Intellectual Property

Barton offers the full array of intellectual property services (including registration and protection of trademarks and copyrights) and coordinates with special counsel on patent prosecution matters. We also provide clearance opinions and advise on the use and exploitation of a client’s intellectual property.

Our team has extensive experience representing clients in a variety of intellectual property transactions such as licensing agreements, co-branding agreements, distribution contracts, joint ventures, and sales and purchases of intellectual property portfolios. Our IP clients are also active across a diverse range of industries such as advertising, public relations, product placement and promotions, beauty, fashion, retail, art and photography, publishing, music, and technology.

In addition, we also assist clients in identifying intellectual property rights belonging to competitors that have the potential to impede or totally disrupt our clients’ businesses. In such circumstances, we often represent our clients in transactions to obtain licenses (or engage in cross-licensing) of intellectual property rights belonging to others so as to proactively minimize these risks. We frequently assist clients in evaluating the value of intellectual property rights during the due diligence phase of mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcy reorganizations, and other corporate transactions.

Our IP team also possesses the knowledge, experience, and resources to litigate a wide variety of copyright, patent, and trade dress claims. Whether pursuing infringement claims or defending against them, our attorneys are here to guide clients through every step of the process.

Work in this Area

Intellectual Property

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Representative Matters
  • Managed Fashion Companies’ Copyright and Contract Disputes
    • Represented various Italian fashion companies in trademark and copyright infringement and contract disputes in the United States. Obtained favorable settlement of our client’s trademark infringement claims against a U.S.competitor and negotiated a co-existence agreement regarding ongoing use of the companies’ respective trademarks and trade dress. Successfully defended a high-profile Italian designer fashion company against contract claims by a former U.S.distributor, obtaining stay of the distributor’s lawsuit in favor of arbitration, and then obtaining dismissal of the distributor’s claims in arbitration.Successfully sued on behalf of an Italian lingerie company for payments owed by a U.S.distributor; won summary judgment awarding damages, without a trial.
  • Represented Prominent Brands in IP Disputes in Federal Court
    • Represented well-known brands in intellectual property disputes in Federal Court and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and obtained highly successful results for clients. Recently, Barton represented a top internet retailer against a competitor company that copied the client’s website, and she defeated a motion to dismiss copyright infringement, trade dress infringement, false advertising, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment claims
  • Counsel to Fashion Designer Regarding IP Infringement
    • Represented a fashion designer in multiple litigations involving trademark and patent infringement.
  • Counsel to Italian Distributor in IP Matters
    • Represented an Italian housewares distributor in multiple intellectual property matters.Successfully shut down widespread distribution of counterfeit products via online marketplace websites, resolved multiple infringement claims against the client with minimal exposures, and counseled the client with regard to ongoing trademark and copyright issues.
  • Counsel to Visual Artists in Copyright Infringement Action Against Google
    • Represented visual artists and their trade associations in one of the largest ever copyright infringement actions against Google, Inc. related to the Google Books Program.