Services / IP Litigation
Our lawyers have extensive experience in patent infringement litigation. We represent individual and corporate owners of patents, trademarks and copyrights seeking to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights. Our attorneys have technical backgrounds, enhancing the Pittsburgh’s firm’s ability to master scientific and engineering issues that are at the heart of many intellectual property disputes.
Although our attorneys have been involved in litigation across the country, our home court is the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania, based in Pittsburgh. The Western District of Pennsylvania has had local patent rules since 2005, and is part of the Federal Judiciary’s Patent Pilot Program. Numerous Western District Judges have volunteered to participate in the Patent Pilot Program by agreeing to hear patent cases. Under the Patent Pilot Program, a patent litigation case will be randomly assigned to a Judge. If that Judge is not a Designated Patent Judge, the Judge may decline the assignment and the litigation case will be reassigned to a Designated Patent Judge.
The first step in protecting your innovative idea is to obtain a patent, trademark, or copyright. This gives the entrepreneur or a corporation the ability to enforce those rights and retain the earned revenue. However, if someone is infringing those IP rights, you need a litigation team who has technical knowledge and the ability to partner with you to strategically and effectively defend those rights. The attorneys at Ference & Associates have represented plaintiffs and defendants in numerous patent infringement lawsuits throughout the country and abroad. Select case studies can be found here.
Lawyers at the Pittsburgh-based firm handle a range of intellectual property litigation, including matters arising from:
- Patent infringement: In patent infringement litigation, the attorneys represent patent owners seeking to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights.
- Trademark infringement: The attorneys help clients protect and enforce their trademark rights.
- Copyright infringement: The firm helps clients enforce copyrights through litigation when necessary and defends clients against claims of copyright infringement.
- Online Counterfeiting and Brand Protection: Counterfeiting a product may involve a combination of patent, trademark, and copyright infringement. The firm has a successful track record of helping clients enforce their available rights through litigation to stop the counterfeiting.
- Trade secrets: Products and processes that are essential to the success of a business may require more than a patent to protect them. The firm helps clients develop strategies to protect their trade secrets and undertakes litigation when the theft of a trade secret has damaged the business. The attorneys also defend clients charged with misappropriation of trade secrets.
- Licensing: If a licensing agreement is violated, Ference & Associates helps clients recover damages through litigation. The firm also defends individuals and businesses accused of violating licensing agreements.
Our lawyers additionally counsel and advise clients in securing, maintaining, protecting, transferring and enforcing their intellectual property rights. This includes counseling clients on the use of licensing agreements for protection of their intellectual property.