Our practice covers the full range of issues confronting companies in the realm of software and technology, supported by lawyers who are authorities on such subjects as Internet intellectual property, electronic payment systems, software industry standards, encryption and data privacy. We assist a wide range of clients, including the largest multinational creators, vendors and users of technology as well as emerging Internet start-ups developing the latest technology. Our lawyers counsel clients on the conceptualization, organization, execution, utilization, marketing and risk management of software and technology in virtually every industry sector. This advice and assistance commonly relates to such matters as intellectual property licensing and protection; antitrust; corporate and finance; joint ventures and strategic alliances; branding and marketing; consumer and regulatory compliance; litigation; and tax.
Covington’s technology practice is distinguished by the vast substantive expertise of our lawyers, who contribute experience from a wide range of industries, including financial services, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, food and drug, transportation, communications and media, and energy. We offer tightly integrated services throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia from our offices in Washington, New York, San Francisco, London and Brussels. The capabilities of our lawyers are widely-recognized in such publications as Chambers and Best Lawyers in America.
We help clients, through training as well as through comprehensive reviews of websites, operations, policies and procedures, to identify lapses in regulatory compliance. We also handle regulatory enforcement actions and litigation.
We work with clients to devise and negotiate innovative agreements and other partnering arrangements with third parties for a wide range of activities, spanning the spectrum from Internet e-commerce operations and website hosting to technology licensing and co-branding relationships.
We advise clients on strategies and developments in virtually every country in the world. For example, our lawyers counsel companies on international jurisdiction and conflict-of-law issues arising from their technology activities, while also assisting on matters of data encryption, electronic signatures and enforcement of digital contracts.
Our lawyers also are deeply involved in the principal regulatory and policy initiatives relating to technology and software at the federal and state levels in the United States, as well as in the European Union (both in the European Commission and individual Member States) and a host of other regions and countries.
Representative technology and software clients include Boeing, the Business Software Alliance, Electronic Arts, the Entertainment Software Rating Board, IBM, InterActive Corporation, Lucent Technlogies, Maersk, Microsoft, the National Football League, Opnet, Qualcomm, Radio One, Inc., Telular Corporation, Traffic.com, Inc., U.S. Digital Television LLC. and Yahoo!
Representative Matters
- Advise our long-time client the Business Software Alliance, whose membership includes the leading business software publishers and their major hardware partners, on antitrust compliance matters.
- Represent a coalition of software and online content providers, including Amazon.com, eBay, Google, Interactive Corp, Microsoft, and Yahoo!, on Net Neutrality and related broadband policy issues in the United States and with respect to the EU’s current review of its communications regulatory framework.
- Negotiated a Master Repurchase Agreement for a leading software company’s repurchase of $20 billion in stock.
- Represent leading foreign and U.S. software security firms before the National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security and other U.S. government security agencies.
- Represented Microsoft in securing summary judgment of no infringement in a patent infringement case concerning handheld computers running a version of Microsoft Windows.
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