As digital technology and the online environment transform the distribution and use of intellectual property, our Copyright & Trademark group is on the front lines in protecting and enforcing our clients’ most important creative assets. Our trial-tested team represents a wide range of clients, from entrepreneurs to major corporations, from playwrights to media giants, and from individual songwriters to the country’s largest performing rights organizations.
Our Practice
Paul, Weiss has long been recognized as one of the world’s leading copyright and trademark litigation practices. For decades, we have litigated our clients’ most complex, high-stakes copyright and trademark issues in district and appellate courts across the nation, including cases that have played a major role in shaping IP law. Our lawyers have won countless court victories and have successfully defended and obtained temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions.
We understand the interplay of business objectives, practical pressures and time. We also collaborate frequently with our Intellectual Property Transactional Practice Group to transform copyright and trademark challenges into business opportunities.
Copyright
Our litigators have substantial, cutting-edge experience in a spectrum of copyright cases, including royalty rate-setting proceedings, copyright class actions and digital media copyright controversies. Clients rely on us for the protection of a wide variety of copyrighted content, including film, music, broadcasting, publishing, software, fine art and digital media.
Paul, Weiss has built a distinguished reputation in the copyright field, particularly in the music and performing arts areas. We have argued in the Supreme Court in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose, the seminal case addressing the treatment of parody under copyright law and clarifying the scope of fair use, and also represented Cole Porter in the case (Arnstein v. Porter) that more than 60 years ago established the standards for proof of purchase for copyright infringement. We have decades of experience representing the National Music Publishers’ Association and The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in a broad array of copyright and royalty rate-setting proceedings across every segment of media.
Trademarks, Trade Dress and Unfair Competition
Clients rely on Paul, Weiss to protect their trademarked assets. We have represented some of the world’s best-known brands, including ASCAP, Calvin Klein, Harlequin Enterprises and WME IMG Holdings, LLC (now Endeavor), in their most significant trademark and licensing disputes. We have extensive experience handling trademark, trade name and trade dress infringement actions, and have successfully represented a wide range of apparel and consumer product companies in trade dress claims involving articles of clothing, fabrics and bottle shapes, among many others. Clients also look to us for strategic guidance on trademark enforcement and protection.
False Advertising
Paul, Weiss has been involved in some of the most significant false advertising cases of the past 20 years. We have litigated and advised on a broad range of Lanham Act and related matters, and regularly counsel, represent and defend clients in actions involving the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, industry competitors and consumer classes, under federal and state laws.
Trade Secrets
We regularly provide advice on trade secret protection and have successfully litigated numerous trade secret claims. Our lawyers have also successfully prosecuted and defended many actions to enforce confidentiality agreements and restrictive covenants in the merger and acquisition and employment contexts, often on an expedited basis. We are adept at conducting forensic investigation.