Woodcock Washburn counsels clients in the consumer products industry on all aspects of intellectual property protection and strategy. We have extensive experience prosecuting patents, trademarks and copyrights for large institutional companies, medium and small entities, startups, and individual investors. Our lawyers have worked on protecting consumer products such as disposable cameras, sanitary napkins, toy water guns, household electric fans, and aluminum beverage cans, to name a few.

Patents and other forms of intellectual property protection add value to a company's innovation and business success. In particular, our work makes startups and small businesses more attractive to investors and enhances their ability to grow. Our firm advises all of our clients, whether large or small, on developing and implementing intellectual property programs tailored to their overall business strategy.

Intellectual property is a vehicle that allows the IP owner to exclude others from making, using or selling the protected invention, mark, or work of art. This right to exclude carries with it the implied right to allow others to use the invention. Therefore, the firm's attorneys also help their consumer products clients license their intellectual property to extract added value from R&D investments, increase market share in existing markets and, in the case of pioneering patents, create new and/or exclusive markets.

Woodcock Washburn also vigorously enforces and defends the intellectual property rights of the firm's consumer products clients through litigation. For example:

• In McNeil-PPC v. The Procter & Gamble Co., 90-2029 (D. Colo.), our firm won an arbitration award for McNeil-PPC involving patents on ultrathin sanitary napkins.
• In Kimberly Clark Corp. v. McNeil-PPC, 03-0156 (E.D. Wisc.) and McNeil-PPC v. Kimberly Clark Corp., 03-852 (D.N.J.), Woodcock Washburn represented McNeil-PPC in tandem actions involving cross-charges of infringement for disposable absorbent products. The matters were settled to our client's satisfaction following Markman briefing and expert reports.
• In Bradley Ruben v. Rite-Aid Corp., et al., 04-2058 (D.N.J.), our firm's attorneys succeeded in having this action dismissed. The case was brought by an inventor against several drug store chains and alleged that sale of a Neutrogena men's skin care product infringed his method patent. Woodcock Washburn represented the drug store chains at the request of the firm's client, Neutrogena.