Find Lawyers in America for Litigation - Intellectual Property
Practice Area Overview
IP is protected by specific laws relating to patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets; these laws acknowledge an innovator’s ownership of his or her novel creation and give that innovator the exclusive right, for a defined period of time, to use and benefit from it.
Litigation of IP matters takes several forms. One involves patents, which cover inventions on designs and products, as well as the processes through which they are manufactured or used. Patent infringement refers to the unauthorized use of a patented invention, at which point litigation can arise. A “Hatch-Waxman” litigation is a particular kind of patent dispute involving generic versus brand pharmaceutical products and processes and infringement of the patent(s) covering these.
Trademarks and copyrights also can be infringed. A trademark can be a symbol, logo, word, sound, color, or name that identifies the source of a product and distinguishes it from that of others. Copyrights protect works of authorship, such as writings, music, and art. Copyrights and trademarks grant holders exclusive rights to use their works, and an unauthorized use can lead to litigation. Trade secrets are information that companies keep secret to give them an advantage over competitors. Misappropriation of trade secrets is a typical litigation scenario when such information is taken without authority.
Licensing disputes can arise that relate to any of these protections. A licensing agreement is essentially a contract between an IP rights owner and an entity authorized to use such rights, usually in exchange for an agreed upon fee or royalty. The extent to which parties do or do not follow the terms of that contract often engenders this type of litigation.
Other kinds of IP litigation can include variations of the above, including trademark dilution, “cybersquatting,” pirated and “knock-off” commercial goods, domain name disputes, domestic and foreign customs seizures, and unfair competition.
IP assets are a valuable foundation of any successful venture, so when unauthorized use occurs, disputes are bound to arise.
Select a location from the list below to find the best legal talent for your needs.
State
Shri Abhyankar is an experienced patent litigator focused on helping his clients resolve disputes in an efficient and effective way. Registered to practice before the USPTO, he has litigated IP disputes in courts around the United States, covering an array of technical disciplines, including pharmaceuticals, software, and mechanical devices. He works with his clients to devise creative solutions to their problems. A partner in Alston & Bird’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group, ...
Ron uses his unique experience to provide the best business solutions to BG Law clients. Over the past two decades, he has counseled small and start-up companies on intellectual property matters, including trademark protection, and he has litigated numerous trademark and trade secret cases. Ron also represents trustees in major bankruptcy cases. For 15 years, Ron was the CFO of his own corporation. He has served as a volunteer arbitrator for the California State Bar Mandatory Fee Arbitration ...
Steve Abreu takes a pragmatic approach to trademark clearance, registration and enforcement to help a wide range of enterprises meet their intellectual property protection and business goals. Steve’s clients are varied and include renowned institutions of higher learning, consumer and medical product companies, and specialty magazines. He also represents well-known manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology products. Steve’s strategic outlook on trademark and copyright pro...
Wes Achey is a member of Alston & Bird’s Intellectual Property Litigation Team. Wes’s practice includes all areas of intellectual property litigation and counseling, with a particular emphasis on patent litigation and enforcement. He has represented clients in patent infringement lawsuits in federal district courts across the United States, including cases involving telecommunications, computer software and various mechanical devices. He is a member of the Georgia Bar and is a...
Household names in the technology and entertainment sectors and famous brands in all areas of consumer products and services rely on Kristin as an advocate and trusted advisor on IP, general advertising and competition issues. She has counseled multinational clients in multiple high-profile disputes involving novel ecommerce issues. She also gives strategic advice to clients on exploiting their copyrights and trademarks over social media, and on how to best protect their IP rights in software...
Eric Acker is a partner and trial lawyer in the firm’s Intellectual Property Group. Mr. Acker has tried more than 50 trials (including more than 47 jury trials) in courtrooms across the country. Mr. Acker’s recent trials have involved a variety of technologies and significant legal issues. In the high-profile SCO v. Novell case, following a three-week trial, the jury affirmed our client Novell’s ownership of the copyrights to the UNIX software code and rejected SCO’s c...
Amir Alavi handles complex commercial litigation throughout the world with a particular focus on intellectual property cases. IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Professionals describes him as an “unflappable advocate that you can greenlight for a billion-dollar case with 100% confidence,” and a “judicious strategist” with an “acute sense of how to present a damages case.” He’s been recognized for his intellectual property work by...
Alan Albert is a nationally-honored trial lawyer who has represented clients from Muhammad Ali to multinational corporations in a broad array of commercial disputes, white-collar criminal investigations and prosecutions, intellectual property litigation and other governmental and regulatory matters. Mr. Albert has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America continuously for the past 20 years, and is one of a small number of lawyers in the country to be recognized by Best Lawyers in six dis...
