Intellectual Property: Copyright & Trademark
Leading companies from across the spectrum of entertainment content, music, consumer goods and services, technology, and financial services turn to O’Melveny to tackle their toughest copyright and trademark disputes.
Leading companies from across the spectrum of entertainment content, music, consumer goods and services, technology, and financial services turn to O’Melveny to tackle their toughest copyright and trademark disputes.
Amidst the shifting landscapes of copyright and trademark law, O’Melveny provides sage advice and zealous advocacy to clients whose brands, services, products, and works of art are vital to their success.
Copyright Litigation. We represent imaginative companies creating and distributing blockbuster entertainment, cutting-edge software, and innovative digital applications. Such creative endeavors demand inventive legal strategies, too. We conceive of solutions that apply copyright law in new ways and to new technology. O’Melveny has particular expertise in the copyright termination provisions of the Copyright Act — a relatively new area of law with profound implications for many of our clients.
Trademark Litigation. O’Melveny represents some of the world’s most famous—and valuable—brands, ensuring the security of their names, logos, slogans, designs, and symbols. We protect our clients’ interests at every level, defending against competitor claims and guarding our clients’ brands in state and federal court litigation; registration, opposition and cancellation proceedings in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and in Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) and similar domain-name proceedings. And, thanks to our storied record of success, we are often able to resolve disputes before litigation.
Trademark and Copyright Counseling and Registration. Our lawyers also provide a full range of related services that include licensing and acquisition, due diligence, portfolio counseling and management, trademark and copyright clearance, brand monitoring, and trademark and copyright prosecution and registrations both foreign and domestic. We provide these services in a wide range of industries, including media and entertainment, gaming, technology, software, blockchain and cryptocurrency, music, consumer products, food and beverage and hospitality.
After more than three years of litigation, and with trial imminent, successfully resolved a high-stakes trademark dispute against one of the world’s largest oil field services companies.
Secured a pivotal win for the fintech company, defeating a request for a temporary restraining order that could have stopped it from using the name “Casper” to refer to its new blockchain protocol and “CSPR” digital token.
Successfully resolved a trademark and false advertising case against Amazon over Elastic’s trademarks relating to its suite of products, including the popular and powerful ELASTICSEARCH search and analytics engine.
In closely watched litigation at the intersection of copyright licensing and antitrust law, we successfully resolved what we believe to have been the first challenge to the licensing practices of a dominant performing rights organization.
Won at trial, successfully defending against Lanham Act, false advertising, unfair competition, and other claims relating to the labelling, marketing, and sale of our client’s kombucha products.
Representing client in a series of copyright termination-related lawsuits involving iconic characters including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, and Doctor Strange.
Obtained a series of precedent-setting victories on a critical issue in the music industry, allowing Sirius XM and others to play music from recordings created before 1972 for the public without paying record companies.
Defended and prosecuted copyright and trademark/trade dress infringement claims in multiple matters. Obtained a complete defense verdict at trial against rival footwear maker Easy Spirit over its claims that Skechers’ “Commute Time” shoe intentionally copied the design and infringed the trademarked name of Easy Spirit’s “Traveltime” shoe.
Represented Fox in multiple copyright and trademark matters. For example, we not only defeated trademark infringement claims at summary judgment in a case involving the breakout hit “Empire” but also successfully defeated copyright claims involving the same show.
Represented trademark owner in securing uniswap.com domain in UDRP proceeding that considered novel issues of ownership of trademark for DeFi protocol.
Successfully defended the client in numerous high-profile copyright matters involving blockbuster franchises, including DC Comics’ long-running dispute over the Superman character.
“[T]he intellectual property and technology group at O’Melveny & Myers LLP employs the strength of its global network to represent both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes trademark litigation to safeguard the brands of household name clients.”
—The Legal 500 US
Group features “a deep bench of very smart, well-trained and experienced lawyers.”
—Client Testimonial, Chambers USA
“With offices across the US, Europe and Asia, O’Melveny & Myers LLP represents entertainment household names ... in copyright litigation at the trial court level and on appeal, leveraging its global reach to act on major international matters. The group, whose client portfolio spans the e-commerce, pharmaceuticals and consumer electronics sectors, also specializes in copyright tech matters involving computer software, microcode and databases.”
—The Legal 500 US