Computers and computer software play an integral role in intellectual property ownership today. Woodcock Washburn advises clients in the computer software industry on how to protect their rights in this complex environment. Our attorneys provide clients with tools to maximize the value of their software with respect to patents, copyrights, licenses and other intellectual property transactions.

Woodcock Washburn's clients range from small first-time inventors to large Fortune 500 software companies. Notable clients in the software industry include Microsoft, SAP, and SunGard. We also counsel clients in the chemical, pharmaceutical and financial services industries on how to detect potential problems and protect their own in-house software as well as the software components of their inventions.

Our attorneys have extensive experience drafting and prosecuting patents in a wide variety of software-related fields and technology. These include operating systems, virtualization, gaming, robotics, embedded software, compilers, digital rights management, data structures, interfaces, computer networks, parallel processing, optimization algorithms, voice recognition, and imaging. Many Woodcock Washburn attorneys were practicing engineers with advanced degrees. We also are active in technology-specific groups such as the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) Electronics and Computer Law Committee, the International Technology Law Association, the Philadelphia Intellectual Property Law Association (PIPLA) Computer Practice Committee and the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) Open Source Software Committee.

Our firm prosecutes patents and develops intellectual property portfolios. Building a useful patent portfolio especially in the rapidly-changing computer area begins with identifying a client's business goals and tailoring the patent strategy to fit those goals. Our lawyers analyze the competition, the emerging computing standards and licensing opportunities. Additionally, many computer-related businesses can use trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets to increase the value of their technology. We advise clients on how to develop these assets to ensure the maximum value from their patent portfolio investment.

Our firm's attorneys also assist clients in licensing transactions to monetize their own intellectual property assets as well as to obtain rights from third parties. We evaluate computer-related products and intellectual property portfolios to help clients enter licensing negotiations with a true understanding of their position.

Woodcock Washburn frequently is asked to enforce and defend intellectual property rights through litigation. Some recent representative cases include:

• AT&T, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp. (S.D. N.Y.) representing Microsoft in a patent infringement action involving voice encoder-decoder products.
• Civix-DDI, LLC v. Microsoft Corp. et al. (D. Colo.) representing Microsoft Corp., et al. in a patent infringement case involving Internet-based mapping and location systems and methods.
• Visual Technology Applications, Inc. v. Gemstone Educational Management, LLC. (E.D. Pa.) representing Visual Technology Applications in a patent infringement case involving computer-based vision testing and therapy software.
• Weather Central, Inc. v. WSI Corporation (W.D. Wis.) representing WSI Corp. in a patent infringement action involving a weather forecasting presentation system and method.