Intellectual property and marketing law

Intellectual property is a term that covers rights of a non-material nature, such as copyright, company names, trademarks, or design. These rights protect what is developed through creative and intellectual processes. Intellectual property rights are important for innovation, value creation, and culture, and may be a competitive advantage for small and big businesses alike.

We provide legal advice in relation to intellectual property rights, especially within the area of copyright, trademarks, and company names. We draft collaboration agreements, license agreements, and other agreements concerning use of materials protected by copyright such as software, music, film, photography, and text. We assist with preparation of IPR strategies and protection of trade secrets. We also assist with registration of trademarks, logos, and designs, both nationally and internationally. In addition, we provide assistance with enforcement of intellectual property rights, including dispute resolution and legal processes before the Norwegian Industrial Property Office, the Norwegian Board of Appeal for Industrial Property Rights, and the regular courts.

Føyen is and has been an important adviser for actors within a wide range of business sectors, from IT and media to trade of goods and cultural institutions. The width of our experience allows us to quickly understand the questions that arise in relation to intellectual property rights and use our expertise to solve new challenges. If needed, we use resources from our other specialist teams. Our customers will thus always get effective assistance, no matter how large or small the matter is.

Due to digitalization and technological development, we experience that an increasing number of challenges related to intellectual property rights concern use on the internet. Our team has especially long and extensive experience with technology businesses and internet-based services, both national and international. This enables us to find effective solutions in a world where the technology is always one step ahead of the law.

Web stores and apps are an increasingly important arena for sale and purchase of goods and services. Electronic communication and social media have become the most important marketing channel for most businesses. However, such activities must comply with commercial laws, marketing laws, consumer laws, and privacy laws.

We assist our customers with legal advice on marketing and e-commerce. We draft terms and conditions for sale and use, and advise on information requirements, right of withdrawal, cookies, and use of customer data. Further, we give advice on various forms of marketing, for example by email, SMS, and social media, and assist with disputes between traders concerning breach of good business practices and copying of products. We also provide assistance in relation to dispute resolution before the courts and legal processes towards authorities and boards such as the Norwegian Consumer Council, the Consumer Authority, and the Board for Control of Unfair Competition Between Traders.

Føyen is and has been an important adviser for actors within a wide range of trade sectors. We thus have extensive experience with assisting different types of businesses, including search engines, radio, TV and video services, ads and auction services, payment services, marketing services, and telecom services. The width of our experience enables us to quickly understand the issues for each specific business, and to use our expertise to solve new challenges. Our customers will thus always get effective advice, no matter how complex the issue is.

Our team has for the past years been working extensively with both national and international customers, especially internet services and online platforms. We thus have broad experience with questions relating to search engine advertising, platform liability for content, and use of customer data. We have also worked with start-ups and can give specific advice on the prerequisites for launching a web store or a mobile application.

More content for television and various media services is being produced now than ever before, and the number of audiovisual media services has increased rapidly over the past years. TV production and media distribution raise several legal issues, both contractually and regulatory.

Our knowledge of technology and intellectual property rights related to technological solutions is key to our advice on TV productions, media rights, and media distribution. We assist customers with preparation and execution of terms and requirements for TV production and sale of viewing rights (the right to show audiovisual images) from sporting events. In such cases, we may assist with the initial analysis of the market and the preparation of documentation for the sale of rights, including drafting of contracts.

Føyen provides legal assistance within regulatory aspects related to broadcasting and audiovisual media services, and with contract negotiations with national and international TV and media companies concerning intellectual property rights, transmission rights, and conditions for distribution to the Nordic markets. We also have extensive experience with the drafting of sponsor agreements related to sporting events.

We regularly litigate cases for the regular courts and for courts of arbitration. We also have experience with procedures before various authorities, boards, and similar bodies (for example the Norwegian Industrial Property Office, the Norwegian Board of Appeal for Industrial Property Rights, the Mediation Board for Employee Inventions, and the Board for Control of Unfair Competition Between Traders). Our lawyers are also experienced as arbitration judges.

Føyen assists with dispute resolution related to all kinds of issues within intellectual property rights and marketing, including the challenges posed by securing and handling of electronic evidence. We also have experience with software for sorting and analyzing electronic evidence and documents in legal disputes. In our experience, cases within this business sector are to a large extent dependent on clarification of the facts related to complex and advanced technology. With our in-depth knowledge about technological solutions and business models, we are able to handle complex disputes with a knowledge-based and legal approach.