Practice Strengths

In today’s global economy, patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, domain names and other intellectual property (IP) are among the most valuable assets of market leaders and rising businesses. BakerHostetler lawyers help such companies—as well as universities, start-ups, artists, producers and authors—to procure, protect and exploit their IP rights and to avoid the pitfalls posed by third-party assertions of IP rights. BakerHostetler also provides enforcement monitoring services and can provide client-specific and portfolio-specific Internet portals. These portals allow clients to easily and efficiently assess the status and value of their IP portfolio for general commercial purposes and compliance with regulatory requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley. Because of the success of our IP Group, BakerHostetler was named a “Go-to Law Firm” for IP law in Corporate Counsel® magazine’s guide to law departments in the nation’s top companies by in-house counsel at Johnson Controls and Thermo Fisher Scientific. BakerHostetler’s Information Technology Law, Patent Law and Technology Law practices each received a National First-Tier Ranking from The Best Lawyers in America® 2013 edition (Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.).

BakerHostetler’s IP Group consists of more than 70 lawyers and agents who practice IP law full time. In addition, the firm has many other lawyers who are experienced in intellectual property law through their complementary and related practices, such as Commercial Litigation, Employment, Mergers and Acquisitions, Antitrust, Bankruptcy and Tax, to name a few. Members of our IP Group work seamlessly with lawyers from these related areas of law when our clients’ needs require it.

Our IP Group is comprised of five teams of dedicated professionals:

1. IP Litigation 
2. IP Prosecution and Portfolio Management 
3. Information Technology and Transactions 
4. Digital Media 
5. Privacy and Data Protection

Each team provides guidance in all phases of IP planning—from the formulation of initial strategies and “best practices” to securing IP rights, creating strategies for exploitation (licensing, joint development, etc.), litigation and other forms of dispute resolution. From aerospace technology to antiviral drugs, from software and web content to consumer goods, entertainment, fashion and apparel, advertising, cartoon character rights and financial services, we have the hands-on knowledge to help our clients secure and use IP assets for maximum competitive advantage. In thousands of proceedings spanning more than 100 countries, we protect that advantage in negotiations, at trial and through other dispute resolution proceedings.

Our IP Group members include lawyers and patent agents who have the diverse backgrounds and core strengths required to ensure that the full spectrum of domestic and international IP is considered in securing IP and formulating IP strategies. Members of our IP Group have worked as engineers and in-house patent, trademark and copyright counsel for companies and agencies as diverse as Borg Warner, Capitol Records, IBM, Union Carbide, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Justice Department (Civil Division, Intellectual Property) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Three team members are listed in the latest edition of Chambers USA as leaders in their field. Our team members also include adjunct IP law professors and columnists. In addition, our team members frequently speak and write for continuing legal education programs and industry events and are quoted in the press on emerging issues.
 
Either through individual or firm memberships, BakerHostetler’ IP Group lawyers are members of the following associations and organizations:

• American Bar Association—Intellectual Property Association (ABA)
• American Chemical Society (ACS)
• American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL)
• American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)
• Association of Corporate Patent Counsel (ACPC)
• Association of European Trademark Owners (MARQUES)
• Chemists’ Club
• Cincinnati Intellectual Property Law Association (CincyIP)
• Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association (CIPLA)
• Copyright Society of the USA (CSUSA)
• European Communities Trademark Association (ECTA)
• Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO)
• International Anticounterfeiting Coalition (IACC)
• International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI)
• International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
• International Intellectual Property Society (IIPS)
• International Trademark Association (INTA)
• International Technology Law Association (iTechLaw)
• Licensing Executives Society International (LES)
• Media Law Resource Center (MLRC)
• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)