Copyright & Trademark

A company’s name, trademark, service mark, trade dress, and website domain name are among its most valuable assets, so selecting the right name or mark and defending it are often vital to the success of the business. Smith Duggan Cornell & Gollub helps clients in the strategic selection, registration, management, and enforcement of trademark, trade dress, and domain name rights. We help clients research the availability of marks, and work with our clients to help them choose marks, names, and mark designs. We take into consideration not only potential infringement of third-party rights, but also whether a potential name or trademark can be registered and can provide the client with the desired exclusivity.

We have extensive experience in filing and successfully registering trademarks and service marks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). We have also helped clients prevent third-party misappropriation of trademarks and names by opposing registrations and seeking cancellations of existing registrations in the USPTO.

Smith Duggan Cornell & Gollub gives clients guidance as to the ownership and protection of copyrights arising from a wide range of works produced by employees, contractors, and consultants. We are also experienced in filing copyright registrations before the US Copyright Office and defending clients against copyright infringement actions.

Smith Duggan Cornell & Gollub represents clients in internet-related copyright matters, and in unauthorized use and “piracy” disputes. For example, we have significant experience in helping clients protect against the unauthorized use of their proprietary content, such as unauthorized online distribution or “posting” of video and music, removing or “taking down” unauthorized content, and in defending against “fair use” or public domain claims.

Smith Duggan Cornell & Gollub represents plaintiffs and defendants in patent, copyright, and trademark litigation; trade secret, contract, and unfair trade practices litigation; and authors, publishers, actors, and producers in contract negotiations.

We represent publicly held and privately owned companies, as well as smaller startups in a wide range of trademark and copyright litigation including Lanham Act cases. For example, we have represented a high-profile manufacturer of sauces, a foreign manufacturer of home appliances, and local businesses in a wide variety of matters where infringement, fair use, public domain, and trademark dilution were litigated.

Recently, our lawyers appeared for a local distributor of Italian sauces who was sued in the Southern District of New York. The plaintiff claimed that the client’s label infringed on the mark of a prominent New York restaurant and retailer of pasta and sauce products. Smith Duggan Cornell & Gollub defeated an attempt by the plaintiff to obtain an injunction and then prevailed on a Motion to Dismiss under the “likelihood of confusion” provisions of 15 USC §1125(a) (the so-called Section 43(a) provision) even though the client’s company name was almost identical to the plaintiff’s corporate name. By addressing the matter forcefully and aggressively from the beginning, we were able to save the client’s business and end the case without prolonged litigation.