Experience

Manufacturing

About

Manufacturing is part of our work in Chemicals, Industrials, and Materials.

Protecting innovation and manufacturing change

Manufacturing powers the world’s economy and is a large, diverse, and highly innovative sector. From farm machinery to chemicals to telecommunications and everything in between, manufacturing plays a crucial role in producing goods across all aspects of the economy. Manufacturers constantly develop new products, enhance supply chains, improve inventory control, and face increased competition. To expand market share, increase profitability, and remain competitive, innovations need solid protection and practical enforcement strategies. Finnegan has a long history of working with manufacturers of all sizes. Like our clients, we never stop working.

Understanding the law, science, and technology

Finnegan professionals work on a wide range of projects for manufacturing companies, including Fortune 100 and Global 1000 companies. Our work includes building portfolios to protect innovations that better measure machine workflow; patent mapping and mining alternative energy landscapes; negotiating and drafting worldwide manufacturing licenses; developing comprehensive IP protection for aftermarket parts; analyzing government contracts in the aeronautical field; counseling clients on export controls for computer equipment; and litigating before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

We handle matters for clients in virtually every sector:

Alternative energy technologies
Automobiles
Construction
Electric lighting and wiring
Electrical transmission and distribution
Engine systems
Fabricated metals
Farm and garden machinery
Iron and steel foundries
Lumber and wood products
Metalworking machinery and equipment
Nonferrous foundries
Oil and drilling
Pumps and valves
Robotics
Search, detection, navigation, and guidance systems
Textiles

We help by:

Enforcing IP against infringers and monetizing portfolios
Capturing innovations, drafting applications, and building portfolios
Conducting freedom to operate studies and providing ongoing counseling for new and evolving technologies
Conducting due diligence investigations
Counseling on government contracts and export regulations
Counseling in all areas of IP protection, including trade secrets, design patents, trademarks, copyright, and advertising services

Everyone in this industry

Experience

Secured a decisive victory for client US Synthetic Corp. (USS) at the ITC. After a full hearing, the ALJ found that respondents infringed multiple claims of USS’s patent and that the claims were valid and supported by a domestic industry, but an initial Commission ruling under § 101 temporarily prevented a finding of violation of Section 337. The Federal Circuit reversed the § 101 ruling, and on remand the ITC found a violation and issued a limited exclusion order barring infringing polycrystalline diamond products from entry into the United States, securing final relief for USS.

337-TA-1236, ITC, Judge Elliot

Finnegan represented Eastman Chemical Company, an independent global specialty materials company, and several of its subsidiaries in a UK dispute concerning copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and breach of contract before the UK High Court. The dispute centered on a proprietary database of patterns used in automotive paint protection film. The parties reached a confidential settlement and the Defendants agreed not to infringe Eastman intellectual property rights in the future.

IL-2024-000026, UK High Court

Finnegan assists Tetra Tech, Inc., a leading provider of high-end consulting and engineering services, with comprehensive patent services including litigation, counseling, and opinions related to railroad technologies. Finnegan also provides trademark search, opinion, and prosecution services to Tetra Tech.

Finnegan assists Acushnet Company, a leading manufacturer of golf equipment, clothing, and accessories, with the development and protection of its patent portfolio through strategic patent drafting and prosecution across a variety of technologies.

Finnegan assists Archer Aviation, a leading urban air mobility company responsible for designing, developing, manufacturing, and operating electric vertical takeoff and landing aircrafts to carry passengers, with matters related to patent application drafting and global prosecution. We also provide patent counseling services.

Secured a significant victory for client US Synthetic Corporation (USS) with a precedential decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) overturning an unfavorable 35 U.S.C. § 101 eligibility ruling from the International Trade Commission (ITC).

23-1217, Fed. Cir., Judges Chen, Dyk, Stoll