Intellectual Property Litigation (IP) Support for Law Firms & In-House Counsel

The Complexities of Modern IP Litigation

IP litigation is no longer limited to simple patent/trademark disputes. The field now involves issues including: 

• • Patent infringement in areas like biotech, software, and telecommunications 
  • Misappropriation of trade secrets in global supply chains 
  • Copyright disputes in media and digital content 
  • Trademark dilution in ecommerce and social media 

Each of these areas raises unique issues of law and complicated subject matter. A pharmaceutical patent dispute may focus on molecular interactions; in a copyright case, the structural arrangement of code or sound design might be at issue; and in a claim of misappropriation of a trade secret, the analysis of ex-employees’ emails and devices could involve a forensic expert. 

In addition, the timing of IP litigation timelines is shrinking, the burden of discovery is increasing, and courts now require evidence to be presented in more sophisticated forms. Thus, even the strongest legal argument may not withstand critical scrutiny without significant logistical, technical, and analytical support.

How Litigation Support Connects Law Firms and In-House Counsel

1. Improving Communication and Coordination

When it comes to IP disputes, law firms and in-house counsel offer different perspectives, and while these perspectives can differ, they can often complement each other. Outside counsel focuses (for the most part) on winning the case and navigating procedural aspects of the case, and making arguments that they think will be convincing to a judge or jury.

In-house counsel has to weigh the litigation goals with business goals, i.e., what is the reputational risk created by responding to the lawsuit, how much cost they can directly control, the regulatory aspects of having legal disputes, and how this impacts business core assets.

Litigation support can help streamline these objectives by ensuring that it provides a level of transparency, consistency, and communication regarding what is happening between all parties involved in the litigation.

Project managers and legal operation partners can also provide dashboards, manage deadlines, and help ensure that everyone receives case updates timely. This coordination decreases the chances of having unnecessary errors and promotes an overall goal of a tightly aligned intellectual property litigation strategy. 

2. Improving Discovery and Document Review

IP law cases can produce huge amounts of data, from lab notebooks, trademark, copyright, and patent applications to source code and communications within your organization. Manually reviewing these materials can easily consume hundreds of attorney hours and inflate litigation costs.

IP attorneys apply sophisticated tools and workflows to make this work less time-consuming and less expensive. They can:

• • Use predictive coding and AI to identify key documents
  • Tag documents according to relevance, confidentiality, or privilege
  • Coordinate privilege logs and all responsive productions
  • Use secure document hosting and collaborative platforms
  • Maintain portfolios for IP assets 

All these improvements make discovery even less time-consuming, even less expensive, and less prone to human error.

3. Enhancing Technical and Expert Testimony

Most IP disputes involve highly technical information. In a patent infringement trial, there may be an explanation of how an algorithm works, information about chemical compositions, or an explanation of a manufacturing process. Lawyers often rely on expert witnesses to translate this information to judges and juries.

Intellectual Property attorneys provide invaluable help by:

• • Researching and vetting qualified experts
  • Preparing expert briefing materials
  • Coordinating all communications between legal teams and experts
  • Providing deposition and trial support with technical visual aids or mock testimonies

The logistical help provided by legal support staff allows lawyers to focus on organizing evidence and shaping trial themes (whether to support or undermine the case for an opponent).