Connected devices help people live and work smarter. In our homes and at our jobs, in our cars and on our wrists, IoT merges the digital and physical worlds. It touches every industry—from transportation to healthcare, retail to finance—and opens new frontiers, limited only by the reach of human imagination. By 2025, IoT-related spending is expected to top US$1.5 trillion, creating enormous opportunities for companies that develop and use IoT technologies, and their investors. But as IoT proliferates, so do legal challenges, implicating data security, privacy, intellectual property rights, consumer protection, competition, and other federal and state laws and regulations.

At the intersection of law and technology, O’Melveny is a trusted leader. Our lawyers provide top-tier advice and representation to new and established companies, helping them expand and thrive in the IoT space.  

Corporate

O’Melveny offers practical corporate and transactional counseling, infused with a deep understanding of IoT technology and unmatched regulatory expertise. Whether we are supporting the growth of disruptive start-ups, advising corporate innovators on the expansion of their product lines, or representing strategic and financial investors on IoT sector deals, companies of all sizes rely on our experience to help them compete and succeed.

Antitrust & Competition

Connected devices generate massive troves of data: information that can be analyzed to reveal business trends, consumer patterns, and other associations. Companies that collect or utilize this data, and manufacturers that rely on interoperability standards, must be alert to conduct that risks triggering antitrust scrutiny. Our premier Antitrust & Competition team helps clients navigate these legal complexities, ensuring that access to IoT-generated data fuels innovation without excluding competition.

Data Security & Privacy

O’Melveny helps clients prepare for and respond to the serious legal and financial risks posed by evolving data protection and privacy obligations. Our team includes:

  • Former Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor to President Obama; former Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the US Department of Justice; former Chief of Staff to then-FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III 
  • Former Deputy Solicitor General of the US
  • Former deputy legal advisor at the National Security Council
  • Former Special Assistant and Senior Counsel to the President in the White House Counsel’s Office
  • Several former top lawyers in the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission. 

They have the knowledge and perspective to guide clients through the entire life cycle of privacy and data security concerns, from pre-incident counseling and policy formation to managing incident responses, internal investigations, litigation, and regulatory proceedings.

Intellectual Property

Almost any company can find itself entangled in an IoT-related intellectual property dispute, including companies that produce, sell, use, or rely on connected devices or the data they generate. Broad patent claims, for example, can cover an unforeseeable range of solutions that run on critical IoT infrastructure. IoT-associated software may also raise copyright and open-source licensing concerns. O’Melveny’s IP lawyers have the background, technical education, and experience to help companies evaluate and mitigate their exposure, and to enforce and defend their IP rights in every venue, including state and district courts, on appeal, and in the US Patent and Trademark Office and US International Trade Commission.

White Collar & Government Investigations

The data that IoT devices collect is sometimes sought later as evidence in the prosecution or defense of an alleged crime. Companies that generate, collect, or handle the data should be thinking about how they store, access, distribute, and control such information—decisions that may affect its discoverability or admissibility. Responding to, and complying with, government regulators and law enforcement agencies may also cause trepidation. We help companies establish internal processes and procedures that help mitigate the risk of scrutiny from government agencies and reduce exposure in civil litigation. When necessary, our lawyers also represent clients facing investigation by government agencies and state attorneys general.