Intellectual Property
NJL provides a comprehensive intellectual property (IP) practice, guiding clients through every stage of IP development, acquisition, and protection. Our attorneys collaborate to offer a wide range of IP services tailored to each client’s specific industry, goals, and objectives. We ensure that IP rights are protected while aligning with broader business strategies.
Soft IP Portfolio Development & Management
Our corporate and transactional attorneys collaborate with clients to register, maintain, and license trademarks and copyrights:
Trademark and Service Mark Services:
- Conducting comprehensive trademark clearance searches
- Preparing and filing applications
- Drafting and preparing responses to office actions, oppositions, and cancellation proceedings
- Prosecution and maintenance
- Protection and enforcement
Copyright Services:
- Assessment and protection
IP Transactions:
- Licensing (software, copyrights, trademarks, technology)
- Contracts (development, independent contractor, work-for-hire)
- Brand and internal policies
IP Protection:
To ensure comprehensive legal support, we maintain strong relationships with trusted patent attorneys. Should you require patent prosecution or litigation services, we’re happy to refer you to these experts.
Strategic Enforcement & Litigation
Our experienced litigators develop cost-effective strategies to safeguard IP rights. This includes pursuing infringement claims in federal and state courts, as well as before the USPTO. We also act as local counsel in IP disputes. We offer a full range of services to resolve IP disputes efficiently, including early case assessments, drafting cease-and-desist letters, negotiating settlements, and, if necessary, strong courtroom representation. We have a track record of success in representing both defendants and plaintiffs in trademark infringement and dilution, copyright infringement, unfair competition, and trade secret disputes.
Representative Successes
- Software Copyright Defense: We represented an airplane parts manufacturer in a copyright lawsuit over custom software programs. Through strategic litigation and negotiation, we secured a favorable settlement for less than the initial pre-suit offer.
- Medical Software Ownership: We helped a medical services provider in a dispute with a software development company that alleged infringement of its software copyrights against our client. By filing a declaratory judgment action, we secured a favorable settlement that definitively determined our client’s ownership of its software.
- Trademark Protection for Educational Non-Profit: We represented a non-profit, member-based, educational provider in a trademark dispute with a public university. The university was using our client’s trademark in conjunction with a professional development seminar. We successfully obtained a resolution where the university ceased the alleged infringement and changed the name of its seminar.
- Trademark Protection for Educational Materials: We represented a non-profit, member-based, educational provider in a separate trademark dispute. This time, the infringement came from a publisher and author who published a book with a title substantially similar to our client’s training manual series. We achieved a successful outcome where the publisher and author agreed to change the name of their book.