Over the past two decades, Covington lawyers have brought or supervised hundreds of civil and criminal copyright-related actions against thousands of infringers throughout the United States and in over 60 countries. These actions range from traditional litigation over substantially similar and counterfeit works to actions against Internet, satellite and broadcast pirates. We have litigated copyright infringement cases in US district and appellate courts and have drafted and submitted amicus briefs on important copyright issues.
Covington has also conceived and implemented copyright-based enforcement campaigns against distributors of gray market products and packaging. We generally deploy small teams of lawyers, utilizing the firm's expertise in copyright law along with its reservoir of knowledge in substantive areas such as new technology, software, sports, media and communications, and luxury goods.
As part of these various efforts, Covington has built and trained a far-reaching network of local counsel and investigators, and has also developed important relationships with public authorities worldwide, including government officials, police, prosecutors, and customs authorities with responsibility for copyright enforcement.
Representative Matters
- Represented the Business Software Alliance and software publishers in preparation of amicus briefs filed in appellate and Supreme Court cases involving seminal copyright issues, including the Napster, AOL and Grokster cases.
- Represented Corbis Corporation in numerous copyright enforcement actions to enforce rights in images licensed by Corbis.
- Represented Microsoft in preparation of an amicus brief filed in the Eleventh Circuit concerning parody and fair use of Gone with the Wind.
- Represented various software publishers, including Microsoft and the Business Software Alliance, in supervising civil and criminal copyright and Internet anti-piracy enforcement actions in over 50 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
- Represented the National Football League in multiple federal court cases to enjoin the unauthorized retransmission and public performance of NFL game telecasts across US borders via satellite and the Internet and within US borders where games are locally blacked-out, or otherwise unauthorized.
- Represented the NFL, the NBA and other sports leagues in copyright actions to obtain temporary restraining orders, seizure orders and preliminary and permanent injunctions against the piracy of game telecasts and the sale of counterfeit merchandise.
- Represented the NFL and the NBA in a federal court action to enjoin a Canadian website operator from unauthorized streaming of copyrighted sports broadcasts into the United States over the Internet.
Accolades
Covington's intellectual property attorneys have been recognized by:
- WORLDLeaders IP Awards, shortlisted in the worldwide category "Excellence in Domain Name Policy Implementation" (2008).
- The Best Lawyers in America (2007-2009)
- Chambers USA's - America's Leading Business Lawyers (2006-2009)
- The Practical Law Company (PLC) - Which Law Firm?, Intellectual Property, Commercial Intellectual Property (2009)
- PLC - Life Sciences, Which Lawyer? - One attorney recognized for Intellectual Property (2005-2009).
- European Legal 500, Intellectual Property (Belgium) - “…Covington & Burling has a successful IP regulatory practice, the firm also undertakes high-end litigation in the Belgian courts” (2005).
- Legal 500 EMEA (IP Brussels) - “…the firm is also active domestically, and is a good choice for litigation, particularly with respect to the enforcement of IP rights in new media.” (2006).
- Legal 500 (Commercial Litigation EU) - “Covington & Burling is ‘business-orientated and user-friendly’. The lawyers are ‘efficient and responsive’. Areas of expertise include complex commercial contracts, IP, life sciences, product liability, wrongful denials of insurance coverage and environmental torts.” (2005).
- European Legal Experts (2006)
- PLC Global Counsel 2006 - Global Counsel Magazine for “The Life Sciences Industry Super League” - ranked number one in the world, 23 Covington lawyers were recommended as leaders in their fields, including seven lawyers in Europe.
- WORLDleaders European Awards for “Best Achievement in Protecting IP on the Internet” (2005)
- Two of our Covington partners are Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers and one was elected a Vice Chair of the Complex Litigation Committee.
- Another partner served as a United States District Court Judge for the District of Delaware for ten years presiding over 200 patent infringement cases.
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