The Intellectual Property Practice Group offers integrated services to meet the diverse needs of our clients for the recognition, acquisition, and safeguarding of their intellectual property (IP). We understand that intellectual property transactional matters and litigation concerns overlap, so we are prepared to handle matters such as:

• Identifying and defining patent, trademark, and copyright ownership rights;

• Preparing, filing, and prosecuting patent, trademark, and copyright applications in the United States and foreign jurisdictions;

• Securing intellectual property licensing rights;

• Negotiating the sale and transfer of intellectual property assets;

• Protecting confidentiality, trade secrets, and privacy rights; and

• Providing litigation services for enforcing intellectual property rights and defending against infringement claims.

Transactional Matters: The Intellectual Property Practice Group handles all transactional matters involving intellectual property and proprietary information, including: patent, copyright, and trademark opinions and application preparation and prosecution; intellectual property licensing, transfers, and policy development; trade secret protection; employee and consultant confidentiality and IP ownership agreements; and other matters involving information, technology, and proprietary systems.

Litigation: The Intellectual Property Practice Group also assists clients with all aspects of intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret enforcement as well as infringement defense; patent reexamination proceedings; trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings; license agreement disputes; and disputes regarding e-commerce systems and domain names.

A representative list of clients the Intellectual Property Practice Group serves includes: manufacturers of products such as pharmaceutical equipment, medical devices, household appliances, textiles, boats and marine accessories, farming equipment, waste management technology, and electronic equipment; banks and other financial institutions; health care providers; computer software programmers, vendors, and marketers; businesses with proprietary technologies; distributors; Internet service providers and other e-businesses; and other businesses with technology or intellectual property concerns. Recognizing that full commercial development of intellectual property is often a global endeavor, we serve clients from around the world and maintain relationships with foreign associates for acquisition and enforcement of IP rights on an international level.

Our attorneys take an abiding interest in our clients. We visit their places of business, and offer seminars at their location or at our offices. We are a full-service law firm where our attorneys draw on the substantial knowledge and experience of other groups in the firm—such as Business, Dealer/Distributor and Franchising, and International—to complement the services we provide

Attorneys in the Intellectual Property Practice Group bring to their work a range of complementary experience, including the following: engineering and architecture; manufacturing company management; judicial clerkships to the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals; university lecturer; membership in community and civic organizations; and membership on the executive boards of many civic organizations. Group attorneys are licensed to practice in intellectual property matters before relevant state and federal courts, including the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Our attorneys are active and hold membership or leadership positions in many organizations relating to their practice areas, including: the American Intellectual Property Law Association; American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section; North Carolina Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section; Carolina Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law Association; Eastern North Carolina Inn of Court; North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers; American Boat and Yacht Council; American Institute of Architects; North Carolina Economic Developers Association; and the North Carolina Bankers Association.

With a changing economy that places a higher value on the intellectual assets of companies, and the need to address business decisions on a global level, the Intellectual Property Group of Ward and Smith, P.A. stands ready to assist clients in all aspects of development, commercial exploitation, and the protection and enforcement of their intellectual property.

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