Intellectual Property

With an 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 practice stands ready to assist clients in all aspects of development and management of portfolio strategy, commercial exploitation, and the protection and enforcement of their intellectual property.  Our team provides comprehensive counsel and service to help clients of all sizes meet their diverse needs for the recognition, acquisition, and safeguarding of their intellectual property, and to address domestic and international intellectual property acquisition and licensing, development and management, and dispute resolution.​

Clients served by the Intellectual Property practice include university and corporate entities, including manufacturers of products such as pharmaceutical equipment, medical devices, household appliances, textiles, ground improvement technologies, 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 scientific, technological, or intellectual property interests.  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 global acquisition and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Representative Clients and Commitment

Our attorneys share the firm's ongoing commitment to providing exceptional client service.  We are readily accessible to our clients, without regard to when a legal issue may arise, and our shared focus never strays from our core values of reliability and responsiveness.  We take an abiding interest in our clients, often drawing on the substantial knowledge and experience of other practice groups in the firm.

Our attorneys bring to their work a wide range of complementary experience, including engineering, biotechnology, chemistry, and architecture; manufacturing company management, strategic intellectual property consulting, and in-house counsel; judicial clerkships; university lecturers and law school adjunct faculty; and leadership in civic and community organizations.  They are licensed to practice before federal and North Carolina state courts, and the USPTO.  They also are active and hold membership or leadership positions in many professional organizations relating to their practice areas, including the American and North Carolina Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Sections, the American Institute of Architects, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Association of University Technology Managers, the Eastern North Carolina Inn of Court, the International Trademark Law Association, the Licensing Executives Society, and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.

We are your established legal network with offices in Asheville, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh, and Wilmington, NC.

  • American Board of Trial Advocates
  • Legal Elite Business North Carolina 2024
  • Super Lawyers 2021
  • Recognized by Best Lawyers 2023
  • U.S. News Best Lawyers 20234

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