Mike Allen dedicates his practice to protecting clients’ rights and assets, including their contract rights, intellectual property rights, shareholder rights, and estate rights. His rare blend of experience in negotiating, contracting, counseling, and litigation helps him provide meaningful insight to clients at all stages of their business relationships. Mike’s goal is to protect client interests without the need for litigation, but with more than 35 years of dispute resolution e...
Named the 2012 Young Baylor Lawyer of the Year by Baylor Law School, Vincent Allen offers clients a background that is rarely seen among attorneys. He combines technical degrees in aviation and electrical engineering to provide clients with knowledgeable, effective, and efficient legal representation. Mr. Allen focuses his practice on intellectual property law and aviation law. He is responsible for rendering opinions, prosecuting patent and trademark applications, negotiating license agreeme...
Ramsey Al-Salam focuses on intellectual property litigation, with a particular emphasis on patent litigation. He has been lead counsel for large and small clients in cases throughout the country. He works hard to ensure that he understands his clients' goals, and pursues them in an efficient and effective manner. Publications such as Chambers USA (Band One), Best Lawyers in America and Washington Super Lawyers have repeatedly listed him as a leading practitioner in his field. Best Lawyers, fo...
Mr. Amburn concentrates his practice on intellectual property protection and litigation. He prepares and prosecutes patent and trademark applications, drafts intellectual property opinions and agreements, and counsels clients in obtaining and enforcing intellectual property rights. He works on a wide variety of technologies including mechanical, software, and business methods. Mr. Amburn has over fourteen years of litigation experience including first chair jury trial, mediation, arbitration,...
Demetrios Anaipakos is widely considered to be one of the country’s top civil trial lawyers, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in patent and complex commercial litigation for nearly three decades. Among his many high-profile victories, Mr. Anaipakos helped a client obtain, and collect, one of the largest patent judgments in the history of the United States; won jury trials against some of the largest technology companies in the world; and has architected dozens of successful i...
Mr. Anderson is a nationally recognized trial lawyer with 37 years of experience at Winston & Strawn LLP. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers who has tried many cases to verdict before federal and state courts and who has has argued many times before federal and state courts of appeal, including two arguments before the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Anderson served for many years as the General Counsel and Member of the Executive Committee of Winston & Strawn LLP.
Michael D. Anderson is a seasoned trial attorney and co-chairs Kelly Hart’s Litigation Section. With over 22 years of legal practice, Mr. Anderson has navigated a diverse array of high-stakes litigation cases. His extensive trial experience encompasses cases involving breach of contract, breach of warranty, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference, trade secret theft, and fraud.
Frank’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation. Frank has successfully tried patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright cases in Federal Courts nationwide, the Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Federal Circuits, and the International Trade Commission. As a registered patent attorney, Frank is authorized to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Frank has been lead counsel for a wide variety of clients, from individuals to major corporations, in intellec...
James E. Arnold is recognized as one of Ohio's top trial lawyers. He was recognized by Best Lawyers as Central Ohio's "Securities Litigation Lawyer of the Year" in 2012, as the "Bet-The-Company Litigation Lawyer of the Year" in 2013, and as the "Intellectual Property Litigation Lawyer of the Year" in 2014. Since 2001 he has consistently been recognized by Best Lawyers in multiple fields, including bet-the-company, personal injury (plaintiffs and defense), commercial, intellectual property and...
Greg Arovas has established a reputation as one of the top intellectual property litigation lawyers in New York. Greg has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in numerous high-profile patent and trade secret litigations, including cases for high-technology clients such as Intel, IBM, Samsung, Sony, Xerox, Lucent, Agere, Oracle, Siemens, Infineon, Xilinx, and KCI. Greg has tried numerous District Court and ITC cases to verdict involving a wide range of computer, software, communications ...
John S. Artz, a partner with Dickinson Wright PLLC has more than twenty-five years of experience and practices in all areas of intellectual property litigation. He also has extensive experience with the acquisition, management, and prosecution of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret assets. He serves and has served as lead counsel for many companies in federal courts across the country, including the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. John also has served as lead counsel in 25+ IPRs ...
Mr. Atkins is the leader of Pillsbury’s Intellectual Property Litigation team. He is a trial and appellate lawyer with 20 years of experience. He is a registered patent attorney who personally handles all of his cases and has won jury verdicts on both sides of the courtroom. Recent victories include (1) getting two university co-inventors added onto two NIH cancer drug patents with annual sales of approximately $2B, (2) an infringement jury verdict for a consumer product against a major...
Dan Attridge has practiced in Kirkland's Washington, D.C., office since 1980 and served as the managing partner of the Washington, D.C., office from 1998 to 2013. He is a very experienced trial and appellate lawyer who has litigated cases before federal and state courts, administrative agencies, and arbitration panels throughout the United States. His cases have involved a wide range of industries and practice areas, including intellectual property; antitrust and unfair competition; commercia...
