Patent & Trademark Litigation
Increasing reliance on overseas manufacturers to decrease manufacturing costs and to provide early prototype development increases the risk of copycat and counterfeit products returning to the US. Further, with the expansion of online retailers it is becoming increasingly easy to pass-off infringing goods. Intellectual property infringement damages market share, threatens innovation, and provides an unfair competitive advantage.
Wagenknecht is an intellectual property boutique law firm with highly skilled patent and trademark attorneys providing intellectual property expertise for litigation firms and represents innovators and creators in patent and trademark infringement lawsuits. Wagenknecht attorneys are admitted to the following courts:
- State Courts of California
- US District Court, Southern District of California
- US District Court, Central District of California
- US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Wagenknecht also works with patent and trademark litigation firms in Europe, Asia and Australia to ensure infringement is not only prevented in the US but also abroad.
Patent Litigation
Patent infringement is federal issue and is therefore proper for federal court.San Diego, California provides a convenient forum for intellectual property litigation due to the speed in which patent infringement cases proceed and the expertise of San Diego’s judges. Procedurally, patent infringement lawsuits are broken into two or three phases.
- Claim construction hearing – the scope of the patent is defined
- Infringement trial – a determination of whether or not the patent is infringed and whether there are any defenses to infringement (e.g. patent invalidity, patent exhaustion)
- Damages phase – Money damages and injunctions can be obtained if infringement is determined.
Trademark Litigation
Trademark litigation typically attempts to resolve the question of whether there is a likelihood of confusion between two trademarks. The two primary factors used in the analysis are the similarity of the trademarks and the similarity of the goods or services. If a typical consumer is confused between the two trademarks‚ then a likelihood of confusion exists.
In some instances, there is no actual infringement of a trademark but the competitor is violating unfair competition laws under federal statute or state business codes. Wagenknecht attorneys represent owners in trademark infringement and related matters including:
- Trademark Infringement
- Unfair Competition
- Counterfeiting
- False Advertising