Intellectual Property

Our IP Law Difference

Our bench strength in intellectual property law, coupled with extensive experience in the field, allows us to tackle even the most complex issues by maximizing opportunities and revenue for our clients while minimizing the risk of competitive threats. Drawing on the firm’s full resources, we provide clients with innovative intellectual property strategies that help them leverage what is perhaps their most valuable asset ― intellectual capital.

The industries we serve are broad and include:

• Hardware & Software
• Research & Development
• Financial Services
• Gaming
• Tech
• Manufacturing
• Space Exploration

Patents – U.S. & Worldwide

Our IP team successfully represents clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in numerous technical fields related to obtaining and maintaining patent rights. We counsel clients — from independent inventors, startup companies, universities, and Fortune-rated corporations — in virtually every phase of the patent process, from patent searches to patent preparation and filing.

Patent services include:

• Patent clearance
• U.S. patent preparation and prosecution before the USPTO
• Preparation and prosecution of applications in foreign patent offices
• U.S. preparation and prosecution of designs
• Preparation and prosecution of designs in foreign patent offices
• Management of patent portfolios in the U.S. and worldwide
• Ideation and other patent counseling to harvest and mine IP assets

Trademarks, Domain Names, & Copyrights

Walter Haverfield focuses on helping companies develop, manage, and protect some of their most valuable assets —trademarks, domain names, and copyrights.

Services include:

• Trademark clearance both in the U.S. and worldwide
• Preparation and prosecution of trademark applications before the USPTO
• Preparation and prosecution of trademarks in foreign trademark offices
• Management of trademark portfolios both in the U.S. and worldwide
• Clearance of domain names
• Obtaining domain names and crafting URL terms of use
• Worldwide trademark and domain name monitoring
• Obtaining copyright protection and enforcement of copyrights

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets are often very valuable assets of a business and should be protected against willful or inadvertent disclosure. We can assist you in protecting such assets, which are often not protected by patents and copyrights, and include customer lists, manufacturing methods, financial plans, formulas, formulations, software programs, and business plans.

Trade secret services include:

• Preparation of procedures for protecting trade secrets
• Preparation of contracts with employees, consultants, agents, and vendors to protect trade secrets

IP Litigation

Our IP litigators successfully represent clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Federal District Courts, and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. We are committed to protecting our clients against would-be competitors, leveraging their competitive advantage and challenging the validity related to a competitor’s IP rights to ward off unfair threats.

IP litigation representation includes:

• Enforcing patent rights in U.S. federal courts
• Defending against alleged infringement of U.S. patents in U.S. federal courts
• Protecting patent and trademark rights at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to block the importation of goods infringing on U.S. trademark registrations and copyrights
• Filing complaints with the International Trade Commission seeking orders to block the importation of goods infringing on U.S. patents
• Enforcing trademark rights in U.S. federal courts
• Enforcing copyrights in U.S. federal courts
• Protecting trade secrets in state courts and U.S. federal courts
• Reexamining patents before the USPTO
• Cancelling trademark registrations before the USPTO
• Reviewing inter-parties and post-grants to challenge the validity of patents before the USPTO

Business-Related IP Services

Walter Haverfield has a rich legacy of supporting and counseling entrepreneurs and startups by providing the resources they need to grow and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace. Nowhere else within our firm is such entrepreneurial spirit more evident than in our IP practice group, where we help guide strategies to convert great ideas into a great business.

Business-related IP services include:

• Business formation concerning patent, trademark, and other IP matters/assets
• Negotiation and preparation of patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright licenses
• Preparation of assignments of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and other business-related rights
• Mergers and acquisitions concerning IP assets
• General intellectual property and technology valuation
• Legal compliance during the development and management of various digital assets (including e-commerce and mobile applications)
• Website and mobile application (app) privacy policies
• Software licensing and development agreements
• Franchise licensing and compliance