Data Rights Software & Patents
Our Unusual Expertise. To maintain a competitive advantage, companies must rigorously protect rights in their advanced technology and computer software. This is particularly true for any company that does business at the prime contract, subcontract, or grant level with the federal government, because the government obtains broad rights when intellectual property is developed, conceived, or reduced to practice with government money. We are one of the few firms with lawyers specializing in this field—lawyers who have literally written the book on contractors' rights in computer software and technical data.
Our Counseling Approach. We advise companies on how they can maximize their commercial rights in software, technical data, and patentable inventions. We do this three ways:
- First, we train contract and finance personnel how to identify and preserve intellectual rights.
- Second, we design procedures to track development and reduction to practice so that companies can restrict the government's rights in data and software, and retain title to inventions.
- Third, we prepare and review intellectual property and software license agreements; proprietary information, non-disclosure, and confidentiality agreements; teaming and joint venture agreements; Cooperative Research and Development Agreements ("CRADAs"); grant agreements; and "Other Transactions" to assure that intellectual property rights are perfected and protected.
We Litigate. We also represent companies when they enforce or protect their intellectual property rights. This involves litigating challenges by the government to restrictions on software and technical data; litigating, patent infringement by the government or its contractors under 28 USC. 1498; and pursuing injunctive relief against companies that misappropriate trade secrets.