Intellectual Property Litigation

Todd & Weld regularly represents clients in patent, copyright, and trademark litigation. Our patent practice includes cases concerning inventorship issues, infringement and obviousness, equivalency, inequitable conduct, and willful infringement. We have represented plaintiffs and defendants in cases ranging from patents covering the sequencing and manufacture of a recombinant protein to algorithms used in computer programs and business models to design patents claiming devices maximizing sound wave patterns, hat designs, and sweaters, to name a few. We have represented both companies and individuals in cyber squatting cases and dealt with issues relating to court jurisdiction over companies using the Internet.

The firm has experience in the defense and prosecution of suits alleging trademark and trade dress infringement and Lanham Act claims. We have brought actions to prevent trade name misuse and false advertising as well as claims involving the use of similar names. We have initiated litigation to protect trade secrets in both federal and state courts and defended clients who were falsely accused of misappropriating confidential information.

Our copyright practice has involved actions to prevent and seek redress for misuse of copyrighted works, including copying magazine articles and entire works. We have also prosecuted and defended clients involved with copyrighted jewelry and T-shirt designs and “knock offs” of those protected designs.

Some of our representative cases

• Skinder-Strauss Associates, publisher of the Massachusetts Lawyers Diary and Manual, in copyright infringement litigation involving the Red Book.
• Advanced Magnetics, Inc. in patent litigation involving superparamagnetic iron oxide particles and issues of inventorship.
• Rockland Trust Company in Lanham Act and trade name claims concerning misuse of the company’s name.
• Segrets, Inc. in copyright infringement litigation over sweater designs.
• Sapient Corporation in litigation over the protection of trade secrets.
• Ask Jeeves, Inc. in defense of patent litigation involving business modeling.