Materials science developments and specialized manufacturing processes underpin many commercial products. Securing IP protection for innovations in these areas can put competitors at a significant disadvantage by forcing them to use inferior materials and/or manufacturing techniques. Pierce Atwood's IP attorneys help clients identify protectable innovations in these areas and guide them in selecting the best form of IP protection to meet their individual needs. Choosing the appropriate form of IP protection can be a pivotal decision point for a company, as it often involves deciding whether to seek patent protection for an innovation, which necessitates public disclosure of an otherwise unknown material or process, or to instead maintain the innovation as a trade secret. Our experienced IP attorneys provide our clients the valuable guidance they need to choose the best path.

From registration with the U.S. Copyright Office to content licensing, rights clearance, and open source software, our team of copyright attorneys counsels clients in the creative and technological economies on a broad range of copyright matters. Pierce Atwood's copyright clients, including software and software-as-a-service companies, designers of home fashions and consumer products, authors, publishers, film makers, and others, face copyright challenges on a daily basis and routinely look to us for creative and efficient solutions.

Pierce Atwood has extensive experience in structuring and negotiating a variety of copyright-related contracts, including license agreements, content distribution agreements, work-for-hire and assignment agreements, and publishing agreements. In partnership with our IP litigation attorneys, we have a proven track record of successfully representing clients involved in copyright litigation claims in federal and state courts, and using federal notice and take-down procedures to prevent copyright infringement on the internet.

Many modern-day businesses invest heavily in research and development and retain engineers of all sorts to solve day-to-day problems. Absent IP protection, the innovations resulting from those investments can be freely copied by competitors. We have assembled an impressive group of attorneys with specialized technical and legal training in the fields of electrical and mechanical engineering to help clients protect these types of innovations. Some of the most renowned technology leaders of our time have entrusted us with protecting their core assets. Below is a sampling of areas in which our attorneys have assisted clients in these disciplines:

• Consumer products
• Communications systems and networks
• Data storage systems
• Electrical automotive systems
• Electronic payment systems and networks
• Fitness monitoring
• Imaging technologies
• Integrated circuits
• Internet technologies
• Microelectromechanical structures (MEMS)
• Motors & generators
• Medical devices
• Optics
• Point-of-sale systems
• Power distribution/management
• Prepaid and stored value card processing
• Remote control systems
• Robotics
• Semiconductor technologies
• Speech-controlled devices
• Touch-screen devices

Pierce Atwood's team of biotechnology professionals provides advice and strategic counseling to biotechnology clients on patent portfolio development and prosecution, complex licensing transactions, sponsored research, research collaboration and material transfer agreements, as well as advice and counsel on general commercial and transactional work, mergers and acquisitions, complex financing transactions, and securities matters.

Our life sciences patent litigation attorneys have represented both inventors and alleged infringers in patent jury trials and have experience with cutting-edge patent matters involving technologies such as chemical compositions, embryonic stem cell and cloning technology.

Pierce Atwood's life sciences patent prosecution attorneys, many with advanced degrees, have prosecuted hundreds of patent applications directed toward diagnostic and therapeutic inventions, compositions and methods relating to gene therapy; novel proteins and nucleic acids; drug delivery compositions and methods; novel nucleic acid regulatory sequences; compositions and methods for modulating the immune response; techniques for the analysis of nucleic acids; and animal models for disease including transgenic and knockout models. We draw on our industrial and academic research experience in a wide array of disciplines, including molecular biology, neurobiology, cell biology, immunology, biochemistry, genetics, and chemical synthesis.

With technology and intellectual property rights at the center of many commercial transactions and the internet playing a critical role driving innovation and business growth, Pierce Atwood IP attorneys assist clients with a broad spectrum of transactions involving intellectual property assets, the internet, and commercialization and procurement of technologies and services. Our expertise includes patent, trademark and copyright licenses, software licenses, joint development agreements, sponsored research, research collaboration and material transfer agreements, online marketing and distribution agreements, and IT and business process outsourcing agreements. Most importantly, whether conducting IP due diligence or negotiating a license, Pierce Atwood helps clients get deals done.

We understand the pressures companies face to promote their products and services effectively and efficiently via traditional and digital channels, including social media. To support these efforts, our attorneys regularly counsel and assist companies with all aspects of marketing and advertising law across a wide range of industries.

Pierce Atwood marketing and advertising law attorneys are particularly well-positioned to advise on intellectual property ownership issues and all aspects of rights clearance, including rights of privacy, rights of publicity, copyright, music rights, trademark, and content licensing. We also have expertise advising clients on trademark and unfair competition issues arising out of search engine keyword advertising, such as Google’s AdWords program.

We regularly help companies navigate the complex and evolving regulatory framework regarding sweepstakes and contests, and their promotion via social media, including providing restructuring advice to ensure alternative free means of entry to avoid violation of state lottery laws and assistance with the registration and bonding process for sweepstakes in New York, Florida, and Rhode Island.

Visit our Advertising & Marketing practice page for more information.

By their nature, medical devices often include technologies that bridge technical disciplines from biology to data science to electronics to mechanics.  Pierce Atwood has attorneys with extensive technical training and experience across several of these disciplines, which enables them to “speak the language” of inventors and technical experts to adeptly handle matters relating to medical devices of all sorts. These attorneys regularly work with top-tier academic institutions and industry leaders to obtain valuable protection for their innovations. Below is a sampling of areas in which our attorneys have assisted clients with respect to medical devices.

