Software and electrical technologies have become fundamental to products across a wide range of applications. To meet the intellectual property needs of companies in these two crucial fields, Andrews Kurth has assembled a team of lawyers who combine extensive experience in software and electrical engineering with patent and business law skills. Our goal is to help our clients gain a competitive edge in the global marketplace by advising them on the most effective patent law strategies to exploit and protect their intellectual assets worldwide.

We take a business perspective

Andrews Kurth takes a business perspective to help our software and electrical clients create, implement and enforce an intellectual property strategy. We collaborate with colleagues throughout the firm who are skilled in litigation, corporate law, employment law, mergers/acquisitions and product liability, and who understand competitive needs in e-commerce, telecommunication and related industries. All of our lawyers work in partnership with client professionals to develop IP strategies that increase and protect each company’s revenues and profit.

We understand our clients’ technologies

Our team includes intellectual property lawyers, patent agents and technical advisors who have strong technical backgrounds, including technical and advanced degrees in:

• computer science
• mathematics
• electrical
• mechanical
• aeronautical engineering
• civil engineering
• physics

We have a natural understanding of such developing interdisciplinary technologies as bioinformatics and medical devices. We also have the broad commercial experience to work with diverse technical disciplines, including software, business methods, hardware, network, Internet, communications, semiconductors, instruments and other related technologies.

We are skilled at patent counseling 

Our lawyers regularly practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, devoting a significant amount of time to procuring patents on behalf of one or several clients in ex parte and inter partes proceedings. Beyond the patent process itself, we regularly conduct IP audits, and show our clients how to create and carry out domestic and international IP protection strategies.

We make technology an effective transactional tool

Patents and patent strategy are only useful when properly exploited. Andrews Kurth lawyers help software and electrical clients – whether individual entrepreneurs, startup companies, multinationals or research institutions – pursue the business transactions that give market value to their intellectual assets. We advise on:

• Licensing agreements, including “licensing in” and “licensing out” transactions
• Marketing and distribution agreements
• Research and development arrangements
• Joint ventures
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Financing transactions for growth, including initial public offerings, debt issues and refinancings.

In many transactions, we provide IP audits and due diligence opinions, infringement analysis, patent clearance and freedom to practice opinions.

We protect our clients’ rights

We are committed to aggressive protection of our clients’ intellectual property, and have extensive technology litigation experience in federal and state courts, government agencies as well as international dispute resolution forums. Our lawyers assert IP claims, defend against claims asserted by others, and enforce contracts and strategic alliance agreements. We also provide full litigation support on IP issues involving other disputes such as corporate takeovers, product liability lawsuits, and antitrust and trade regulation challenges.

We know the global marketplace

Andrews Kurth’s software and electrical engineering lawyers recognize that getting and enforcing intellectual property rights and building IP portfolios is a global process. We work through our own domestic and international offices, and use a network of foreign associates to procure and enforce our clients’ intellectual property rights in any part of the world.

We work with all applications

Because we have such wide-ranging technology and business experience, we are able to advise our clients on a full spectrum of software and electrical products and processes, including:

We are measured by our clients’ success

Software development and electrical engineering are among the most complex technology challenges. Andrews Kurth lawyers understand that complexity, and apply it to the business world.

We make certain that the intellectual property rights of our software and electrical clients are protected, never losing sight of the fact that commercial advantage is the ultimate reason for those rights. Clients get straight talk from us—about law and technology—and about how best to ensure marketplace success.