Intellectual Property, Technology and E-Commerce Litigation

Gould & Ratner attorneys have concentrated in the representation of parties involved in business related litigation, including issues relating to intellectual property, technology and e-commerce. Examples of our work in this area include:

• Fraud and Breach of Contract Litigation. The firm was retained by a medical doctor who invented and sold the patent rights in a medical technology used in minimally invasive surgical procedures. The lawsuit claimed the buyer breached the contract and committed a fraud by not developing the technology in the manner agreed to and by failing to pay agreed upon royalties. We prosecuted a federal fraud and breach of contract suit which resulted in a creative $15 million settlement that involved a substantial cash payment and transfer of a portion of the patent rights back to our physician client, who in turn, was able to resell the rights to a third party.
• Patent Infringement Litigation. Gould & Ratner has been designated as Chicago counsel on behalf of a major international technology company, in patent infringement suits involving wireless phone and modem technology in the U.S. District Court.
• John Doe Litigation. Gould & Ratner was retained by a leading audio-visual services company in litigation evolving when an employee of the company obtained social security numbers and annual salary figures of everyone in the company and e-mailed the information to all of the employees. We initiated a John Doe complaint seeking damages and injunctive relief and worked closely with Yahoo! to identify the sender. We successfully assisted the company in quickly identifying the employee, who, among other things, was immediately terminated.
• Pay-Per-Call Litigation. The firm represented the parent company of a 900-number content provider. The suit, an attempted class action, claimed that the company engaged in deceptive and fraudulent billing practices. The defense involved a detailed analysis of federal and state telecom, 900-number billing procedures and practices. The plaintiffs dropped the case before the class was certified.
• Domain Name Litigation. Gould & Ratner represented an Internet service provider that was harassed by a disgruntled customer who created a website using our client's domain name, adding the extension "sux.com." After settling the matter, the individual breached the agreement and continued to engage in the offending behavior. We prepared a federal court complaint and just before filing, the individual shut down the offending website.
• Spam Litigation. The firm represents an individual who the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claims has sent unsolicited e-mail advertisements to millions of Internet users. The FTC alleges that the e-mail uses misleading tactics to entice people to open them. This litigation is ongoing.  
• Trademark Licensing Litigation. Gould & Ratner represented a metals processing company in a breach of contract and fraud action against Time Warner Sports Merchandising, in a claim arising from a license of trademark rights from the 1994 World Cup soccer tournament. After defeating the defendant in a number of motions seeking to dismiss our claims, we were able to settle the case on terms very favorable to our client.
• Trademark Enforcement. Gould & Ratner has represented a major Chicago-based cheese producer in trademark enforcement matters, and has obtained restraining orders, injunctions and other relief by judgment and by settlement in the U.S. District Court in such disputes.