McGuireWoods has deep experience in all areas covered by and related to the U.S. Lanham Act. Our Lanham Act/Copyright Litigation practitioners combine business savvy with legal acumen to create realistic, workable solutions for our clients’ trademark needs. Should our clients’ business interests be best served by litigation, our attorneys have extensive experience litigating trademark, trade dress, dilution, unfair competition and false advertising cases.
We advise nationally recognized financial service providers, retailers, manufacturers and advertising agencies on a full range of intellectual property issues. Recent matters include deceptive and misleading advertising, comparative advertising, compliance with state and federal regulations, issues relating to the use and distribution of catalogs, fliers and other advertising materials, warranties, disclaimers, owners’ manuals and other product notices, preparation of customized purchasing forms, sweepstakes and promotional contests, and promotion and advertising campaigns featuring public figures, such as athletes and celebrities.
Through maintenance filings for registered marks and monitoring services, we help protect the goodwill our clients have created in their marks. Our full-service team handles mark evaluation, pre-registration assistance, registration, portfolio maintenance, licensing and litigation for more than 750 national and multinational clients.
Additionally, our lawyers advise clients on all aspects of copyright law. We have obtained copyright registrations for such diverse works as websites, computer software, books, architectural works, trade materials, brochures, newsletters and original works of art, through both traditional filing methods and the Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) online system recently adopted by the U.S. Copyright Office. We can provide the proper documentation to ensure a clear understanding regarding the ownership of copyrightable work produced by a client’s employees or independent contractors.
Our litigation team has handled copyright and related disputes involving website content, software programs for performance measurement in the healthcare industry, movie manuscripts, photographs, musical compositions, architectural designs, curriculum materials, and mystery shopper services, among many other works. In addition to litigation in federal and state courts, we handle proceedings before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, as well as in mediation and arbitration.