Intellectual Property

No matter the context – patents, copyright, trademark, trade secret, etc. – the "IP" attorneys at Sheppard Mullin tend to wear many hats; and often more than one at a time (just pretend the hats are really tiny).  Wearing his or her "administrative procedure" hat, an IP attorney navigates the labyrinth of administrative procedures often associated with securing a client's IP rights—even jumping on a plane to Virginia to meet a patent examiner at the Patent and Trademark Office.  With its IP rights secured, the client wants to put those IP rights to work generating cash.  Sporting "transactional" headwear, an IP attorney drafts licensing or assignment agreements that give parties permission to use the client's IP for a fee or royalty.  Now the client wants to sell a new product using IP that could be covered by someone else's IP rights.  The IP attorney dons the "counselor's cap," surveys the factual and legal landscape, and advises whether that's a good idea.  

If anyone uses a client's IP without permission, the IP attorney straps on a "warrior's helmet" and aggressively protects the client's rights through litigation.  If necessary, the decades of experience represented by our IP attorneys is brought to bear in multi-million dollar trials to serve clients including print publishers, computer manufacturers, sports equipment manufacturers, biotechnology manufacturers, advertisers, motion picture distributors, music publishers, internet e-commerce businesses and websites, and movie studios, just to name a few.