We combine top-tier commercial contracting skills with a practical understanding of science, technology and brands, and real-world experience across all intellectual property disciplines, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.
The depth and breadth of our global experience across technology and industry sectors in representing clients in business transactions involving intellectual property assets helps set us apart from the competition. For example, we routinely represent clients in industries such as chemicals, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, electronics, foods, retail, telecommunications, media and entertainment and financial services.
Our experience includes:
- Licensing and transferring patent rights, industrial designs, trademarks, copyrights, digital content, technical know-how and trade secrets.
- Complex licensing transactions, including some with ongoing contributions and obligations to commercialize intellectual property as well as milestone and royalty structures designed to foster that commercialization.
- Alliances, collaborations and partnerships, including performance-based contracting, gain sharing, risk allocation, governance rights and similar devices.
- Information technology transactions, including software licensing, development, implementation and maintenance transactions; cloud computing; equipment purchases; and hosting services.
- Information technology and business process outsourcing, both onshore and offshore.
- IP aspects of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other corporate transactions that assist clients in capitalizing on their IP strengths. Our work in these matters has included intellectual property due diligence, non-infringement and freedom-to-operate searches, validity opinions and complex licensing and cross-licensing arrangements.
- Securitization of royalty streams and other IP assets.
- Licensing and other transactions in settling litigation.
Our IP Transactions practice also works closely with Mayer Brown's other practices to provide seamless global solutions to complex IP and business issues. For example, with the firm's Tax Transactions practice, we develop, recommend and implement sophisticated transaction strategies involving corporate structure and operation that optimize tax treatment of intellectual property assets. And with the firm’s Antitrust practice, we have structured IP rights pools and distribution agreements (including field of use, geographic, and price restraints) designed to avoid problems under global competition laws.
Practice at a Glance
- Full-service practice with experience in a wide range of areas including IP Securitizations and Corporate Transactions
- Global presence, with practitioners in the United States, Europe and Asia
- Recommended by, among others, Chambers and Legal 500, with several lawyers in Band or Tier 1. "The group is celebrated for its attention to detail and client focus." (Chambers Global 2010)
- "This firm's status as a key name for high-profile work puts it at the forefront of the international IP market." (Chambers Global 2009)
- "Excellent at setting the law in this area with the context of our business. Whatever you pay them, they’re worth three times that." (Chambers USA 2010)
- "This strong group does consistently good work and has excellent relationships with blue-chip clients." (Chambers UK 2009)
- "Clients consider this 'business savvy' team 'top-notch in all areas: expertise, attitude and responsiveness' and it continues to win prominent, prestigious mandates. The group has particular strength in offshore outsourcing. Its international scope and ability to handle big deals in the most active jurisdictions makes it 'first choice' for many clients." (Legal 500 USA 2010)