Globally connected lawyers counseling clients on complex business and policy matters.

We leverage technical knowledge, business acumen and legal experience to structure, prepare and negotiate innovative and effective technology-related agreements.

For companies in the life sciences sphere, licensing intellectual property and establishing strategic alliances are critical. WilmerHale’s experienced licensing lawyers shepherd biotech, pharmaceutical, healthcare and medical device clients of all sizes through the complex transactions that make their businesses possible, including a broad range of licensing, collaboration, strategic alliance and joint venture agreements. Our attorneys also excel at brokering manufacturing and supply agreements, contract research and development agreements, distribution and commercialization services agreements, and material transfer and confidentiality agreements. They also frequently represent life sciences clients as they license patents—often the foundations of their companies—from, and sponsor research at, leading academic institutions across the United States and Europe. Backed not only by their own experience but also the deep well of knowledge possessed by the firm’s patent, tax, antitrust and EU competition lawyers, our transactional attorneys are ready to handle even the most multifaceted matters. Our team helps clients protect their innovations, forge strategic alliances, and successfully navigate a complex, dynamic industry.

Our clients in the ever-changing and fiercely competitive hardware, software, IT and services industries depend on us to strategize and negotiate transactions that take advantage of opportunities now while protecting their innovations and preserving flexibility for the future. We structure, negotiate and draft all types of licensing, distribution, product development, joint venture and strategic alliance agreements for these clients, often drawing on the deep experience of WilmerHale’s unique capabilities in regulatory, intellectual property, corporate and tax law. We represent both mature and emerging companies with business models centered around offering software and/or professional services relating to analyzing and extracting insights from large data sets. We frequently draft and negotiate data license agreements, software-as-a-service (SaaS) agreements, website terms and other services agreements in which data is the core subject of the license. We also advise technology clients on big data issues that arise in outsourcing, joint venture and other transactional matters. Our attorneys keep a close watch on internet-related legislative and regulatory developments in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere, and leverage our up-to-the-minute knowledge to advise clients in areas such as data privacy and security, copyright infringement, and export restrictions.

Globally connected lawyers counseling clients on complex business and policy matters.

Germany

Providing comprehensive solutions for the acquisition, enforcement and protection of IP.

A global team handling highly complex and sensitive matters in all aspects of litigation.

Clients trust us to protect their most important intellectual property matters.

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.

Intellectual Property Litigation

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.

WilmerHale lawyers have decades of experience advising public and private companies in all aspects of mergers and acquisitions.

WilmerHale’s corporate lawyers have a long history of experience with cross-border deals involving mergers and acquisitions, public offerings and capital markets, venture capital, joint ventures and other transactions.