Ice Miller's Intellectual Property Group has represented its clients, whether as plaintiff or defendant, in all types of intellectual property litigation.
Ice Miller has a strong IP Litigation Practice with seasoned litigators (most of whom are registered patent attorneys) who assist clients to enforce and defend claims in all areas of IP. Our IP litigation experience includes roles as lead counsel and co-counsel (both prosecution of claims and defense of claims) in numerous patent, trademark, trade dress, trade secret, trade name, domain name, cybersquatting, copyright, antitrust, noncompete, unfair competition, right of publicity, and deceptive trade practices cases. This work includes domestic and foreign demands, negotiations, take down requests, contested proceedings before the U.S. and foreign Patent Offices, and litigation (including jury and bench trials and appeals). Our litigators have appeared in and argued well over 100 IP cases in numerous U.S. Federal District Courts, Federal Courts of Appeal, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office administrative courts, and state courts, handling all aspects of case initiation, strategy, discovery, trial work, and settlement, including contempt proceedings Our four most experienced IP litigators have more than 100 years of combined experience.
We have substantial experience representing clients on both sides of complex patent issues. For example, we successfully asserted a major company’s patents relating to vacuum sealing technology. We successfully defended multiple patent infringement lawsuits against clients in the software business and in the electronics fulfillment industry, and we defended a major provider of hospitality management software against a suite of patents that were alleged to cover that entire field. We obtained several victories for a computer hardware supplier against a series of patent suits in the area of display and communication technology. We also successfully prosecuted a patent owned by a software-as-a-service provider against one of its competitors. Our attorneys successfully prosecuted an infringing competitor of a medical device patent.
We aggressively protect our clients’ trademark rights against infringers, including cybersquatters, through all avenues, including disputes before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as arbitration and litigation. We also handle basic take down requests, OCILLA demands, Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy actions, Uniform Rapid Suspension System actions, seizure actions, and forensic data investigations. We have several attorneys who are Certified Information Privacy Professionals and assist clients to navigate the relevant federal and state regulatory landscape with regard to the same. Ongoing projects for our clients involve monitoring new domain name filings and pursuing those who select domain names that infringe our clients' trademarks.
We have a great deal of experience combatting counterfeiting and piracy on behalf of our clients. We represent multiple clients who face counterfeiting and piracy of their valuable marks on an ongoing basis, both in the U.S. and around the world, and we have successfully assisted those clients to enforce their IP rights through the effective use of temporary restraining orders and other means. A recent project involved representing a major automotive parts manufacturer to obtain relief from pirates in a number of countries around the world who were selling illegal copies of its copyrighted service manuals without permission.
Our IP litigators also recognize that some results can be obtained more cost-effectively at the administrative law level and therefore have participated in planning and prosecuting inter partes contested proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office, including interferences, reexaminations, oppositions, and cancellations. Additionally, Ice Miller has experience using administrative and alternative dispute resolution procedures to achieve its clients’ business objectives.
Ice Miller’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice focuses on meeting clients’ business goals by understanding the IP assets at issue, understanding the value of those assets to the clients’ businesses, and working to minimize the business risks associated with litigation. Our IP attorneys assist clients in creating and executing litigation strategies designed to maximize the value of intellectual property portfolios and to protect business interests from infringement threats. These strategies serve the clients' needs and interests.