International Intellectual Property Protection 

Intellectual property protection doesn’t stop at the U.S. border.  

In addition to our work before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and U.S. Copyright Office, we have a large practice in the protection of our clients’ IP rights internationally.  We regularly oversee international searches in 20 or more countries and trademark registration programs in as many as 50 or more countries. 

We often first conduct preliminary screening of marks in foreign jurisdictions through proprietary trademark database software as well as targeted Internet searches.  We also maintain a large network of international attorneys throughout the world with whom we have close personal relationships, having worked routinely with most of them for decades.  Where appropriate, we can seek full opinions with comprehensive searches from these foreign colleagues and later oversee their assistance in the registration of trademarks in each of their jurisdictions.  

Once the marks are registered, we maintain the docket of these clients’ large international portfolios and interface with the foreign colleagues on renewal maintenance. 

In addition to direct national filings, we advise on the pros and cons of filings for “International Registrations” under the Madrid Protocol treaty, which allows for a single application process for multiple countries with certain cost advantages, but for U.S. applicants, often with significant strategic disadvantages.  When advisable, we file those applications and assist through the registration process. 

Working with foreign colleagues, our team also has extensive experience in international copyright protection, which often is not based on registration (unlike in the U.S.), and in international “design” protection, which is akin to the design patent system in the U.S.  For example, one member of our team for years oversaw the copyright protection of famous comic strip characters around the world.