Intellectual Property

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW PRACTICE AREA

Attorneys in the Intellectual Property group at Bowie & Jensen, LLC recognize that the development, protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”) are important in every stage of a business’s growth and life. 

Consideration of IPR issues begins before a company is incorporated, and follows through product and service development, product branding and imaging, joint development, commercialization, protection and enforcement, and finally sale or other complete transfer.  Bowie & Jensen has the experience and expertise to guide nearly all types of businesses through this IPR life cycle. 

We have worked in such diverse fields as bio-technology, from pre-formation grant applications and technology transfer-out from university labs, to co-development, testing and patent cross licensing, and software companies starting as small as a single developer in the basement that have grown to over 70 employees, prospered, and then sold to a larger entity for a significant sale price.  We enjoy our work and feel proud when our advice and guidance help creative entrepreneurs develop IPR as a valuable component of their businesses.  

 As our clients have grown and matured, so have we.  Many of our clients that began as small businesses with large ideas are now multinational corporations with large and valuable IPR portfolios that the firm continues to manage.  Because the firm’s attorneys have decades of combined experience in IPR counseling, the firm is able to efficiently and successfully handle virtually any IPR issue.  Each particular IPR practice area is discussed below. 

TRADEMARK, TRADE DRESS, TRADE SECRETS AND UNFAIR COMPETITION

Bowie & Jensen’s trademark group assists clients in pre-clearance trademark searching, prosecution of trademark applications through registration, post-registration filings and monitoring, as well as enforcement and protection.  We manage several hundred trademarks across a broad spectrum of administrative classes.  We use a computerized system to assist us in managing the various filing dates and documentation requirements to ensure that trademark rights are maintained. 

We continue to assist our clients in protecting their trademarks by analyzing watch reports, opposing and seeking cancellation of similar marks applied for at the Patent and Trademark Office and pursuing or defending infringement actions or other Lanham Act claims such as false advertising.  Our office regularly has several Lanham Act cases pending at any given time and in a number of federal courts, and we have resolved numerous trademark conflicts through co-existence, concurrent use and general registration consent agreements.  We are also familiar with international trademark practice and the Madrid Protocol.  

Our firm has handled pre-clearance trademark searching for international trademarks and filing under the Madrid Protocol.  Depending on the nature and extent of the international work, we can also turn to our trusted relationships with a host of international lawyers who can provide legal advice on an international scale.  The firm has extensive experience drafting and negotiating trademark licenses, assignments and related trademark rights agreements.  We subscribe to most major secondary source news and update services, and our lawyers are members of trademark, advertising and Lanham Act related trade associations.

Bowie & Jensen attorneys have litigated and provided advice on hundreds of matters involving trade secrets, including prosecuting and defending trade secret misappropriation cases, counseling on manners for protecting trade secrets and proprietary business information, and analyzing trade secret viability and the effect of those secrets on other areas of a business’s IPR portfolio.  Intellectual Property matters typically implicate anti-trust issues as well. 

The firm’s attorneys routinely counsel clients about how to reduce exposure to antitrust claims and protect their businesses against illegal anti-competitive acts.  In doing all this, our attorneys have extensive experience arguing IPR matters in front of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and numerous federal trial courts including federal district courts in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York, Utah and Illinois. 

DOMAIN NAMES

Domain name disputes have increased with the rapid technological development and expansion of domains on the Internet, and Bowie & Jensen has been widely recognized for being at the forefront of computer-related issues.  The firm’s attorneys counsel clients on an array of domain name issues, including methods of protecting trademark and other intellectual property rights through use of domains and protection from cybersquatting and domain misuse. 

We also protect clients’ interests against cybersquatters by watching domains and pursuing legal action against cybersquatters.  To this end, we have successfully represented clients in Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution (UDRP) actions as well as actions in federal court under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. 

COPYRIGHTS

Bowie & Jensen attorneys regularly represent clients in copyright matters.  Our practitioners provide advice to clients about copyright ownership, registration, licensing, transfers and other specialized arrangements.  The firm’s attorneys are at the forefront in computer and software law, and we are known for our extensive experience in obtaining copyright registrations for computer software, in addition to more traditional forms of copyrightable material such as books, architectural designs and sculptural works.   In addition, our litigation department has successfully handled copyright infringement disputes over software ownership, licensing, and copyrights in photographs and books.

COMPUTER LAW

Bowie & Jensen attorneys have been involved in “computer law” almost since that area of practice was first developed.  Indeed, our experience in computer law pre-dates the widespread use of cell phones, commercial email and the pre-commercial internet.  Bowie & Jensen attorneys worked with numerous clients in the days when businesses first explored the idea of using the Internet.  The firm’s attorneys have witnessed and kept clients informed about the massive changes in the law since the early days of the Internet.  Indeed, with only one exception (patent prosecution) the firm’s attorneys have handled and can provide legal services related to every aspect of computer and software law that a business in the United States might face. 

We also are familiar with many international laws and regulations, and when we cannot provide the international advice that a client needs, we turn to our trusted relationships with a host of international lawyers who can provide the right legal advice on that scale.  The firm’s extensive computer law practice includes software development, joint ventures, off-shoring, general public license and other open source issues, computer security, computer data privacy, exporting and encryption, and all forms of software - ranging from traditional client server source code to micro-code/embedded devices and firmware.

PATENT

Bowie & Jensen attorneys litigate complicated patent infringement disputes on behalf of patent owners (or assignees and licensees) and alleged infringers in federal courts throughout the nation.  Among the inventions at issue in the firm's more recent cases: patents covering nutritional and dietary supplement combination, lawn mower mobility technology, cellular tower technology, and lacrosse stick design.  We have also reviewed hundreds of patents for basic infringement analysis, and done preliminary patent availability analysis. We do not, however, perform the following services: opinion letters on patent infringement, non-infringement, and patent prosecution. We refer these matters to a number of patent lawyer specialists with whom we have worked over the years.

ENTERTAINMENT LAW

Bowie & Jensen provides counsel to clients in the art and entertainment worlds.  In addition to extensive experience on trademark and copyright matters as outlined above, the firm has advised musicians and other performers, producers (theater and music), lobbyists for the film industry, writers, and publishers on a variety of issues, and has drafted and/or provided advice concerning production agreements, management contracts, spokesperson agreements as well as licensing, recording and publishing agreements. 

IP CLIENTS

Bowie & Jensen’s intellectual property clients are diverse.  We represent entrepreneurs and small, midsize and large companies.  Bowie & Jensen is known for its representation of computer software developers; however, our representation also includes nutraceutical companies, technology and engineering firms, research and development firms, architects, educational organizations, manufacturers, retailers, artists, novelists and construction companies.

MEET THE DEPARTMENT

Bowie & Jensen has seven attorneys and one paralegal in the Intellectual Property group:

Transactional                                      Litigation

Mark T. Jensen                                    Robert R. Bowie, Jr.

Michael D. Oliver                                 Joshua A. Glikin

Kimberly S. Grimsley                          Pamela K. Riewerts

Jason C. Brino                        

Paralegal

Tina L. Murphy

In addition to counseling clients on these issues, the attorneys at Bowie & Jensen are actively involved in intellectual property and civic organizations such as the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Section, the Maryland State Bar Association Intellectual Property Section, the Maryland State Bar Association Entertainment and Sports Law Section and the Maryland Lawyers for the Arts.  The firm’s attorneys routinely write articles and speak on IP issues at seminars and educational institutions for students, lawyers and business people.