Los Angeles Intellectual Property Lawyers

The creation of intellectual property is difficult and expensive, however, it can be stolen in a matter of seconds at the mere click of a button. We understand the new technology behind modern intellectual property infringement. That is why our practice focuses upon infringement taking place online.

We have been at the forefront of suing Chinese companies that steal America’s intellectual property. We have prevailed in such lawsuits in the Eastern District of New York, California’s Northern District and currently we are pursuing a case in Wisconsin’s Eastern District. Our breadth of international experience allows us to pursue cases that many companies previously believed to be impossible. The first step to our success is mastery over jurisdictional challenges in such cases. We have never lost a jurisdiction battle to Chinese IP thieves. In addition, many American companies fear that they will never be able to collect on a judgment. We have established tried and true collection strategies that have enabled our clients to reap the rewards of their legal victories.

Because of our experience as nuts and bolts trial lawyers, we also understand the rules of evidence collection and admissibility at trial. Without the proper collection method, smoking gun evidence may not be admissible at trial. At Syverson, Lesowitz & Gebelin, LLP, Erik Syverson and his team represent small to mid-market businesses in a wide range of intellectual property disputes. We represent both defendants and plaintiffs in actions and feel this provides a unique perspective that provides advantages for our clients. We have represented video game companies, electronic marketplaces, advertising networks, web development companies, music publishers, newspapers and financial institutions in patent, trademark and copyright infringement litigation.

Helping You Safeguard Your Intellectual Property

To schedule a consultation, contact our Los Angeles office online or call 213-944-0098. We are committed to representing clients throughout California and around the world. In fact, many of our clients are foreign corporations with pending American litigation. We are experienced accommodating foreign entities and make use of technology to ensure timely communication and strategy execution.

Copyrights

Federal law has exclusive jurisdiction over copyright disputes. Our Los Angeles intellectual property attorneys have had copyright cases in a variety of industries including video games, newspapers, photographs, movies, music publishing, software and web development. We have represented both plaintiffs and defendants in the district courts of California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Nebraska, Arizona and Illinois. We are fully familiar with not only direct infringement liability but contributory and indirect liability claims as well. On the defense side, the doctrine of fair use is rapidly evolving in the digital age and, as such, we are up to date on the latest case law developments that may affect your defense. As plaintiffs, making use of tools such as statutory damages and managing experienced damages experts remains a key to success.

Most companies now maintain some level of proprietary software tools. These tools are increasingly protected under copyright law rather than patent law. Thus, if you are a business with proprietary software, you must take care to register your code with the United States Copyright Office. Doing so will give you a strong enforcement tool in the event of a breach. This happens most often in the App markets. Copyright registration may lead to immediate removal of your rival’s infringing product pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Additionally, you may sue for damages far exceeding any actual losses in federal court by seeking statutory damages.

Trademarks

We have represented parties in cutting edge trademark cases. For example, we defended an electronic marketplace in one of the largest contributory trademark infringement cases in history. The plaintiffs, a European consortium of luxury brands, sought in excess of $100 million in damages from our clients. Our effective defense strategies avoided the imposition of hundreds of millions in damages upon summary judgment. Our summary judgment victory led to a settlement for just $70,000.

In the Internet marketing space, we are represented a review website being sued for bidding on the keywords of a consumer services company in order to direct eyeballs to the reviews. Once again, our experience and strategy led to a complete defense victory upon summary judgment. The case was entirely thrown out within months and our client was entitled to attorney fees. We focus upon the dispositive issues when defending trademark cases and often file summary judgment very early. This leads to victories at a much lower cost than conducting costly discovery prior to filing summary judgment.

In the past, we have successfully represented Internet websites, marketers and review sites sued for trademark infringement. In most of our cases, we have secured dismissals by way of summary judgment or by voluntary dismissal. We are one of the few firms in the country that both defends trademark infringement suits and brings plaintiff actions on behalf of international brands.

A long-time client of ours is Optima Tax Relief, the premier tax relief agency in the country. Optima’s competitors have a nasty habit of diverting Optima’s web traffic using trademark infringement. Such infringement has occurred in the design of web pages as well as domain names and keyword bidding campaigns. We have established expertise and a track record of success for clients like Optima. We are happy to help your company protect your brand from Internet trademark infringers.

Trade Secrets

Most states offer some form of protection for you company’s proprietary trade secrets. This is somewhat of a catch all basket offering protection for intellectual property not protected under the Copyright statute or Lanham Act. It may also protect innovative processes that are no longer protected under patent law. Misappropriation of trade secrets is a state law claim as opposed to a federal law claim. We have defended dozens of these cases with much success.

This claim is often abused by former employers to discourage competition from former employees and executives. If such cases are brought for purely anti-competitive purposes, defendants may be entitled to recover their expenses and attorney fees. If your former employer or a competitor has falsely accused you of stealing its trade secrets, we can help defend the case. We have prevailed in such cases by filing summary judgments, demurrers and rule 12 motions to dismiss.

Rights of Publicity

Public figures such as athletes and entertainers derive economic value from their likeness. Actors are paid into the eight figures for endorsement deals and print ads. In the internet age, there has been a dramatic rise in the theft of celebrity likeness to propel online sales. Many states including California provide statutory claims for such celebrities. We have experience representing parties in unauthorized use of likeness cases. Often, such claims are covered under errors and omissions insurance policies.

For help, contact our Los Angeles intellectual property lawyers today at 213-944-0098.