A.J. Bahou is Bradley's Artificial Intelligence (AI) practice leader and an intellectual property attorney who focuses on the intersection of law and technology. A registered patent attorney, trial lawyer, mediator and arbitrator, he has extensive experience in the areas of electrical and computer engineering technologies, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, medical devices, computer hardware, blockchain, software, and internet security systems. With 20+ years of experience, A...
Jennifer S. Baldocchi is Co-Vice Chair of the Paul Hastings Employment Department and the Chair of the International Employee Mobility and Trade Secrets practice. Her practice focuses on employee mobility and intellectual property, including trade secrets, covenants not to compete, unfair competition, and fiduciary duties. She is ranked by Chambers USA, recognized by The Legal 500 US for trade secrets litigation and non-contentious matters, and recognized as both a Top Labor and Employment La...
Ian Ballon is an intellectual property and Internet litigator who represents clients in copyright, DMCA, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity, privacy, security, software, database and Internet disputes and in the defense of data privacy, behavioral advertising and other Internet-related class action suits. Mr. Ballon, who splits his time between the firm's Silicon Valley and LA offices, is the author of the four-volume legal treatise, E-Commerce and Internet Law: Treatise With Forms 2...
Bill Barber has devoted his legal career to the field of trademark law, focusing primarily on trademark litigation and policing, handling cases in federal courts across the U.S. and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Experienced in all aspects of litigation, including jury and bench trials as well as appeals, Bill also handles domain name disputes through ICANN’s domain name dispute resolution policies. He regularly assists clients with a wide range of trademark needs, includi...
In the course of your career, you will likely face at least one legal dispute that you can't afford to lose but can't resolve without expert help. To manage the risk successfully, you will need to partner with someone who has the necessary experience, skill, and resources. Many people in your position seek to engage me to do just that. Read on to see why. Trial counsel People who should know have described me as an "incredibly gifted lawyer" (Chambers and Partners) who is "magic in the courtr...
Jeff Barron resolves complicated intellectual property disputes. Jeff thrives when challenged with scenarios that seem impossible or that are at the cutting edge of technology and the law. Jeff’s dedication to being prepared gives him and his clients great flexibility when navigating the unexpected waters of high-stakes litigation and complex IP disputes. With clients that include startups and Fortune 100 companies, Jeff’s nationwide IP practice is focused on defending and prosecu...
Ross Barton is a trial lawyer focusing his practice on the litigation of complex patent disputes before district courts and the International Trade Commission (ITC). With a background in Physics and a deep understanding of mobile technologies, semiconductors, and software and hardware programming languages, Ross has spent the last decade taking high-stakes cases in the high-tech sector to trial. He previously taught patent litigation courses as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Virgin...
Ilan Barzilay is an intellectual property practitioner specializing in obtaining and enforcing patent rights. Ilan leads a team of attorneys that procures patents for clients ranging from technology startups and research institutions to established companies and multinational corporations. He is a trusted advisor to clients seeking meaningful patent protection crafted to align with important business goals. His practice also includes handling contentious matters in the federal courts and befo...
Sam Baxter is a principal in McKool Smith's Marshall and Dallas offices. He is a former Texas state district judge and district attorney for Harrison County, Texas. Few people know the Eastern District of Texas—an important venue in intellectual property litigation—as well as Sam does. His unique ability to connect with jurors and skillfully cross-examine witnesses has helped him secure significant verdicts for clients. Four of these victories have been recognized in The National ...
Olivier A. Beabeau leads the firm’s business litigation and intellectual property practice groups. Olivier’s practice focuses on complex civil litigation at the trial and appellate level, alternative dispute resolution through arbitration and mediation, and trademark and copyright protection in the United States and abroad. He has significant experience litigating high-stakes partnership disputes, contract disputes, securities fraud, residential construction fraud, unfair competit...
Mr. Beavers' practice focuses on counseling corporate clients regarding the protection and management of their intellectual property assets, especially patents and trademarks, both in the United States and internationally. Mr. Beavers has 30 years experience in the practice of intellectual property law. He served as General Counsel to Gibson Guitar Corp. from 1995 to 1997. He has filed and prosecuted over one thousand patents in the mechanical arts. Mr. Beavers' current practice is heavily fo...
David J. Beck is consistently recognized as one of our country’s best trial lawyers. This recognition has grown from the consistent results he has achieved for his clients in his more than forty years of practice. From the smallest disputes to the billion dollar cases, David understands the importance of each case to his client, and he approaches each with the same intensity and integrity that has served him - and his clients - so well for so long. For David Beck, every case is a story ...
Olivia is an intellectual property litigator who represents individuals and corporations across the country in complex technological matters. She helps clients protect, enforce, and defend intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets, copyrights and trademarks. An experienced trial lawyer, Olivia has litigated and tried significant cases before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and other federal courts around the country, and has also briefed and ...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.