Overview
At Vinson & Elkins, we assist our clients with identifying, assessing and protecting their intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, and copyrights.

Our lawyers, who are licensed to practice before the Patent & Trademark Office, have substantial experience assisting clients in developing effective strategies for the development and protection of intellectual property.

In addition, Vinson & Elkins provides international resources and experienced attorneys to assist clients in developing, protecting, and profiting from their trademarks. The Trademark practice group represents domestic and international trademark portfolios for clients in a broad range of industries including oil and gas, healthcare, telecommunications, computer hardware and software, food service and manufacturing, and publishing. Our lawyers work closely with clients during the process of selecting brands and securing registrations in the U.S. and abroad. V&E is dedicated to helping clients make cost efficient choices while developing trademarks with strong potential for longevity, dominance, and flexibility.

V&E lawyers also counsel clients about domain name registration and use, meta tag use, the rights of privacy and publicity, and other issues that can be triggered by online activities. We also provide guidance regarding unfair competition issues that can be triggered by advertising practices such as comparative advertising, product disparagement, and quality claims.

We routinely advise clients in copyright and related matters and have a proven litigation record in the area of copyright law. We have successfully represented a variety of software companies, computer companies, Internet content providers, performing arts societies, museums, and various corporations regarding copyright issues.

Vinson & Elkins has significant experience in the law of trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, covenants not to compete, nonsolicitation agreements, and "departing employee" disputes. We frequently counsel clients regarding their transactions and business activities that relate to these areas of the law.