Intellectual Property

The Firm has a premier intellectual property practice, representing institutional and individual clients in a wide variety of copyright, trademark, technology, licensing, defamation, invasion of privacy and unfair competition matters. We assist clients in developing programs to protect trade secrets through the use of confidentiality, non-disclosure and non-compete agreements. We counsel clients on preventing trade secret liability for themselves, particularly when hiring employees from competitors. We can help implement or oversee a comprehensive program for managing intellectual property, including identifying, documenting, centralizing, protecting and promoting all forms of intellectual property.

We have experience with book, motion picture, television, music, archives and art transactions, as well as a broad array of licensing, joint ownership and other agreements involving intellectual property. We represent universities and colleges, publishers and authors, Indian nations and pueblos, museums, foundations, musicians, artists, high-tech companies and governmental entities in handling works from software programs to architecture and class materials to technological know-how.

The Firm has a broad trademark practice, efficiently handling both routine and difficult types of trademark clearance searching and registration. The Firm also has extensive experience in licensing, enforcement and litigation, and can ably assist in drafting and negotiating intellectual property licenses.

Our intellectual property litigation practice includes copyright, trade name and trademark matters, deceptive trade practices, unfair competition and trade secret misappropriation, and breach of contract disputes involving intellectual property rights.

  • Our lawyers represented national pharmaceuticals and medical device manufacturers in patent infringement and invention ownership litigation involving medical devices. We represented a state university in the formation of a University Research Park Act corporation for research commercialization and the negotiation of contracts with customers and vendors, as well as negotiated technology licenses, manufacturing agreements and other agreements for both university and private sector clients.
  • We represented one of the world’s leading cosmetics firms in trademark and unfair competition litigation, and our intellectual property cases have resulted in reported cases as far back as the landmark Jordache Enterprises, Inc. v. Hogg Wyld, Ltd, 625 F. Supp. 48 (D.N.M. 1985), aff’d, 828 F.2d 1482 (10th Cir. 1987) and The Value House v. Phillips Mercantile Co., 523 F.2d 424 (10th Cir. 1975).
  • We regularly handle preliminary injunction proceedings, contested matters before the United States Patent & Trademark Office and domain name disputes under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.
  • We represent both large and small clients in handling their trademark portfolios, including clearance searching and opinions, state and federal registration, and enforcement matters.
  • We audited for a college the agreements used in its film program, and modified or prepared new agreements where necessary.
  • We regularly advise producers, directors, composers, screenwriters, and authors about option agreements and film production documents. We represent music producers with respect to both trademark and copyright issues.

“Sutin, Thayer & Browne is a professional, ethical and knowledgeable firm.”

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