Consumer Products

McAndrews provides a complete range of intellectual property services to some of the largest consumer products companies in the world. We protect the valuable IP of our clients’ consumer products by obtaining and enforcing multilayered protection — including trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, design patents, and utility patents. We also provide clearance opinions and, if necessary, defend our clients in the consumer products industry against unwarranted allegations of infringement.

Effective protection of consumer products frequently requires numerous IP disciplines to work together in concert, an approach with which we have significant experience. It also often requires quick work – many consumer products are tied to very tight time frames driven by seasonal demand, a holiday theme, or outsourced manufacturing schedules. We know how to respond rapidly and effectively when the situation demands it.

Consumer products is a practice area undergoing rapid change and requiring constant innovation thanks to the explosive growth of online marketplaces such as Amazon and Alibaba, as well as crowdsourcing platforms such as Kickstarter. The McAndrews team is experienced in simultaneously managing the internal processes of these massive organizations while pursuing appropriate legal remedies.

For example, if a knockoff consumer product is available for sale on Amazon, our team is expert at working to have it swiftly removed. Conversely, we are also skilled at managing overly aggressive claims made to online marketplaces against legitimate, authentic consumer products. Under either scenario, our deep knowledge of the ever-changing procedures used by these sites to manage these claims – whom to contact, what to say, how enforcement works – makes us an invaluable advocate for consumer products companies. In the case of crowdsourced consumer products, we are experienced in handling allegations that products seeking funding are knockoffs.

Our consumer products team is also experienced at working globally and managing IP issues in numerous jurisdictions simultaneously. We have provided our services across an exceptionally broad range of products, including automotive products, a variety of foods and beverages (candy bars, soft drinks, chewing gum, nutritional supplements, snack products and energy drinks), furniture, garden tools, kitchen appliances and housewares, child safety products, jewelry, sporting goods, toiletries and many more.

Developing and marketing consumer products is a high-stakes undertaking in which speed, strategy and above all, protection of a brand and the products within it, are essential. If your product will end up in the hands of consumers, however it gets there and whatever it does, the McAndrews team can help insure you realize maximum value from your investment of time, assets and reputation.

“You (the jury) were fortunate to be chosen for a trial like this with such experienced lawyers who conduct themselves in such a professional and classy way, and I very much appreciate it."

U.S. District Court Judge