex patent disputes, to aggressive action against entities who have counterfeited our clients’ goods. Specific examples of our work includes the following:
Patent
- We represent Snap-on Inc. in patent cases involving wheel aligners, wheel balancers, engine diagnostics and hand tools. That representation has included temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction proceedings, Markman hearings, trials and arbitrations.
- We handle patent-related litigation for clients as diverse as Neopost Inc. (mailing machines), CNA Insurance Company (claims processing software), General Growth Properties (consumer products sold by mall tenants), Deering Instruments (scales), HBI (manufacturing processes) and GSC Technology Corporation (chairs and tables). Our patent litigation includes suits across the country, most recently in Illinois, California, Texas, Utah, Delaware and Puerto Rico.
- Because of our general litigation and patent expertise, many clients hire us to handle patent indemnification cases and professional liability cases relating to patents.
Trademarks
- We have obtained dozens of temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions protecting our clients from counterfeiters. We represent clients in trademark disputes relating to areas as diverse as paper products, automotive equipment, professional sports, video games, purses, lighting products, tobacco and tobacco-related products. We represented the Chicago Cubs in several cases involving claims for trademark infringement. We handled similar cases for the Chicago Wolves.
- We represented the National Hockey League Players Association on a variety of intellectual property issues. For example, we represented the NHLPA in a Lanham Act action filed in the Southern District of New York to preclude the unauthorized use of players’ names on souvenir jerseys, which ultimately resulted in a favorable settlement for the players. We handled an arbitration concerning the ownership rights to hockey jerseys that the players wear in NHL games and an antitrust class action filed against the NHLPA in a California federal court stemming from the NHLPA’s trading card licensing program. We have provided assistance to the NHLPA and other clients on licensing issues
- We have literally sued the pants off a former professional WWE wrestler who misappropriated a trademarked image belonging to our client, a professional sports team. The infringing costume’s shorts are, we are told, now kept in a framed display case by our client’s general manager.
Copyright
- We represent a major derivatives trading firm in a copyright dispute concerning the ownership of trading software.
- We represented the Chicago Cubs in a common law misappropriation case against the owners of rooftop facilities adjacent to Wrigley Field, which involved novel issues of copyright preemption.
- We have litigated copyright issues, both as a plaintiff and defendant, on works such as operations manuals, graphics on packaging, websites, books, photos, videos and music.
- We advise many clients on the protection and enforcement of their rights in copyrighted material.
Trade Secret/Employee Mobility
- We have represented many clients in litigation against former employees or business partners who allegedly misappropriated trade secrets.
- We have handled hundreds of such cases for companies in the financial services industry, including Smith Barney, Mesirow Financial, Inc., CNA, American Express Financial Advisors and IDS Life.
- In addition to enforcing trade secret rights, we also have defended clients against changes of trade secret misappropriation and advised clients on employee mobility issues to avoid litigation exposure for trade secret misappropriation.
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