Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman PC

National

Regional

New York City

Practice Areas

• Copyright

  Copyright protection worldwide is a core practice of our Intellectual Property group. In addition to registering copyright claims and enforcing rights in various forms of media, our attorneys are pioneers in the significant new copyright challenges presented by the digital revolution.

  We counsel clients in all sectors of their businesses, including advertising, Internet, social media, computer software, technology, virtual and augmented reality. Our experience also covers the more traditional copyright industries, such as book and music publishing, sound recordings, broadcasting and entertainment. We regularly advise several motion picture companies on copyright clearance issues. We also frequently give opinions on copyrightability, fair use, infringement, ownership and title, security interests, and international protection strategies. When our clients need or offer copyright licenses, we negotiate essential terms.

  We are well-known for our copyright litigation expertise. In collaboration with our Litigation practice group, we enforce our clients' copyright interests and defend their legitimate rights to use the works of others in the courts and through alternative dispute resolution proceedings.

• Customs

  For over 30 years, the attorneys in our Customs, International Cargo & Regulatory Compliance practice have been providing practical, creative solutions to cross-border and regulatory issues for importers, exporters, trade associations, freight forwarders, Customs brokers and other service providers large and small.

  With an emphasis on consumer products, we advise on all trade matters, whether originating inside or outside the United States. We regularly interact with U.S. government officials, at agency headquarters and locally, throughout the U.S. In addition, our attorneys have testified before Congress on pending and proposed legislative and administrative matters and appear in court on trade matters.

  We assist clients in establishing procedures to ensure compliance with the constantly changing regulations of the government agencies charged with ensuring the health, safety, and economic welfare of us all. These include the Consumer Product Safety Commission, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration, Food and Drug Administration and the Fish and Wildlife Service. We also strive to give clients a competitive advantage by helping them to qualify for tariff and tax reductions in import and export markets, to develop a market access strategy and through other legal means.

• Estate Administration

  Our Trusts and Estates practice was established during the early years of the firm to address issues concerning transfer of wealth of business executives, professionals, high net-worth individuals and the principals of our privately held business clients. Working as counselors and trusted advisors, we develop strategies that help our clients achieve their financial and personal objectives and provide for their families' needs through tax and succession planning.

  We approach this more personal area of practice with the same commitment as we do our other areas, combining sophisticated tax planning experience with sensitivity and practical solutions. Our focus is on preserving clients' assets, avoiding family acrimony and, where there are closely held or family-owned businesses, planning for management and ownership continuity and succession.

  We employ a wide range of estate and tax planning tools to ensure that our clients' objectives are accomplished, including wills, health care proxies, powers of attorney, generation skipping transfers, family limited partnerships, life insurance trusts, revocable and irrevocable trusts, as well as charitable and other gift-giving devices. We also provide trust and estate administration and tax preparation services. In the unfortunate event of contested proceedings, we handle litigation in collaboration with our Litigation practice group.

• Intellectual Property

  Intellectual property has become a key asset of all types of business. Maximizing the value of intellectual property, whether trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets, domain names or personal attributes, is more complex as commerce expands and globalization connects markets and users internationally.
  
  Whether in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, licenses, consent agreements, or structuring intellectual property holding companies, our attorneys provide clients with strategic counsel on the best ways to structure intellectual property ownership to maintain valid rights, while at the same time maximizing value and satisfying business and tax requirements.  We work with clients seeking to use intellectual property as collateral for loans or securitizations, and in situations in which a trademark's use will be split between unrelated business entities. In instances where trademarks are subject to long-term licenses, we help clients avoid inadvertent losses due to bankruptcy disaffirmance.  We conduct audits of our clients' intellectual property rights and perform due diligence investigations regarding the intellectual property issues involved in acquisitions and in secured financing transactions. 

  In addition to being practitioners, our attorneys are respected teachers, authors and advisors who have served on committees that have drafted the current copyright, trademark and unfair competition laws. Because of our accumulated knowledge and experience in defining this changing area of the law, we approach problems from an advanced starting point. We do not have to learn at the client's expense.

• Litigation

  Litigation is a way of resolving problems. It can be a tool for achieving a successful settlement, sometimes in combination with early dispute resolution. Or it can be the best means for redressing a wrong or establishing a principle.

  Attorneys in our Litigation practice group have extensive trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies in New York and throughout the United States. We also regularly represent clients in proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, in domain name arbitration actions before the World Intellectual Property Organization and the National Arbitration Forum, and in advertising disputes before the National Advertising Division by The Better Business Bureau. 

  Among the cases we litigate are matters involving general commercial law, false advertising, the Internet and e-commerce, trademarks, patents, copyrights, unfair competition, entertainment, employment, professional ethics, product liability, real estate, regulatory and taxation disputes, white-collar criminal defense, military justice, matrimonial, family and estate matters.