• Artificial heart valves
• Automated external defibrillators
• Bioinformatics
• Cardiac assistive devices
• Diagnostics
• Electroencephalography & Magnetoencepholography
• Fluorescence histo-tomography
• Laser speckle contrast imaging
• Medical imaging
• Microfluidics
• Neurostimulation
• Quantum cascade laser microscopy

Domestic and international patent protection is a fundamental component of an effective business strategy for companies and institutions of all types and stages of growth. An effective and evolving patent strategy is critical for protecting and exploiting one's valuable intellectual property, especially as patent laws evolve and market conditions change. Pierce Atwood's Patent Law Group delivers results that are cost-effective and commercially significant, allowing clients to maximize revenue, market position, and shareholder value while retaining and growing their core assets.

Pierce Atwood's patent group includes seasoned patent attorneys, the majority of whom bring to bear practical industry experience coupled with advanced degrees in engineering and science. This unique combination allows our patent attorneys to understand each client's business considerations and goals, and provide practical advice tailored to their specific needs, opportunities, and challenges.

We obtain and file both U.S. and foreign patents for our clients, covering innovations that span the technological spectrum, including aerospace, biochemistry, biotechnology, business methods, chemistry, clean technology, computer science, electronics, lasers, mechanical, medical devices, nanotechnology, optics, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, semiconductor devices/processes, software, and telecommunications. We also prepare and prosecute patent applications internationally—under the Patent Cooperative Treaty and in working with a network of experienced patent lawyers around the world.

Areas of Focus

• Patent prosecution and portfolio development
• Patent litigation and dispute resolution
• Licensing, negotiating strategic alliances, and technology transfer
• Due diligence studies
• Opinions on infringement, validity, enforcement, inventorship, and freedom-to-operate

Whether arising out of trade secrets, personal data, or other sensitive confidential information, privacy and cybersecurity issues affect every business. And with the proliferation of information technologies and growth of the internet, these issues touch every part of an organization, including operations, customer service, finance, marketing/sales, HR, and IT.

To ensure that clients obtain the best practical advice on complex issues such as record retention, breach notification, privacy policies, information safeguarding, e-discovery, consumer identification and authentication, and other privacy and cybersecurity issues, we have assembled a cross-disciplinary team with both legal and industry expertise. As a result, we are able to combine our knowledge in the areas of intellectual property, technology, financial services, health care, employment, and litigation, with relevant expertise in privacy and data security issues to help clients solve problems and get deals done.

Visit our Privacy & Data Security practice area page for more information.

Many Pierce Atwood IP attorneys have a strong passion for robotics, and are well-versed in the wide range of technologies incorporated into modern robots including, but not limited to, machine vision, electronic control systems, electronic communication and networking, software including algorithms for machine learning and artificial intelligence, mechanical apparatus, hydraulics, power management, motion planning, safety systems, and sensing technologies. From discrete components, such as motors and sensors, to entire commercial robots, we represent several industry leaders in this field.

Computers and software touch nearly every aspect of our daily lives, and innovations in computer-related technologies have been emerging at an unprecedented rate. To meet our client’s needs, Pierce Atwood has built a strong contingent of software-savvy IP lawyers who regularly prepare and prosecute patent applications, and perform related counseling, for computer-related innovations. Below is a sampling of areas in which our attorneys have assisted clients with respect to this field.

• Blockchain
• Cloud computing
• Cryptography
• Cybersecurity
• Database management
• File sharing systems
• Image processing
• Internet conferencing
• Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence
• Natural language understanding
• Network communications
• Remote application and desktop delivery systems
• Speech recognition
• Speech synthesis
• Quantum computing

Whether managing an international trademark portfolio for a footwear and apparel company or counseling an individual designer with respect to trademark selection and clearance, Pierce Atwood's trademark attorneys provide practical, business-oriented advice. We understand the importance of knowing each client's business, and have industry experience in electronics and semiconductors, fashion and apparel, footwear, personal care products, software and software-as-a-service, consumer products, e-commerce, entertainment, and financial services.

Leveraging a network of highly skilled trademark agents and counsel around the world, Pierce Atwood's trademark team has the reach to deliver results that brand owners expect. Our expertise extends to a wide variety of trademark-related matters, including clearance, registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and abroad, sending and responding to cease and desist letters, licensing, and managing the unique risks presented by cybersquatting, keyword advertising, and other internet-enabled practices of concern to brand owners.

When business solutions are not available to resolve trademark disputes, Pierce Atwood's trademark attorneys partner closely with our experienced team of IP litigation attorneys to enforce and defend trademark rights in federal and state courts, in opposition and cancellation proceedings before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and in domain name disputes under the UDRP before ICANN-approved dispute resolution service providers.

Please visit our Trademark Practice Group page for more information.

Entrepreneurs turn to our Catalyst Program to get an idea off the ground, access funding sources, address basic legal requirements for running a business, and more. We welcome clients with creative ideas and disruptive new technologies. We tailor our legal services and advice according to your particular vision and near term objectives. Our Catalyst team members are experienced business advisers who know the challenges and triumphs that lie ahead of you, and how to prepare for them.

Jon Gelchinsky and Matt Stein discuss the importance of having trademark paperwork in order, because undoing the damage of not doing so can be costly.

Andrea Suter and Matt Stein share a cautionary tale of a company receiving less value in its acquisition due to unclear IP agreements.

Click here to learn more about how our Catalyst program can help your start-up or emerging business.