Our intellectual property professionals have extensive experience both developing and protecting intellectual property relevant to sustainability and green technology initiatives.
We have relevant industry and legal experience, including rendering legal opinions with respect to patentability, non-infringement, and freedom to operate, and preparing and prosecuting patent portfolios relating to energy conservation and the development of alternative energy sources, industrial recycling and reclamation processes, and environmental protection technologies.
We understand the issues our clients face and have handled IP-related matters in the sustainable energy field for various clients, including DuPont and Constellation Energy.
We advise clients in the following sustainability disciplines:
Electrical
Our IP professionals are experienced in all facets of power and controls engineering, including power generation (e.g., co-generation, coal-fired, and gas turbine), transmission and distribution (e.g., transmission and distribution automation, i.e., "smart-grid"), emission systems and controls (e.g., sulfur-dioxide removal and NOx reduction systems and controls), renewables (e.g., wind turbines and photovoltaics), and power plant (gas turbine) construction. Our IP professionals include a partner with 14 years' experience as an electrical engineer in the utility industry before becoming an attorney.
Chemical
Our chemical IP professionals have both industry and legal experience in technologies relating to energy conservation and the development of alternative energy sources, industrial recycling and reclamation processes and environmental protection technologies. Our skill sets in these areas include preparing and prosecuting patent portfolios, management and strategic planning of patent portfolios, and the rendering of opinions of patentability, non-infringement, and freedom to operate.
Biological
Our biotechnology team has experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications directed to biofuel production. In particular, we have extensive experience in protecting technologies relating to lignocellulose and algae-derived biofuels. As more interest has focused on biofuels, we have developed experience in performing freedom-to-operate studies for biofuel technologies. We also have developed strategies for protecting technologies directed to bioremediation of a variety of environmental contaminants and wastewater treatment.
Licensing
Our attorneys have significant experience representing utilities and green-tech providers and working with industry leaders in licensing and developing technologies for use in projects ranging from facility retro-fits to the development and deployment of the most high-profile green-technology initiatives in the country. As a result, we have a deep understanding of prevailing and emerging technologies, market forces, and industry participants, and can help our clients improve productivity while reducing or minimizing environmental impact through licensing, outsourcing, development, deployment, and other commercialization transactions.
Green Claims
Consumers rely on product- or service-related terms such as recyclable, biodegradable, compostable, and ozone friendly. We advise clients on claims surrounding the environmental impact of goods and services and the ramifications of those claims in the context of FTC enforcement actions, the Lanham Act, and consumer protection laws. We assist clients in their green marketing efforts ensuring compliance with the FTC's Green Guides and preventing overstatement of environmental benefits or attributes. We also defend claims of deceptive green advertising, or "greenwashing."
IP Litigation
Patent and trade secret litigation is already starting among those who have developed, those who use, and those non-practicing entities that own patents in sustainable technology fields. Our team of experienced IP litigators has a proven track record of success in prosecuting and defending clients in patent, trade secret, and other IP litigation, in courts and before arbitration panels throughout the country.
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