Intellectual Property Law and Licensing
CASTAYBERT PLLC assists clients in a wide variety of intellectual property transaction and litigation matters.
TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE
CASTAYBERT PLLC performs and analyzes trademark clearance searches. Trademark searches are tailored to the needs of the client. The firm conducts initial, basic searches, and can obtain and review full trademark “knockout searches” in the U.S. The firm advises clients about the likelihood of confusion, dilution, and distinctiveness of trademark. CASTAYBERT PLLC also counsels on copyright clearance, both on originality and availability.
In the copyright area, the firm’s litigators have advised clients on important questions of ownership and authorship, work for hire, exclusivity, duration, assignment, injunctive relief and damages, as well as defenses based on the statute of limitations, abandonment, estoppel, laches, and fair use, and have advised companies in the publishing and music industries.
FALSE ADVERTISING & TRADEMARK
CASTAYBERT PLLC understands our clients’ need to protect and enforce their trademark rights and prevent competitors from falsely advertising competitive products. The firm has the experience necessary to litigate false advertising claims including experience with consumer surveys and statistics to try such cases as well as the presentation of and challenge to expert evidence. CASTAYBERT PLLC counsels clients in the creation, maintenance, and enforcement of brands and trademarks and has experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a range of litigated trademark matters, from temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, seizure orders and recalls, to full trials on the merits. In the trademark area, the lawyers at CASTAYBERT PLLC have prosecuted and defended against infringement claims under the Lanham Act, under trademark related common law claims of unfair competition and dilution, as well as independent claims brought under consumer protection statutes prohibiting deceptive trade practices and false advertising and defenses to such claims. The practice at CASTAYBERT PLLC also includes challenges before the NAD and NARB; pre-litigation counseling, labeling approvals and advertising-related inquiries by Federal Regulatory Agencies, including the FTC, EPA and FDA.
TRADE SECRETS
The lawyers at CASTAYBERT PLLC have in depth experience advising, prosecuting, and defending against claims of breach of confidentiality and trade secret misappropriation in state and federal courts and in the International Trade Court, both in the context of employee and competitor misappropriation and in import and export cases. The firm’s attorneys also have considerable experience invoking the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The litigators at CASTAYBERT PLLC have been successful in obtaining the injunctive relief, court ordered inspections and seizure and return of misappropriated business and scientific information, and they have successfully negotiated agreements to limit the scope of the activities of former employees.
LICENSING, DISTRIBUTION, AND MARKETING AGREEMENTS
The firm’s lawyers have significant experience advising clients about licensing, distribution, and royalty contracts, assignment of ownership rights, litigating and arbitrating the scope and meaning of different clauses in such licenses, including “best efforts” and satisfaction and approval clauses, for clients in a variety of different industries, including the pharmaceutical, fashion, toy, and computer industries.
EXPERIENCE WITH IP EXPERTS
The litigators at CASTAYBERT PLLC also have considerable knowledge and experience working with a variety of experts used in intellectual property litigation. These include chemists, engineers, physicists, and architects. They also include industry, marketing and other business experts to opine about industry custom and practice, licensing practices, marketing and consumer surveys. The litigators at CASTAYBERT PLLC also work closely with accounting and financial experts to calculate lost profits, royalties, and other damages. In the investigation and discovery phase of litigation, the firm’s litigators are experienced working with experts in e-mail and metadata collection and recovery experts, and, where appropriate, private investigators.
To learn more about how CASTAYBERT PLLC can assist you in intellectual property matters, please explore the related practice areas or contact us.
