Clients in need of copyright and trademark protection depend on our skilled litigators and IP lawyers with a proven record of success. Technology companies bring us cutting-edge and novel copyright protection matters centered on the dissemination and transmission of copyrighted works and content. Clients in the entertainment industry rely on our guidance on critical issues surrounding copyright protection for movies, television, music and other art forms, and we also work with fashion and consumer goods companies on protecting and enforcing their copyrights. 

Clients seek our help with the strategic selection, registration, management, enforcement and defense of trademark, trade dress and domain name rights—often their most valuable assets. Local and global brands rely on us to protect them from infringement and dilution by guarding their assets from competitors who aim to weaken their names. We also offer strategies to minimize risk of liability for trademark infringement and have successfully defended many companies in litigation against parties seeking to overreach with allegations of trademark or trade dress infringement, domain name misuse or cybersquatting. We consider not only potential infringement of third-party rights, but also whether a potential name or trademark can be registered and provide clients with the desired exclusivity and global market impact. Clients looking to prevent third-party misappropriation of trademarks and names depend on us to oppose registrations and seek cancellations of existing registrations, and to defend their trademarks in proceedings in the US Patent and Trademark Office, under the Madrid Protocol and before national and regional patent and trademark offices.

By patenting their innovations, our clients increase the value of their intellectual property and enhance their ability to compete in the marketplace. We work with laboratory and research teams and R&D and product development groups to determine whether, when and where it is in our clients’ business and technical interests to seek patent protection. And we don’t just file patent applications. Drawing on our experience with patent litigation, corporate financings and technology transactions, we implement IP strategies that conserve resources, add measurable value and give our clients a cost-effective and commercially practical competitive edge.

We help clients obtain more than 750 US and foreign patents each year, covering innovations that span the technological spectrum, including aerospace, biochemistry, biotechnology, business methods, chemistry, computer science, fuel cells, genetics, high-speed data communication, integrated circuits, materials science, medical devices, nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor devices and processes, and software.

We also prepare and prosecute patent applications internationally under the Patent Cooperative Treaty and by working with a network of seasoned patent lawyers around the world. Our experience extends to appeals, interferences and opposition proceedings within the US Patent and Trademark Office, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the European Patent Office.

Our Outsourcing Practice supports clients who seek comprehensive assistance in negotiating and managing complex outsourcing contractual arrangements, and our lawyers have represented many leading global corporations and financial institutions. We address all major legal and regulatory elements of these transactions—including privacy and data security, intellectual property, employment, tax, governance, and dispute resolution—and apply years of practical experience to assist our clients in structuring agreements that enhance their long-term performance and are consistent with their strategic objectives. Our attorneys have extensive experience and we have represented clients in more than 200 major outsourcing transactions. As a result, we have a robust understanding of the domestic and international commercial outsourcing marketplaces. We have experienced outsourcing lawyers based in the United States and Europe, and the practice is consistently recognized by numerous rankings organizations and publications.

We assist our clients in all aspects of outsourcing transactions, including preparing and negotiating the services agreement and related exhibits, and continue to advise clients throughout the negotiations and life cycle of the relationships. We are quite familiar with emerging outsourcing models and new technologies that are influencing the marketplace, such as cloud computing and autonomic. We have extensive experience representing clients in virtually every industry, including retail, manufacturing, banking and other financial services, insurance, technology, general commercial, telecommunications, construction, healthcare and medical devices, transportation, electronics, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, internet and e-commerce, and business services. Our lawyers have represented clients on the outsourcing of virtually every type of IT and BPO service, including data center and other infrastructure, application development, network services, finance and accounting functions, procurement, call center, mortgage processing, insurance and other claims, and HR services. We also have a particular depth of experience with legal compliance issues faced by regulated businesses and can draw upon the experience of our leading Financial Institutions and Securities Practices when needed.

