Intellectual Property

The increasing speed of technological change in business today requires focus on multiple facets of intellectual property. 

WBK works with companies in a wide variety of fields, including telecommunications, media, technology, manufacturing, hospitality, education, and consumer goods, to develop, protect, and grow their brands, and to help clients avoid costly mistakes in using someone else’s intellectual property without the proper permissions. 

Our intellectual property practice covers a broad range of trademark services, including counseling, search and clearance, domestic and foreign prosecution of marks for registration, and enforcement actions, including litigation before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and U.S. Federal courts.  Our copyright attorneys can explain the nuances of protections afforded to website hosts against third-party content under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), criteria for infringement claims, and the intricacies of music licensing. 

WBK attorneys are highly focused on IP issues when our clients’ property rights are used (or misused) on the internet, in domain names, and in social media.  We also practice in more specialized areas of trade dress law (including the protection of single-color marks), counterfeiting, licensing, IP rights due diligence in the context of transactional matters, and the rights of publicity and privacy.  Our focus recently expanded to include the potential impact that artificial intelligence will have on our clients’ businesses and intellectual property rights. 

WBK is ready to help clients with a full spectrum of intellectual property protection and enforcement needs. 


Comprehensive Services

Our attorneys have decades of experience in providing practical counseling, advice, and guidance on this broad scope of intellectual property practice from “start to finish” – with rights clearance, registration, and enforcement work in the U.S. and worldwide.  We help clients think ahead to anticipate, and thus avoid, problems in developing, expanding, and enforcing their valuable intellectual property rights. 

Wilkinson Barker Knauer’s talented team is truly the best in the field. They have a deep bench with strong ties to key decision makers and offer strategic counsel to clients to help move our agenda forward.