Find Lawyers in Washington, United States 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.
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...
Tim Billick is an intellectual property attorney based in Seattle, Washington. The founder of TBillick Law PLLC, Mr. Billick handles a diverse range of intellectual property disputes involving business litigation, entertainment contracts, information technology, patents and trademarks. A natural problem solver, he serves clients throughout the Seattle metropolitan area and is committed to helping individuals protect their creations. Mr. Billick advises clients on intellectual property subject...
Based in Seattle, Susman Godfrey partner, Rachel Black, focuses her practice on high-stakes commercial litigation for plaintiffs and defendants, both at the trial and appellate levels. Ms. Black has tried and managed high profile, high stakes, and widely covered matters in state and federal courts across the country involving a variety of claims, including patent infringement, audit malpractice, financial fraud, unfair business practices, environmental remediation, breach of contract, and ant...
Tom Boeder has more than 25 years' experience as a commercial litigator. His practice includes cases involving antitrust, antitrust clearance for mergers and acquisitions, class actions, consumer product liability and consumer protection litigation, and intellectual property litigation. A former deputy attorney general and chief of Antitrust, Consumer Protection and Criminal Law Enforcement in the Washington State Attorney General's Office, Tom has worked on a number of significant cases over...
David Burman, a partner in the firm's Commercial Litigation practice, has more than 30 years of experience in litigation, including antitrust, appellate, class action, consumer protection, constitutional, media, patent and intellectual property, privacy, and other cases. He also counsels clients in these and other areas. He has worked on many high-profile cases, including two U.S. Supreme Court arguments, the trial contesting the 2004 Washington State Governor's election, Costco Wholesale Cor...
BACKGROUND Kevin Costanza specializes in mechanical patent prosecution, trademark clearance and registration, and intellectual property licensing. He received a B.S. in Engineering from the University of California at Irvine in 1990, concentrating in mechanical engineering and material sciences. He received his J.D. (cum laude) from Seattle University School of Law in 1995. EXPERIENCE After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Kevin worked as an engineer with the Irvine, California office o...
John Denkenberger is the managing member of COJK, a member of the firm's executive committee, and chair of the litigation practice group. John has successfully litigated patent, trademark, trade secret, and unfair business competition issues in federal and state courts. He has also successfully litigated AIA post-grant challenges, including inter partes review, before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. In addition to his litigation practice, John also advises clients on foreign and domestic p...
Susan Fahringer is a partner in the firm's Commercial Litigation group with over 20 years' experience in privacy and security litigation , intellectual property litigation (with a focus on trade secret and copyright litigation), consumer class action defense and complex commercial litigation. In her privacy and security work, Susan defends companies against individual and class action claims alleging user data and privacy violations, and she defends companies against investigations and suits ...
Tyler is regularly identified among the top commercial trial lawyers in the state. Best Lawyers in America , Chambers USA, Super Lawyers, and Benchmark Litigation. For 2021, Best Lawyers has recognized Tyler for commercial litigation, appellate practice, and intellectual property litigation. In its 2020 edition, Chambers USA touted Tyler's trial experience and wrote that he "is a popular choice for bet the company litigation." Benchmark Litigation has observed that: "On the younger end of the...
Susan Foster, a partner in the firm's Litigation practice, focuses her practice on antitrust and trade regulation counseling and litigation as well as intellectual property, advertising and other complex business and financial litigation. In her counseling practice Susan assists clients with a full range of antitrust and marketing issues including distribution counseling, advertising and promotion issues, strategic alliances and Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification matters. Her clients en...
BACKGROUND Russ specializes in trademark and technology law, including strategic trademark and copyright counseling, internet policy, unfair competition, domain name strategy and disputes, trademark prosecution and maintenance, licensing, enforcement and litigation. He received his AB in Psychology from Stanford University and his JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. EXPERIENCE Russ has been an intellectual property attorney for over 20 years with 14 years of in-...
Paul Parker focuses his practice on semiconductor technologies and emerging medical device companies. In the semiconductor industry, Paul has extensive experience in general semiconductor and LED fabrication and process patents (CMP, CVD, ALD, lithography, and electrochemical deposition/polishing, etc.); probing/testing technologies (scatterometry, overlay measurements, photoluminescence, probe cards, test jigs, etc.); semiconductor structures and integration flows; semiconductor device and C...
Will Rava focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation involving trademarks, trade dress, domain names, copyrights and trade secrets. He has successfully litigated such disputes in federal courts across the country, before arbitration panels under the UDRP and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Will also has extensive experience counseling clients in a variety of industries on intellectual property and brand protection strategies, including securing, policing, investigat...
John Wechkin focuses his practice on strategic patent preparation, prosecution and associated counseling over a wide range of technologies, with concentrations in semiconductor and LED processing, cleantech, aerospace, medical devices and other mechanical technologies. John counsels clients on domestic and international patent portfolio planning, portfolio analysis, and patent evaluations, including patent infringement and validity analyses. His practice also includes litigation support, lice...
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