Trademarks & Copyrights

Representative Experience

• Represented the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the Recording Industry Association of America in several copyright infringement matters.
• Obtained a favorable settlement on behalf of an agricultural seed coating company in a trademark infringement case.
• Managed the trademark portfolio for ConAgra Foods Inc., with approximately 4,000 foreign and domestic individual trademark registrations.
• Managed the trademark portfolio for Lucky Bucket Brewing Co., based in Nebraska.
• Directed the trademark portfolio for SchillingBridge Winery Microbrewery, based in Nebraska.
• Managed the trademark portfolio for Sergeant’s Pet Care Products Inc., an international pet product company.
• Advised sporting goods company in trademark infringement/unfair competition litigation filed in a Wisconsin federal court. Plaintiff alleged client infringed trademark for fishing tackle eye cleaning tools and sought statutory damages in excess of $1 million. Prior to trial, and after the denial of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, the case was settled upon terms favorable to client.
• Represented client in trademark dispute before the Canadian Trade-marks Opposition Board. After receiving evidence, the board ruled in client’s favor and refused the registration of the challenged trademark.
• Counseled sporting goods company in trademark infringement and unfair competition litigation filed in a Missouri federal court. Matter arose out of defendants’ unauthorized use of trademarks that were confusingly similar to client’s registered mark. Parties ultimately agreed to settle case upon terms favorable to client.
• Prosecuted a lawsuit on behalf of a trademark owner in the study abroad industry against a competitor over the latter's use of a confusingly similar name. Reached a settlement whereby the competitor agreed to change its name, agreed to the entry of a permanent injunction to keep it from using the similar name and paid damages to client.
• Defended an Austin, Texas-based high-tech company in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed against it in Boston by Harvard University.
• Drafted, prosecuted, and obtained patent and trademark applications for U.S.- based and foreign-based companies in the field of medical devices, chemical coatings and compositions, drugs, industrial machinery, controls, industrial parts, packaging, and housewares.
• Managed the patent and trademark portfolio for many multinational corporations in the consumer products industry.
• Managed foreign trademark portfolio for multiple brand divisions of Jarden Corp. and represented them in many foreign opposition matters enforcing clients’ rights abroad.
• Represented several packaging manufacturers, including Nova Packaging Systems Inc., White Systems Inc., and Sencorp Inc., in obtaining patents and trademarks to expand their scope of protection and limit competition. Patent portfolios created to cover not only the clients’ products but also the machinery and methods used to produce such products.
• Represented a manufacturer of chlorine and sodium hydroxide with various intellectual property matters, including technology licensing and trademark and copyright guidance. In 2010, led a Husch Blackwell team that helped this client negotiate a licensing transaction in which it acquired a key piece of new bleach-production technology, which it is now in the process of rolling out to all of its bleach-production facilities.
• Managed all intellectual property-related work for one of the largest suppliers of rigid (glass and plastic) packaging in the United States, including utility and design patent prosecution, trademark and copyright guidance, licensing, and infringement matters.
• Counseled one of the largest automotive lamp manufacturers in the world with all of its intellectual property matters, including utility and design patent prosecution, trademark guidance, and intellectual property infringement matters.
• Defended bank in a trademark dispute in the United States District Court of Colorado and sought naming rights in front of the Colorado Banking Board. Handled a preliminary injunction hearing and several hearings in front of the Colorado Banking Board. Resulted in a negotiated resolution.