  Our approach is to be as persuasive and efficient as possible. We focus on decisive issues and avoid overstaffing cases. When appropriate, we have the resources of paraprofessionals and sophisticated legal support technology to assist us.

  Of course, we always look for early dispute resolution opportunities.  Members of the firm have represented our clients in mediation and arbitration proceedings.  They also act as mediators and arbitrators in cases for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (E.D.N.Y.), the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), the International Trademark Association (INTA), and the American Arbitration Association (AAA).

• Patent

  Patent law is a key part of our Intellectual Property practice. Members of our Patent Group have scientific and technical backgrounds in electronics, electrical and mechanical engineering; computer hardware and software; and organic chemistry and materials science. We concentrate on complex computer-related inventions; electrical, mechanical and electro-mechanical devices; Internet-related systems and software; biotechnology; business method patents; and design patents. We advise clients on a wide range of domestic and international patents, trade secrets, e-commerce, and infringement issues, as well as transactional matters. In addition, when our clients want to take their inventions to market, we advise on their advertising and marketing campaigns and collateral contracts. When litigation is necessary, our patent attorneys and our Litigation group join forces to form a formidable team enforcing and defending infringement claims.

  The experience of our patent attorneys includes the following technologies:

  • digital signal processing, including compression and encryption technologies;
  • digital and radio transmission systems;
  • audience measurement methodologies and systems;
  • medical devices and medical electronic systems;
  • surveillance markers and systems;
  • image recognition;
  • artificial intelligence;
  • object-oriented programs;
  • fuel cells;
  • pharmaceuticals and disease treatment;
  • biomarkers;
  • digital, film and video cameras;
  • optics;
  • lasers;
  • holographic storage;
  • methods of doing business; and
  • footwear function and design.

  We obtain patents and enforce and defend patent litigation nationwide. In addition, we:

  • provide patent infringement, validity and availability opinions;
  • counsel clients regarding trade secrets and design patent protection;
  • design and build domestic and international patent portfolios;
  • plan strategies for establishing and countering competitive patent positions;
  • make IP due diligence investigations;
  • draft agreements for the domestic and international transfer of technology, including non-disclosure agreements, material transfer agreements, and research collaboration agreements;
  • structure intellectual property holding companies;
  • advise on the maintenance of patent assets consistent with corporate budgeting and tax requirements;
  • prepare and negotiate employment agreements and patent assignments, licenses and security interests; and
  • conduct audits of patent and other IP rights.

  We maintain a computerized patent record-keeping system that assists in managing client patent portfolios efficiently and cost effectively.

  The proliferation of computers, e-commerce and the Internet have heightened the importance of patents for hardware and software-related products. Our Patent attorneys have been involved in Internet and computer-related patents for more than two decades.

  Whether for components of computer hardware or for applications software, we have the expertise, knowledge and contacts to help our clients protect their patents and intellectual property in today's marketplace. We have extensive experience in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, protecting complex computer-related inventions before the U.S. and other patent offices. We work with a wide variety of computer and electronic technologies including financial software products, artificial intelligence, object-oriented programming, digital transmission systems (networks), image recognition and diverse application programs. We are also experienced in conducting infringement and validity studies of patents for various electronic technologies, particularly for the Internet.

  Our Patent attorneys also have extensive experience working with the rapidly evolving biotechnology industry.  From small-molecule drugs to diagnostic methods and methods of disease treatment, we assist both established and start-up companies in protecting their intellectual property with domestic and international patents.  We also represent clients in complex transactional matters, providing the guidance companies need to efficiently and effectively negotiate agreements that fuel their future success.

• Trademark

  The scope of our trademark work is broad. We counsel clients from diverse industries on matters including evaluating the strength of proposed names and marks, clearing and registering marks, properly using marks for goods, services, using marks in advertising, campaigns, protecting trademarks in social media, managing trademark portfolios worldwide, anti-counterfeiting, trademark and domain name enforcement, recordation of trademarks with U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), and litigation. Our trademark attorneys practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the United States International Trade Commission (ITC), Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) service providers, and in courts of general jurisdiction. In addition, we support our clients in negotiating licenses, consent and coexistence agreements, assignments, purchases and sales, conducting intellectual property audits and due diligence investigations as well as developing ownership structures to permit shared uses of the same trademark. 

  Our large Trademark Group has unusual depth which allows us to have work done by paraprofessionals in appropriate circumstances. Staffed by experienced trademark administrators knowledgeable in U.S. and international trademark practice, our trademark administration department manages more than 30,000 trademark records and cost effectively administers international registration programs. In conjunction with our carefully selected network of correspondents in virtually every country, our trademark practice effectively handles our clients' needs around the world.

Awards

Offices & Contacts

Significant Matters