Intellectual Property
We support the establishment, enforcement and challenge of trademark rights, both in the United States and abroad.
IP counsel for San Diego innovators
Trademarks and Copyrights
Rainey Law P.C. can assist clients in obtaining trademarks and copyrights, perform searches, and render registrability opinions. We file and maintain applications to register trademarks and copyrights each year in the United States and abroad.
The firm helps clients establish, enforce and challenge trademark rights, both in the United States and abroad. The firm also counsels clients in trade dress and unfair competition matters under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act as well as matters involving both IP and antitrust laws such as tying arrangements and covenants not to compete, and disputes regarding publishing rights and piracy. We litigate trademark claims in federal courts throughout the country, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and the International Trade Commission. We counsel clients on domain name strategies, domain name acquisition and the protection of IP rights on the Internet, including through international proceedings of ICANN and WIPO.
The firm focuses on protecting the goodwill and brand value that our clients have worked to develop through their trademarks and trade dress, and handle an array of disputes, including those concerning consumer product trademarks, business names, trademark dilution, trademark counterfeiting, false advertising, and clothing and accessory designs and other forms of trade dress. The firm represents copyright owners in actions against people and businesses that sell infringing items. Similarly, the firm represents composers, authors, software developers, and publishers in protecting their copyrighted works against unauthorized copying, distribution, and performance.
Trade Secrets
Trade secrets can be among the most valuable intellectual property in a company, reflecting cutting edge innovations and competitive advantage. We work tirelessly and creatively to protect, maintain and enforce our clients’ trade secret rights and to vigorously defend them against claims for trade secret misappropriation across a range of industries and technologies, including: Internet and e-commerce, data storage, software, video games, aerospace, satellites, genetics, medical devices, biopharmaceuticals, tamper resistant seals, cosmetics, energy, oil and gas, chemical, e-cigarettes, power amplifiers, financial services, paper, aluminum casting, construction, training, and the food industry. I advise and counsel clients on best practices for trade secret protection and enforcement, and conduct and direct pre-litigation trade secret investigations.
When to call a lawyer
If any of these describe your situation, an early conversation is usually cheaper than the alternative.
- You are launching a new brand, product name, or logo
- Someone is using a name or content confusingly close to yours
- A key employee with access to sensitive information is leaving
- You are licensing technology in or out
- You received a cease-and-desist or infringement notice
Protecting IP in a San Diego innovation economy
San Diego's economy runs on information that is valuable precisely because it is not public: biotech data, device designs, wireless and software know-how, and brand equity built in a crowded consumer market. Protecting it requires trademark and copyright strategy alongside disciplined trade secret hygiene — especially in a state where non-competes are unlawful and talent moves freely between Sorrento Valley and Carlsbad employers.
Enforcement matters are heard locally in the Southern District of California, and infringement disputes among San Diego competitors often turn on how carefully confidential information was marked, segregated, and offboarded well before the dispute began.
- Trademark clearance, prosecution, and brand portfolio management
- Trade secret programs and departing-employee investigations
- Licensing and technology transfer agreements
- Infringement enforcement and defense
San Diego questions we hear most
- Can a San Diego employer use a non-compete to protect IP?
- No. California voids employee non-competes and it is unlawful to include one. Protection comes from confidentiality agreements, access controls, and trade secret law instead.
- Where are IP disputes litigated in San Diego?
- Federal trademark, copyright, and Defend Trade Secrets Act claims are heard in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California; state trade secret claims can proceed in San Diego Superior Court.
Serving Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Valley, Sorrento Valley, Del Mar, Poway, Escondido, Carlsbad, Encinitas, and communities throughout San Diego County from our office at 16870 West Bernardo Drive, Suite 400, San Diego, CA 92127.
Related reading
Plain-English guides from our Insights library on the issues that come up most in these matters.
- Protecting Trade Secrets in California Without a Non-CompeteWithout non-competes, California companies protect information rather than people. That takes NDAs that survive scrutiny, access controls, and a documented offboarding process.
- California's Non-Compete Ban: What Employers Must Do NowCalifornia does not merely refuse to enforce non-competes — it makes including or enforcing one a violation in its own right, with attorney's fees for the employee.
- Seven Contract Clauses That Cause Most Business DisputesCommercial disputes rarely turn on the parts of the contract people negotiate hardest. They turn on seven clauses most companies skim.
Where we serve
Intellectual Property counsel for businesses and employees throughout San Diego County.
We fight for you.
Schedule a confidential consultation to discuss your business or employment matter.