Overview
Copyrights and trademarks are often among a company’s most valuable assets. We offer clients effective counsel to prosecute and defend copyright infringement claims that can threaten their competitive position. Our lawyers appear before the U.S. Copyright Office and the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board—as well as in district courts across the country—to assist both plaintiffs and defendants in obtaining, protecting, and enforcing their intellectual property, and in negotiating favorable distribution and licensing arrangements. When litigation is necessary, our trial lawyers provide formidable representation to obtain jury verdicts, summary judgments, seizure orders, or injunctions for our clients.
We have significant experience in copyright and trademark litigation, which includes acting as lead counsel for Sharman Networks Limited—the owners of Kazaa, a peer-to-peer music and video sharing application—in its defense of the largest copyright infringement suit in the world at the time. Our lawyers successfully argued for application of the doctrine of copyright misuse in a case of first impression in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Clients also turn to McKool Smith for representation in false advertising litigation. We are well-versed in handling these complex and often sensitive issues before district courts, the Federal Trade Commission, and the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Because these cases often involve high-stakes emergency injunctive proceedings, our trial lawyers have developed the skills and protocols to successfully navigate temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction hearings.