Intellectual Property

Our clients range in size and include individual inventors, nascent startups, closely held small businesses, and established market competitors. No matter the size or scope of your intellectual property portfolio (or your adversary’s), we have the extensive experience necessary to extract maximum value for your ideas and to successfully preserve your position in the marketplace.

Consistent with the firm’s mission to work tirelessly to protect its clients’ rights, Berger Montague is proud to offer contingent fee and other creative fee arrangements to ensure access to justice for clients that could not otherwise afford to engage in complex intellectual property litigation.

AREAS OF IP LITIGATION EXPERTISE

Patent Litigation: Berger Montague’s Intellectual Property Department is experienced in litigating complex patent disputes involving a diverse range of industries and technologies. We handle claims of patent infringement on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants, passionately pursuing our clients’ rights whether they are an individual inventor whose invention has been misappropriated or a small business facing a crushing, expensive, bet-the-company claim of infringement. Our patent litigation clients often engage Berger Montague using contingent or hybrid billing arrangements.

While we do not prepare or prosecute patent applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, we have close relationships with talented patent prosecution attorneys who work in tandem with our patent litigation team to develop your portfolio and alert us to potential opportunities to maximize the value of your patent rights.

Appeals: Working in tandem with the firm’s Appeals and Complex Briefing Department, Berger Montague regularly litigates difficult questions on appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the intermediate appellate court tasked with deciding cases arising under the U.S. patent laws. Our lawyers are also available to join your existing legal team to advise you on appellate matters.

Antitrust: As the preeminent civil antitrust law firm in the nation, Berger Montague is deeply experienced in litigating some of the most complex antitrust cases alleging price fixing and monopoly abuse. These cases often present issues at the complicated and sometimes contradictory intersection of antitrust law and intellectual property law. Our lawyers have the necessary interdisciplinary expertise to wade through these challenges and uncover potential antitrust violations that may be premised on invalid, illegitimate, or pretextual assertions of intellectual property rights.

Trademark, Trade Dress, Unfair Competition, and False Advertising: We handle a diverse range of trademark and trade dress disputes, from representing trademark owners seeking to enforce their brand, to clients facing challenging and often predatory allegations of infringement. Berger Montague’s IP department appears in federal district courts, the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to preserve its clients’ trademark and trade dress rights. In addition to serving as litigation counsel, we provide strategic advice on trademark registration, enforcement, licensing, and protection. Our team also has experience litigating complex unfair competition and false advertising disputes.

Copyright Litigation: Berger Montague’s IP department litigates complex copyright disputes and advises on difficult issues involving copyright ownership, licensing, copyrightability, fair use, digital rights management, and infringement. We both prosecute and defend allegations of copyright infringement, often with creative contingent or hybrid billing arrangements. Our team can handle copyright issues whether they are in federal district court, the U.S. Copyright Office, or the recently created Copyright Claims Board. We are constantly striving to ensure that our clients’ creative works and expressions are fully protected and policed.

Trade Secrets Litigation: Trade secrets litigation is the fastest growing aspect of Berger Montague’s Intellectual Property Department, as entrepreneurs and inventors begin to turn away from an increasingly unpredictable body of patent law precedent in the United States. When properly preserved, trade secrets can be a powerful tool to protect your intellectual property or seek redress for misappropriation. Our team both assists IP owners with establishing robust trade secret protection programs and pursues claims of infringement, often with creative contingent or hybrid billing arrangements.

Publicity Rights Litigation: State laws protect an individual’s right of publicity, which can serve as a valuable property interest depending on the commercial value of the individual’s identity. Berger Montague helps individuals preserve, protect, and monetize their name, image, or likeness and prosecute claims of misappropriation when necessary.

Intellectual property is key to establishing and maintaining an inventor’s or business’s competitive edge. At Berger Montague, we offer a deep and comprehensive understanding of intellectual property law as well as an experienced and aggressive litigation team able to deftly advise clients on strategic solutions and extract maximum value for your ideas.