Preti Flaherty’s Intellectual Property Group works with clients to develop creative and cost-effective strategies for securing, maintaining, exploiting, and enforcing intellectual property rights in patents, trademarks, copyrights, know-how and trade secrets in the United States and throughout the world. Our goal is to help clients make sensible decisions on intellectual property issues based on a solid understanding of those issues and their business implications. Our goal is two-fold: to provide businesses with a competitive edge and to monetize exploitable IP assets.

Our clients range from multinational corporations to small businesses, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits. We understand that intellectual property issues must be viewed in the context of where the client is now and where the client wants to go. We have extensive experience in finding solutions appropriate to a wide variety of client needs.

Patents
Patents provide exclusive rights in new processes or technologies. Our group can successfully guide clients through the thicket of patentability searches and the preparation and filing of patent applications.  We also advise clients on avoiding infringement of patents held by others.  We believe that patentable inventions are sometimes uncovered assets that can add real value to a business enterprise.

Trademarks
Trademarks are source identifiers which act as a connection between business and consumers or customers. For some clients, we manage established trademark portfolios. For others, we develop trademark portfolios, and expanding coverage as appropriate to protect the client’s future operations.

Copyright
Any creative expression may be protected by copyright in order to prevent others from using the fruits of creativity. We represent designers, authors, program producers and others to assist in maximizing the value of their creative output and preventing others from using it without permission.

Licensing
We help to ensure that intellectual property rights (including trade secrets and know-how) are honored by drafting appropriate development, confidentiality, and employment agreements. For many, we draft and negotiate a wide variety of agreements to license, publish, and distribute clients’ intellectual property. When necessary, we have cleared the way for clients’ operations at home and abroad through negotiation with and litigation against owners of conflicting rights.

Litigation
Preti Flaherty’s Intellectual Property Group has substantial litigation experience before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Federal courts, and, in association with foreign counsel, foreign courts and Trademark Offices. We recognize that most clients do not view litigation as a profit center, and make every effort to obtain a satisfactory resolution of disputes short of litigation. There are, however, circumstances in which litigation is the only way to protect a client’s interests. When such circumstances arise, the Intellectual Property Group works with clients to develop litigation strategies designed to secure the desired result as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. Our track record in intellectual property litigation is excellent.

In all of its work, the Intellectual Property Group puts the client’s interests first. We take an enthusiastic interest in each client’s goals and operations and look on each client as an opportunity to provide the best possible assistance over the long term. We consider ourselves part of our client’s business.