In today’s competitive markets, intellectual property assets are the backbone of practically every business, so having the best and most experienced intellectual property counsel is critical to business success.
Our Intellectual Property practice concentrates on all aspects of intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and the right of publicity, as well as all aspects of exploitation, including computer law, entertainment and media law, and licensing. The Chair of our practice group has been listed in Best Lawyers in America® for 30 years, and the practice group has two attorneys, Martin E. Hsia and Keri Ann K.S. Krzykowski, licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in patent matters.
We represent individual inventors, large corporations, advertising agencies, manufacturers, distributors, consultants, and many others, in transactional matters and infringement litigation. Our firm has the most experience in intellectual property litigation in Hawai‘i. We also obtain intellectual property rights in the United States and, through an extensive network of foreign correspondents, foreign countries.
What We Do
- U.S. and Foreign Trademark Registration
- U.S. and Foreign Patent and Design Patent Applications
- International Trademark and Patent Applications using the Madrid Protocol, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and the Hague System for International Registration of Industrial Designs
- Copyright Registration
- Licensing
- Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Litigation and Oppositions
- U.S. and Foreign Intellectual Property Transactions and Disputes
- Internet Domain Name Arbitrations
Trademarks, Service Marks, Trade Names, and Copyrights
Our attorneys have extensive experience filing applications for trademarks, service marks, trade names, and copyrights with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Copyright Office, and the state of Hawai‘i Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, as well as international trademark applications and, either directly or through foreign correspondents, applications for foreign applications or extensions of protection. We also oppose U.S. trademark applications and petition to cancel U.S. trademark registrations before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and, through foreign correspondents, oppose or cancel foreign applications and registrations.
Patents
We represent clients in all stages of patent prosecution from the initial filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office through issuance, including international patent applications and foreign patent applications through foreign correspondents. Patents obtained by our practice group have been upheld through reexamination and litigation.
Right of Publicity
We advise with respect to the right of publicity and prepare various releases and contracts and can also register rights of publicity as may be necessary.
Licensing and Exploitation
Our attorneys understand how to structure contracts that will protect and exploit intellectual property rights. Our attorneys regularly assist licensors and licensees in structuring, preparing, and negotiating licensing deals, assignments of rights, sales of intellectual property rights, distribution agreements, software licenses, and many other types of agreements.
Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Litigation
As the most experienced patent, trademark, and copyright litigation attorneys in Hawai‘i, we have represented clients as both plaintiffs and defendants in patent infringement, trademark infringement, copyright infringement, preliminary injunction proceedings, anti-counterfeiting seizures, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, domain name arbitration, and other types of intellectual property litigation, including before the Hawai‘i courts and courts in other states, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and before the administrative tribunals of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. We have also assisted clients with oppositions and cancellations in foreign countries through our foreign correspondents.
- Obtained many U.S. and foreign patents covering diverse types of technologies.
- Sued companies in industries to enforce patents on new technologies adopted throughout those industries.
- Negotiated acquisitions of trademark rights for clients to use in prominent advertising campaigns.
- Advised many clients on defending copyright infringement claims for downloading movies and photos.
- Advised many clients about acquiring necessary licenses and permissions for use of copyrightable content and publicity rights.
- Advised many clients on obtaining and defending trademark rights in foreign countries.
- Enforced non-competition agreements.
