As counsel to leading technology firms, luxury goods manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and other IP rights owners, Covington has engaged in intellectual property policy initiatives at the local, regional, and international level throughout the world. Our deep IP industry expertise combined with our long experience in public policy work make us a persuasive voice on these issues.
Our work in this area has covered a wide range of issues, including but not limited to efforts to improve national IP enforcement regimes, to modernize substantive IP laws, and to address complex and novel issues relating to the intersection between IP and competition and IP and technology standards. In the US, for example, the firm has crafted and successfully lobbied for significant reforms to copyright, trademark, and patent laws and worked closely with senior government officials and legislators to ensure that China, Russia, Brazil, and other important markets meet their commitments to protect and enforce US rights.
The effectiveness of our IP policy team is further enhanced by the firm's alliance with McLarty Associates, headed by former White House Chief of Staff and Special Envoy for the Americas Thomas F. McLarty. This unique alliance gives our clients access to the combined experience and expertise of lawyers, diplomats, senior negotiators, business leaders, financiers, lobbyists, policy- and opinion-makers and intelligence analysts to address their important international legal, regulatory, and commercial issues.
Representative Matters
- For more than 15 years, representing the Business Software Alliance in major US and international efforts to modernize copyright laws in the digital age, including the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the WIPO Treaties, and the EU Software, Copyright and IPR Enforcement Directives.
- Represented a leading software company in a successful legislative effort seeking enactment of enhanced sanctions and other legislative reforms to combat software piracy and counterfeiting.
- Regularly engaging with US trade officials on behalf of our clients’ interests in the various bilateral and regional trade negotiations in which the United States is engaged, including Free Trade Agreements with Australia, the Andean region, Central America-Dominican Republic, Chile, Korea, Thailand, and Singapore.
Accolades
- One attorney recognized in European Legal Experts for Intellectual Property (Brussels) (2006)
- Three attorneys named in The Best Lawyers in America for Intellectual Property Law (2007)
- One attorney recognized in Chambers USA's - America's Leading Business Lawyers for Intellectual Property (2006)
- One attorney recognized in European Legal Experts for Intellectual Property (Brussels) (2006)
- European Legal 500 (Belgium Intellectual property) “The firm has experience on anti-piracy campaigns, and is well-known for public policy work in relation to IP as well as conventional IP.” (2004)
- Ranked among the top thirty international firms by The Lawyer, “Top 30 International Firms” (2006)
- Ranked among the twenty most mentioned firms overall by Corporate Counsel, “Who Represents America’s Biggest Companies?” (2005)
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