Intellectual property – patents, trademarks and copyrights – have become the international currency by which companies and nations ensure their competitive position in the world. Participants in global markets must actively seek, license and enforce their rights under existing rules. Global players know that national and international rules governing intellectual property are changing – and in some cases very rapidly and fundamentally. They know that they have a significant stake in the results of those changes and therefore need to shape the debate and resulting rules.
Sidley can assist clients in using the existing rules to secure protection for their intellectual property. We can also assist clients in identifying when and how the rules are changing and guide that change to the advantage of our clients.
- Our Intellectual Property group has a global reach in securing and enforcing intellectual property rights to ensure those rights are significant and meaningful.
- Our Technology and Life Sciences Transactions practice focuses on licensing of intellectual property and related transactions to secure the strategic business objectives of our clients.
Our team includes U.S. and foreign-trained trade lawyers and trade professionals who have developed a focused practice in the international legal framework and political environment that governs intellectual property law and procedure. Many of our professionals have served as senior officials in trade and intellectual property areas in the United States – such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office – and other governments as well as intergovernmental organizations, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO).
- Sidley lawyers have handled more cases before the WTO in the field of intellectual property than any other firm in the world. See below for a representative list of these cases.
- Our professionals also work with companies and trade associations to ensure that the international, domestic and foreign systems for intellectual property protection meet their needs.