According to Maurice Ross, a partner at the firm of Barton, Barton & Plotkin LLP, “One of the most important issues that companies face is the disconnect between stock prices and the value of their intellectual property.”

In this exclusive LegalMindsTV interview, filmed at the NASDAQ MarketSite, Ross discusses how significant changes in the regulatory environment will continue to have an impact on intellectual property rights and the role that will play on stock prices, directors liability, M&A activity and litigation costs.

“Companies need to look at this from both an offensive and defensive point of view,” explains Ross.  “From a defensive point of view, there are often competitors who have acquired or may acquire in the near future intellectual property rights that can actually put a company out of business, depress a company’s profits or interfere with its ability to market a product or service.”

“On the offensive side, the issue is whether the company is doing a sufficient job to obtain, procure and enforce its own intellectual property rights.  Additionally, does the company have a realistic understanding of the value of the patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights that are owned.”

Ross explains that one of the challenges that companies face in analyzing the value of their intellectual property is the changing landscape in terms of the legal standards that are applied to analyzing patents.  Most notably, decisions such as KSR, in which the Supreme Court effectively made it much easier to prove the patents are obvious, and Bilski, which made it more difficult to obtain business method patents and adopted a standard that would make it very difficult in the future to know whether your business method patent is really valid or not.

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View and download a PDF transcript of the full interview here. (Coming soon.)

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ATTORNEY INFORMATION

Maurice Ross
Partner, Barton Barton & Plotkin LLP

Counterfeit consumer products were once limited mostly to luxury fashion and jewelry brands, but now companies are finding the threat reaching broadly across all product categories and levels of commerce — from upscale merchants to the local 99¢ store, and even the pharmacy shelves.

Current estimates are that 7-10% of global trade is derived from counterfeit products, with an annual cost of almost $492 billion to the global economy.  Within the U.S., government agencies made almost 15,000 seizures of counterfeit and pirated goods in 2009, with a domestic value of $260 million.

In this exclusive LegalMindsTV interview, Greg Gulia, a partner in the New York office of Duane Morris LLP, discusses the factors contributing to the sudden increase in counterfeit and gray market goods, what companies can do to protect their brands from trademark infringement and why it’s essential to take action.

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View and download a PDF transcript of the full interview here.

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ATTORNEY INFORMATION

Gregory P. Gulia
Partner, Duane Morris LLP

Mr. Gulia has counseled clients concerning a broad range of intellectual property issues, negotiated trademark licenses, purchases and consent agreements, and litigated numerous trademark, copyright, anti-counterfeiting, domain name, unfair competition, trade secrets, rights of publicity and privacy, and First Amendment cases for various major media corporations, entertainers, luxury goods makers, fashion companies, international store chains and consumer products companies.

Mr. Gulia is a 1992 cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and a graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.

FIRM INFORMATION

Evolving from a partnership of prominent lawyers in Philadelphia a century ago, Duane Morris now has offices in many major markets and continues to expand across the country and overseas through nonmerger growth. Throughout this expansion, Duane Morris remains committed to preserving the collegial culture that has attracted so many talented attorneys. The firm’s leadership believes this culture is truly unique among large law firms, and that outstanding legal work is best accomplished by skilled professionals who respect each other and work well together.

Duane Morris lawyers hold leadership positions in bar associations, as well as in educational, cultural and charitable organizations and with community groups across the country. Many of the firm’s attorneys come to Duane Morris after having held senior positions in government agencies and large corporations. This range of experience is further enriched by the diverse backgrounds of the firm’s attorneys. Duane Morris has long been committed to recruiting, retaining and promoting talented female and minority lawyers, many of whom hold leadership roles at the firm.

Trade publications have placed Duane Morris in the upper echelon of law firms in terms of utilizing technology. Hundreds of lawyers working around the globe quickly communicate and collaborate using the firm’s integrated computer network, accessing sophisticated research software, information-rich databases, and other knowledge-sharing tools. Duane Morris’ clients also benefit from the contributions of professional-level support staff who maintain the firm’s technological and administrative infrastructure and enable lawyers to focus on providing valuable counsel and service to their clients.

For additional information, visit: http://www.duanemorris.com

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