Intellectual Property

The Intellectual Property Group represents and counsels clients on a broad range of intellectual property issues. Our experience includes helping clients establish strategies to protect intellectual property, negotiation of licenses and other intellectual property contracts, registration of rights, litigation and arbitration, and a number of related activities.

Our clients include creative individuals and companies in fields where intellectual property is central to their business. For example, our clients include companies in e-commerce, biotech, software publishing, web-based businesses and entertainment.

In addition, we provide intellectual property representation for companies in more traditional industries such as automotive, health care and banking. This representation includes protection of trademarks, service marks and domain names, as well as negotiation and litigation of rights in computer systems and other technologies necessary to run their enterprises.

We work closely with our clients to:

• Establish strategies for the protection of patent, trademark, service mark, copyright, trade secret, and other intellectual property rights
• Register trademarks, service marks and copyrights in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and U.S. Copyright Office
• Work with local counsel in Canada, Europe and throughout the world in coordinating the registration and protection of intellectual property requests
• Negotiate licenses of intellectual property (especially copyrights, trademarks, service marks and patents) representing both licensors and licensees
• Appear before the Trademark Trial and appeal board on behalf of clients whose trademarks or service marks have been denied registration
• Representation in arbitration and litigation of intellectual property disputes, especially those involving copyrights, trademarks, service marks and patents
• Serve as arbitrators and mediators in disputes involving intellectual property, especially copyrights, trademarks, service marks and patents
• Negotiate employment and executive contracts in industries where intellectual property is essential such as software, web-based businesses, biotech, technology, publishing and entertainment
• Negotiate the transfer of biotech, mechanical, web-based, software and other technologies from universities to the private sector
• Litigate intellectual property infringement cases, involving copyright, trademark, secure mark and domain name issues. Our intellectual property attorneys have appeared in cases throughout Michigan, as well as in California, New York, Illinois and Ohio
• Appeals of cases involving intellectual property. Our attorneys are experienced in all the Michigan Court of Appeals, Michigan Supreme Court, Federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Federal Court of Appeal

                Jeremy D. Bisdorf                  Lawrence R. Jordan *

                Peter M. Falkenstein              Joan H. Lowenstein

                  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AFFILIATE MEMBERS            

                Lee B. Kellert                        Richard Kruger

                Michael S Khoury                   Noam Y. Raz

  * Head of Practice Group