Brinks attorney presented at Sports & Fitness Industry Association summit

James Cleland, a shareholder in the Ann Arbor office of Brinks Gilson & Lione, served as a presenter at the Sports & Fitness Industry Association's (SFIA) 2016 Litigation, Regulatory & Risk Management Summit (LR2MS) held Feb. 1-2 in New Orleans. The summit provided attendees guidance on navigating the changing landscape of legal risk and regulatory threats related to the sports and fitness industry.

Cleland, a member of the legal task force of SFIA, delivered a presentation entitled, "A New Weapon in the Patent Litigation Wars: Challenging Patents at the PTO Using Post-Grant Proceedings."

The session focused on the importance of inter partes review practice and how businesses in the sports and fitness industry have a new and often overlooked weapon in challenging a patent's validity.

The presentation addressed how using IPRs at the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) can be faster, reduce costs and help achieve success in patent litigation.

At Brinks, Cleland's practice focuses on patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and unfair competition litigation in a broad range of technologies including the chemical, automotive, materials science, mechanical, electrical and medical device arts, as well as in client counseling, opinion and licensing work..

His litigation experience includes trials, preliminary injunction hearings, Markman hearings, summary judgment proceedings and all aspects of fact and expert witness discovery, spanning federal courts across the country.

Cleland also specializes in post-grant review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Published: Mon, Feb 29, 2016