An intellectual property litigator specializes in defending or challenging intellectual property rights in court. They work on specific aspects such as trademarks, copyrights, and patent rights. Litigation involves gathering evidence, filing documents, advising clients, and preparing motions for relief from the court. IP attorneys work for large corporations seeking to prosecute misuse of corporate intellectual property or defend those who have been sued for infringement. Understanding the underlying law is crucial for successful litigation.
An intellectual property litigator is an attorney who specializes in challenging or defending various aspects of intellectual property rights in court. Intellectual property law is broad and covers all aspects of trademarks, copyrights and patent rights. No intellectual property lawyer can comprehensively cover the entire body of knowledge on intellectual property, and more often than not, they focus on one aspect: protecting the trademarks of an online company, for example, or managing a client’s patent portfolio. IP litigation works the same way, usually only appearing in court on behalf of clients with the same or similar problems.
“Litigation” is a legal term that incorporates almost all aspects of procedural law. Most intellectual property litigators work in intellectual property practice groups of large law firms or within companies and firms. They usually start by meeting with customers and considering whether a dispute is worth suing. Proof is almost always expensive and usually time consuming. Unless the issue is serious, litigants will usually try to resolve the case out of court through negotiation.
If a trial is deemed the best option, the litigants get to work building the case. For an IP litigation, this usually means gathering evidence to support the rights holder’s position, filing documents such as complaints and replies, advising the client and preparing motions for relief from the court. Effective courtroom representation, including jury selection, oral argument, and witness examination, is also the job of IP litigation.
The specific day-to-day activities of an intellectual property litigation vary significantly beyond these basics. An IP attorney can be hired for litigation by large corporations seeking to prosecute misuse and abuse of corporate intellectual property. These attorneys often target trademark infringement in advertisements and online, looking for unfair comparisons or counterfeit products. Others work for music labels and movie companies to prosecute those who copy and share protected works. In the patent field, an IP attorney or litigator often works for patent holders who believe that new products or methods infringe on their rights.
Naturally, litigants work on both sides of the courtroom. For every attorney who initiates a case, there’s an attorney who defends one. When a person or business has been sued for intellectual property infringement, an IP litigator is the person to talk to. As for the defense, intellectual property attorneys work to prove that their clients’ actions were not in violation of or were otherwise protected by some provision of law. Many copyrighted works can be used in some circumstances, for example, and a trademark or patent owner who has not adequately protected his rights over time is usually ineligible to enforce them selectively.
To be successful, an IP litigation for both parties must have a solid understanding of the underlying law. Intellectual property litigation is as much about court procedure as it is about the complicated nuances of intellectual property statutes. An intellectual property attorney who knows how to argue will only be effective if he also knows how to use the law to the advantage of the client.
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