Clearance Searches & Opinions

In today’s business environment, you not only want to protect the intellectual property that gives value to your own business but also to navigate successfully through the potential risks that may be presented by the intellectual property of others.  Even inadvertent patent infringement can give rise to serious liabilities and disruptions in your business.  A finding of willful or intentional infringement on your part can be even more devastating, because it provides the basis for an order tripling the award of damages against you and even requiring you to pay for the other side’s attorney fees.  Our lawyers are experienced in helping key business managers identify, understand, and manage these risks.

The opinion practice at W|N is designed to provide you with the analysis you need to make informed decisions and to protect you against charges of willful and intentional infringement.  A formal, written opinion of the firm is supported by our professional judgment and experience in intellectual property law and, although it cannot be a guarantee of success for any particular outcome, it provides assurance that an issue has been carefully and thoroughly considered.  Over its history, the firm has issued a number of detailed written opinions on complex intellectual property issues important to our clients, including opinions of non-infringement and invalidity. 

An opinion is usually useful in situations such as the following:

New Products You are in the process of designing a new product and want to know how to design a product and marketing strategy that will avoid infringing others’ patent and trademark rights.  W|N has the capability to identify potentially relevant patents and trademarks and advise you about potential risks for various product designs or marketing strategies.  Once relevant patents and trademarks are identified, our lawyers can identify the potential risks involved and work with you to identify possible alternative designs that may be more likely to avoid infringement.  If applicable, W|N can then provide a formal, written opinion confirming our analysis.

Threatening Letters You have received a letter from a patent owner, claiming that an existing product infringes a patent.  W|N has the capability to identify potential reasons why your product does not infringe and/or to identify potential design changes that can be made to your product to more clearly avoid infringement.  Or W|N can identify prior art or other bases for demonstrating that the patent should be held invalid.  If applicable, W|N can then provide a formal, written opinion confirming our analysis and evidencing that there is a reasonable, good faith basis to continue marketing your product in the face of the patent.  Our lawyers can also help you to deal with the patent owner to try to resolve the dispute without litigation.

Litigation You have been sued for patent infringement.  W|N has the capability to identify potential reasons why your product does not infringe and/or to identify potential design changes that can be made to your product to more clearly avoid infringement.  Or W|N can identify prior art that demonstrates that the patent should be held invalid.  If applicable, W|N can then provide a formal, written opinion confirming our analysis and evidencing that there is a reasonable, good faith basis to continue marketing your product in the face of the patent.  The opinion can be used, if appropriate, as evidence in the litigation to show that even if liability for infringement is found, the infringement was not willful or intentional. 

Regardless of the field of technology, our attorneys have the scientific background and training to understand the patent or technology at issue and to provide you with the legal advice you need.