Law 360
Diamond McCarthy Partner Matthew K. Blackburn was recently quoted in Law360’s ” 5 Texas Supreme Court Cases to Watch ” article on a well-known, attention-grabbing Texas Intellectual Property case.
The State is currently considering whether to permit discovery of communications between clients and their patent agents, non-attorneys who are registered with the U.S. Patent Office to provide patent-related services. This ground-breaking case will determine whether Texas state law extends the attorney-client privilege (or some other privilege) to protect such communications, and national and international eyes of intellectual property groups are eagerly awaiting the final decision.
With extensive experience as an intellectual property litigator, Law360 sought out Matthew K. Blackburn for valued comment on the case, including a prediction on the result. Blackburn states that the case would be very significant if Texas opts to extend the attorney-client privilege to non-attorney patent agents. This could open the door to a flood of similar privilege claims from other non-attorneys (e.g., accountants and investment bankers) seeking to shield their own client communications.
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Related Practices
- Intellectual Property