IP Transactions, Agreements, and Trade Secrets

IP Transactions and IP Agreements
Monetizing your intellectual property often turns on your ability to negotiate effective license agreements. Nixon Vanderhye’s licensing professionals routinely handle licensing transactions for clients ranging from start-ups and individual inventors to multinational corporations. We combine our understanding of your strategic business goals with a deep appreciation for the underlying technology and applicable legal principles to assist you in negotiating and drafting IP agreements that can serve as powerful business tools. Examples of recent successes include:

Protecting Trade Secrets & Know-How
Your trade secrets and know-how are valuable intellectual property assets. Trade secrets can be extremely useful for protecting against competition from departing employees or former business partners. But effective preservation and enforcement of trade secrets often require careful structuring of relationships and internal processes before a problem arises. Because attorneys at Nixon Vanderhye have a deep understanding of technology, they can provide comprehensive advice regarding trade secret protection and precautions for preserving the secrecy of trade secrets such as non-disclosure agreements with partners and employees. We can also help you to open and traverse effective avenues for enforcing your trade secret protection in the event of a breach.

Co-Existence/Consent Agreements
Nixon Vanderhye assists its clients in protecting their valuable intellectual property by negotiating coexistence and consent agreements with third parties when appropriate circumstances exist. For instance, to overcome likelihood of refusals at the USPTO based on similar marks, Nixon Vanderhye procures such agreements between its clients and cited registrants, applicants, and third parties to memorialize market realities that enable non-conflicting marks to be registered and used. 

Coexistence and consent agreements are also a frequent way to amicably resolve IP conflicts, often averting what would otherwise be situations resolved by expensive litigation.

Nixon Vanderhye also uses coexistence and consent agreements as a way to obtain some IP rights coverage suitable for our clients’ needs by carving out a scope of use and registration that results in a non-conflicting arrangement with third parties.

IP Audits and Due Diligence
“Kicking the tires” is not an option when considering an intellectual property acquisition; one needs to look under the hood and know what they are looking at. Our considerable experience strategically prosecuting and litigating patents, coupled with our knowledge of underlying technology, enables us to help evaluate patent portfolios from many different perspectives. We also help start-ups and other clients build strategic IP portfolios to survive thorough due diligence by investors or potential acquirers.

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