Technology & Intellectual Property

Members of Taylor McCaffrey LLP have long assisted and advised clients in the areas of both intellectual property (IP) and information technology (IT) and we have kept pace with the complex issues clients face when dealing with emerging technologies.

Today, several Taylor McCaffrey LLP lawyers enjoy reputations as leaders in the area, and presently advise and litigate on such established and emerging IP and IT issues as:

Patent licencing and litigation
Copyright
Trade secrets
Trademarks
Domain name disputes
Industrial designs
Confidential information
Technology licencing
Source code escrow
Electronic commerce and ebusiness
Internet law

Taylor McCaffrey LLP continues to expand its capacity in intellectual property and information technology matters. We play an active role with our clients identifying intellectual property assets and developing strategies for protecting and exploiting these assets (copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, patents, trade secrets and other types of confidential proprietary information, including the use of client statistical information and trial or historical data). We are actively involved in searching trademarks and industrial designs and regularly file registrations for our clients for trademarks, industrial designs and copyrights.

Our services have involved not only basic intellectual property advice but also complex licensing arrangements including international licensing and the protection and enforcement of IP rights. In the latter context, the firm has handled a series of complex disputes before the Courts of Manitoba and in the Federal Courts relating to trade secrets, confidential information, and patent infringement, a few of which are highlighted below.

The firm has also been involved in various activities to finance hardware and software developers. Those have included joint venture arrangements and various other types of transactions with strategic partners and venture capitalists. We also act on behalf of clients in respect to loan arrangements and intellectual property audits with commercial or other lenders, various private placement activities, public financing, and mergers, buyouts or restructurings.

While our involvement in the computer technology field has been primarily on behalf of software or hardware developers or service suppliers, we have also acted for lenders, individual investors, venture capital lenders or acquirers.

Technology & Intellectual Property Practice Areas

Select Transaction and Litigation History

Successfully litigated a complex trade secrets dispute in the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench and at the Court of Appeal, resulting in a $3.7 million damages award – the largest in Manitoba history – and an injunction preventing unfair competition for seven years.
Successfully defended a software copyright infringement matter in the Manitoba Court of Appeal in what has emerged as the leading case on the circumstances under which a civil search warrant should properly be granted.
Acted as counsel to the Province of Manitoba in its acquisition of map-based information and technology systems.
Negotiated the acquisition of computer trading-engine facilities, clearing facilities and market information dissemination systems for the Winnipeg Stock Exchange.
Acted as vendor’s counsel in the sale of a local software training company to one of the world’s largest international computer developers and manufacturers.
Acted as local counsel in the international takeover of a software development and service firm specializing in providing software to the brokerage and securities industry.
Acted for chartered banks in lending to corporations whose assets are primarily technology-based, including corporations whose only major assets are software or licenses to software or technology.
Acted for large human resource software and service firm, in all intellectual property and licencing and other contractual activities.
Acted as escrow agent for property management, health care and other software vendors and for various client purchasers of software.
Regularly advise both local and international companies on the licencing and protection of intellectual property and other proprietary rights in various industrial sectors including mass marketing, consumer goods manufacturing, and drug manufacturing and licencing.