Overview
Technology drives our economy. Acquisition and protection of intellectual property are critical to success in this technological economy. Intellectual property is crucial throughout a company's life cycle. In the early stages of its growth, intellectual property often serves as a basis upon which a company attracts capital. As businesses mature, intellectual property enables them to carve out niches, protect markets, launch new product lines, and form strategic partnerships.

Our Clients
We have a proven track record representing emerging, technology-driven companies. We also represent the individuals and institutions that founded these companies, and the venture capitalists who finance them.

Our Practice
Nutter's multidisciplinary Intellectual Property group consists of attorneys and technical specialists who provide a broad range of legal counseling and litigation services. Our clients have ready-access to everything that technology-dependent companies need to protect and exploit their IP assets.

Patent protection

To help our clients enforce and protect patent rights we:

• Develop strategies for identifying, establishing, protecting, preserving, and enforcing these rights
• Prepare and prosecute U.S. and foreign patent applications over a wide spectrum of technologies, including:
• biotechnology
• medical devices and instrumentation
• computer hardware and architecture
• computer networks
• chemicals and pharmaceuticals
• digital and analog circuitry
• electrical and electronic components
• Internet technology and business methods
• genomics
• software
• telecommunications
• polymers and advanced materials
• automotive technology
• Exploit patents and other intellectual property licensing
• Enforce patents against infringers
• Defend against assertions of infringement
• Advise and represent clients in litigation before federal courts and administrative agencies, including the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Trademark protection

Effective trademark development, preservation, and protection strategies distinguish a company, and its products and services, from competitors. Nutter's lawyers:

• Evaluate the corporate trademark policies and educate management on the proper use of trademarks
• Create and implement programs to identify and develop trademarks
• Conduct searches to evaluate the strength and registrability of potential marks
• Prepare file, and prosecute trademark applications in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and similar agencies worldwide

Trade secrets protection

We advise and educate management and key employees on strategies for preserving and protecting confidential and proprietary information, including trade secrets and technological knowledge, by:

• Evaluating existing trade secrets policies and employee agreements
• Preparing and implementing trade secret protection policies and underlying employee agreements
• Pursuing litigation strategies addressing trade secret issues
• Advising clients on issues particular to trade secret conflicts in court

Copyright protection

In order to help clients exploit copyrights, both domestically and internationally, we:

• Advise on compliance with Copyright Office practices and procedures
• Monitor and enforce their copyrights
• Negotiate licenses necessary to their growth and success
• Adapt and apply copyright protections in Cyberspace
• Defend copyrights in court
• Identify and manage the tax consequences of transactions involving copyrights

Our attorneys and technical specialists are:

• Expert in the federal and state laws that protect intellectual property, such as the federal patent, trademark, and copyright statutes, and trade secret and unfair competition laws
• Experienced in administrative procedures that are unique to intellectual property assets, including patent interferences and trademark oppositions
• Experienced in litigating patent, trademark, and copyright disputes, as well as unfair practices, employment and confidentiality agreements, including non-competition and non-disclosure covenants

Chairs, Patent Group: William C. Geary III and Thomas J. Engellenner
Chair, Trademark and Copyright Group: Peter Nils Baylor 
Chair, Intellectual Property Litigation: Daniel J. Gleason