Since the development of the Prudential Center from what had been a blighted railroad yard in Boston’s Back Bay in the early 1960s, WilmerHale has been at the forefront of many of the most significant and complex development projects in the United States. We advise owners, developers, lenders and investors on every step of the development process—from site identification and evaluation through design, permitting, financing, construction, leasing and sale. Our projects range from big-box retail stores and industrial warehouse and distribution centers to manufacturing plants, office towers, hotels, multi-family and condominium projects, seniors housing communities, university and private research facilities, and more.

We counsel owners, investors, lenders, developers and tenants in an array of distressed real estate transactions, including mortgage loan workouts and foreclosures, acquisitions and dispositions of distressed assets and loans, lease renegotiations, and joint venture restructurings. We work with colleagues in our bankruptcy, litigation and environmental risk management practices to provide the full range of advice needed for each transaction. Our deep experience in foreclosures serves the needs of institutional lenders and investors using the acquisition of loans and the exercise of loan remedies as a means to acquire title to properties.

WilmerHale’s Real Estate Practice represents borrowers and lenders in complex mortgage and mezzanine financing transactions across a wide variety of asset classes. We have extensive experience with government-sponsored enterprises and HUD, as well as conventional lenders, life insurance companies and mezzanine lenders. We also have one of the leading workout and bankruptcy practices in the nation, and we regularly collaborate with our bankruptcy lawyers to restructure debt on distressed real estate projects.

We counsel an array of public, private and nonprofit clients as they navigate the complex, ever-changing legal landscape that shapes employee benefits and retirement plans. Our attorneys help human resources professionals understand and manage the tax, securities and employment law implications of their benefits programs. We also regularly advise employers, boards of directors, and compensation and administrative committees as they design and draft qualified and non-qualified retirement programs, health and welfare plans, and fringe benefit plans, and we represent these employers and their plans before government agencies and in litigation. WilmerHale’s highly experienced transactional and tax lawyers collaborate to tackle employer concerns that range from negotiating the employee-related issues involved in buying or selling a business to advising on worker classification and employment tax matters.

We advise on all aspects of executive compensation plans and arrangements, offering experienced counsel on the complex web of applicable tax, corporate, securities and employment laws and regulations. Our executive compensation lawyers provide guidance to companies, boards of directors, compensation committees and select senior executives at all stages of executive compensation planning, from design to disclosure to implementation. Our capabilities also include advising on the interpretation of existing plans and arrangements in a wide variety of transactions. We stay at the cutting edge of changes to the legal framework and public and shareholder sentiment, balancing the technical and the practical to best achieve our clients’ business goals and navigate the impact of regulatory and market developments. Our lawyers have significant experience in equity and cash incentive compensation arrangements; nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements; employment, severance, retention and change-in-control agreements; and, for our non-corporate and ex-US clients in particular, profits interests and phantom equity arrangements.

Clients in need of copyright and trademark protection depend on our skilled litigators and IP lawyers with a proven record of success. Technology companies bring us cutting-edge and novel copyright protection matters centered on the dissemination and transmission of copyrighted works and content. Clients in the entertainment industry rely on our guidance on critical issues surrounding copyright protection for movies, television, music and other art forms, and we also work with fashion and consumer goods companies on protecting and enforcing their copyrights. 

Clients seek our help with the strategic selection, registration, management, enforcement and defense of trademark, trade dress and domain name rights—often their most valuable assets. Local and global brands rely on us to protect them from infringement and dilution by guarding their assets from competitors who aim to weaken their names. We also offer strategies to minimize risk of liability for trademark infringement and have successfully defended many companies in litigation against parties seeking to overreach with allegations of trademark or trade dress infringement, domain name misuse or cybersquatting. We consider not only potential infringement of third-party rights, but also whether a potential name or trademark can be registered and provide clients with the desired exclusivity and global market impact. Clients looking to prevent third-party misappropriation of trademarks and names depend on us to oppose registrations and seek cancellations of existing registrations, and to defend their trademarks in proceedings in the US Patent and Trademark Office, under the Madrid Protocol and before national and regional patent and trademark offices.