Diamond McCarthy’s clients seek support with their most challenging IP litigation, from startups and mid-sized companies facing existential threats from infringing competitors to industry-leaders seeking to protect the product markets that they have pioneered. Our attorneys are experienced in litigating patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, as well as related unfair competition litigation. With offices in New York, Texas, and California, we serve domestic and international clients across the country. The Diamond McCarthy team adapts strategies and tailors its advice to account for unique challenges in the age of ever-changing technological innovation.
Patent Litigation
Patent litigation is a high-stakes endeavor, which requires a unique combination of legal advocacy skills and technological savvy. As part of a national litigation boutique, our intellectual property group is built from the ground up to provide the highest level of patent litigation representation.
Our accomplished patent lawyers have strong technical skills with decades of experience, and are backed by litigators and senior trial attorneys. We thoroughly study clients’ technology and patented subject matter in order to present even the most complex topics to the judge and jury simply and accurately. Our clients work directly with the entire team from the most-experienced partners to junior associates and paralegals. We have guided clients to positive litigation outcomes across the gamut of cutting-edge technologies and products from chemicals, consumer products, biotech, and software to pharmaceuticals, medical devices, semiconductors, and more.
In addition to helping clients before courts across the country, we also are well versed in petitioner and patent owner strategies contested validity proceedings before the USPTO such as inter parties reviews and post-grant review proceedings.
IP Rights Commercial Disputes
We represent clients in a full range of IP-related commercial disputes. Because of the importance of IP rights to so many businesses, technology companies frequently enter into exclusive and non-exclusive licenses, covenants not to compete, option agreements, joint venture agreements, non-solicitation agreements, and technology supply agreements. Unfortunately, not all of these business relationships turn out as hoped for. Consequently, IP-related disputes are quite common. Diamond McCarthy’s reputation for excellence in IP law enables us to help clients address these disputes through crafting new legal agreements that redefine the parties’ relationship, negotiating resolution of the dispute, or, when necessary, litigating breach of contract, unfair competition and other commercial claims in court.
Trade Secret Litigation
Trade secrets, whether in the form of chemical formulas, product development information, customer lists, pricing information, can represent some of the most valuable corporate assets. As patent enforcement has become more difficult and more expensive, trade secrets are growing even more important. When those assets are misappropriated, when covenants not to compete or confidentiality agreements are not honored, and when corporations engage in espionage or unfair competition, the very existence of technology companies may be threatened. Diamond McCarthy’s capabilities in trade secret litigation sit at the intersection of a strong knowledge of technology and decades of experience tackling complex business disputes where misappropriation and wrongdoing played a significant role. The enactment of the Defend Trade Secrets Act in 2016 and Uniform Trade Secrets Act (USTA) has created opportunities for national enforcement of these important IP rights. Diamond McCarthy’s trial lawyers have successfully pursued and defended claims on behalf of our trade secret clients, including prevailing in preliminary injunctions. In addition, our attorneys have been brought in for pre-litigation work such as negotiating confidentiality, employment, and non-compete agreements and counseling clients on protecting trade secrets.
Copyright Litigation
Technology continues to make copying and distribution of books, movies, music, software and other copyrightable works easier and less costly, and often raises legal issues of first impression. Thoughtful consideration of complex issues is required, including scope of copyright protection for software, open source agreements, DMCA safe harbors, secondary liability, first sale, copyright misuse, and fair use. Diamond McCarthy has a strong track record in copyright infringement litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants, and also regularly provides pre-litigation counseling to creators and copyright holders in the music, film, visual arts, architecture, and fashion spaces.
Trademark and Trade Dress Litigation
We have extensive experience enforcing and defending clients’ trademark and trade dress rights, ranging from misuse and wrongful advantage, mitigating marketplace confusion, to facing infringement claims. Lanham Act claims for trademark infringement go to the essence of unfair commercial competition. Diamond McCarthy’s business acumen and legal knowledge developed over decades of representing clients enables our IP team to both effectively try the case before a judge/jury or to craft a creative business resolution that properly addresses potential customer confusion and erosion of brand rights.
Strategic Counseling and Corporate Asset Recoveries
Diamond McCarthy provides clients with general IP counseling to manage risk (through validity, infringement studies and freedom to operate opinions), evaluate and resolve competing IP ownership claims, monetize IP without litigation, and provide strategic guidance on IP issues (e.g. when businesses dissolve or restructure). Diamond McCarthy’s IP services also represent one of the cornerstones of the firm’s Corporate Asset Affirmative Recoveries initiative, which focuses on helping legal departments protect their valuable business assets, supply chains, revenue streams and market position, and to manage underperforming business relationships.