Copyright, Trademark and False Advertising Litigation and Counseling

Clients turn to Orrick to solve their most important copyright and trademark problems.

Our clients include Fortune 500 companies that are in diverse industries such as media and entertainment, consumer products, software, electronics, e-commerce, communications, healthcare, retail, apparel, and semiconductors. These clients trust Orrick to protect their most valuable intellectual property and to defend them when accused of infringing the rights of others.

Orrick publishes a Copyright and Trademark Update for its clients. The Update describes the significance of important cases decided throughout the United States. In addition, our lawyers have published numerous articles on copyright, trademark, and false advertising issues and have frequently lectured on these topics.

Copyright Litigation

Orrick's copyright lawyers are leaders in their field, devoted to representing companies on the cutting edge of technology, entertainment, and media. Orrick's copyright clients include leading software companies, motion picture studios, and publishing companies.

Orrick's lawyers have won a number of landmark and first-impression copyright cases, such as, Creative Technology v. Aztech Systems, Sony v. Connectix, and LucasArts Entertainment v. Humongous Entertainment. Orrick lawyers have won other significant copyright cases for distinguished companies such Applied Materials, Columbia Pictures, Lucasfilm, Microsoft, Intel, Playboy Enterprises, Universal Studios, and The Walt Disney Company. Some of the more complex cases handled by this group of lawyers have dealt with novel DMCA issues, "Tasini" class actions, international choice of law, and the interrelation between copyright and antitrust law.

Trademark and False Advertising Litigation

Blue chip companies such as AT&T, Microsoft, NCR Corp., United Healthcare Corp., Gallo, and Xerox have relied on Orrick in some of their most important trademark and false advertising disputes. So have leading Internet companies such as eBay and sports leaders such as NFL Properties and the U.S.G.A.

Many of Orrick's recent representations have involved novel trademark issues, including trademark rights in sounds, the scope of trade dress protection, and whether trademark rights can be the subject of a quasi-interpleader action. Orrick frequently has prosecuted and defended false advertising cases that have struck at the heart of our clients' ability to compete in their industries.

Counseling and Administrative Proceedings

Orrick provides a full range of copyright,trademark, and advertising counseling services, including availability and infringement opinions, advertising clearance, pre-litigation counseling, and acquisition advice. Our lawyers have significant experience representing clients in a broad array of businesses in all aspects of trademark practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board and copyright practice before the United States Copyright Office. We have also filed numerous UDRP and Federal Anti-CyberSquatting complaints to protect our clients' trademark rights in domain names.