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, upon which clients have successfully relied at trial, to less formal letter opinions, all of which provide strategic advice for making critical business decisions. Sterne Kessler has rendered thousands of opinions to hundreds of clients in the last 10 years alone.
Sterne Kessler works as a trusted adviser to provide clients with an informed, professional opinion regarding intellectual property issues that affect their business, and when called upon to do so, to act on and defend those opinions in litigation.
Opinions of counsel play a significant role in informing and guiding management. Offensively, they are important in determining whether a third party may be infringing the claims of a patent. Defensively, opinions can be used to determine whether a company, if accused of infringing a third party's intellectual property rights, can continue business activities without being accused of willful infringement.
Opinions must be competent and reasonable to withstand the scrutiny of a court and provide the foundation on which clients can rely in 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