Changes on the horizon in intellectual property domain

More companies are involving intellectual property (IP) legal counsel in business strategy to help integrate their valuable IP assets into business development and marketing strategies.

“The economic and social impact of new technologies are redefining the IP landscape and vastly increasing the potential value of a company’s intellectual property assets, including many that may have undervalued or overlooked in the past,” said attorney Michael A. Kahn of law firm of Capes, Sokol, Goodman & Sarachan, P.C. in St. Louis.

More change is on the horizon, Kahn says.

“Over the next three months, the U.S. Supreme Court will hand down decisions in several important patent, copyright, and trademark cases that will literally change the IP landscape,” he said.

“As I explain to clients, copyrights are no longer just for authors, songwriters, poets and publishers, and patents are no longer the sole domain of white-coated scientists in labs. Increased media attention about trademarks, trade dress, publicity rights, copyrights, patents, trade secrets and IP litigation is prompting more shareholders to follow a company’s IP assets, and to expect better performance from the companies involved and better legal protection of those IP assets.”

Kahn said that more top executives are rethinking business strategy with the contributions by IP legal counsel.

“Protecting unique knowledge or creations and guarding against their illicit use is crucial in a world where IP assets are among the most valuable assets a business can possess,” he said.

“These factors – including that patent litigation continues to escalate due in part to the anti-joinder rule of the America Invents Acts of 2011 – are influencing how corporate managers are considering their IP assets with legal counsel’s advice when approaching their markets and defining new markets in the U.S. and internationally.”

Kahn was voted 2013 St. Louis Lawyer of the Year, Litigation-Intellectual Property, and 2014 St. Louis Copyright Lawyer of the Year by The Best Lawyers in America. He earned his J.D. cum laude at Harvard University and is an adjunct professor at Washington University School of Law.

He focuses his IP legal practice at Capes, Sokol, on matters of commercial litigation, media and entertainment, and First Amendment issues. He has negotiated intellectual property licenses with professional sports leagues, publishers and musicians, serving as counsel of record for the National Basketball Association, Oprah Winfrey, Lions Gate Entertainment, Mark McGwire, McFarlane Toys, Radio One, Emmis Communications, the St. Louis Business Journal, Eveready Battery Company, The New York Yankees, Paramount Pictures, and The Topps Company.