Opinions of Counsel

Intellectual property (IP) opinions of counsel play a significant role in informing and guiding business decisions and litigation. Offensively, they are important in determining whether a third party may be infringing your IP. Defensively, they can be used to determine whether a company—if accused of infringing a third party’s IP rights—can continue business activities without being accused of willful infringement. Sterne Kessler provides opinions of counsel to support our clients by applying extensive IP experience as well as deep industry and technical knowledge.

We are trusted advisers that provide informed, professional opinions regarding IP issues that affect your company’s long term objectives; and when necessary, we can act on and defend those opinions in litigation. Sterne Kessler delivers opinions regarding freedom-to-operate, non-infringement, invalidity, patentability, registerability of trademarks, and enforceability of patents and trademarks. Opinions range from formal opinions of counsel, which clients have successfully relied on at trial, to less formal letter opinions, all of which provide strategic advice for making critical business decisions.

We have rendered thousands of opinions to hundreds of clients in the last decade. Our comprehensive reviews have helped clients make strategic decisions and mitigate risk related to product development, product enhancements, and new market entry. Opinions must be competent and reasonable to withstand the scrutiny of a court and provide the foundation on which clients can rely on for decision-making.

Our opinions are based on several factors:

A review of newly-issued court opinions ensuring advice is based on the most pertinent case law
A keen understanding of the broad range of intellectual property issues stemming from decades of experience prosecuting patents and trademarks before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
A thorough analysis of a patent file history in order to assess the scope of a patent
Technical training that reveals nuances that can make an important difference in the outcome of a case