Intellectual Property and Advertising Injury Litigation

Intellectual property disputes can become complicated, expensive and often, very personal and emotionally charged. Lasater & Martin has worked for years solving these disputes through both trial and negotiation. Among many examples, in a case where the firm’s engineering company client was sued for theft of trade secrets and copyright infringement by a competitor, the plaintiff (a manufacturing company) ended up paying our client $250,000.00 to settle the case after we counter-claimed for abuse of process. In an extremely contentious trademark case against another client alleging trademark misappropriation, Lanham Act violations, and consumer protection act violations, we tried the case to a federal jury, and obtained a defense verdict (against one of the largest IP law firms in the state). The plaintiff, an international manufacturing company, ultimately went through reorganization after it unsuccessfully tested its claim to trademark protection against our client. In cases alleging consumer protection act violations, the firm routinely obtains dismissals of those claims through motion practice or walk-away agreements. Lasater & Martin’s IP litigation practice includes patent infringement, product disparagement and defamation (libel/slander).