Bio:
Alan is an experienced business lawyer focused on commercial transactions with significant intellectual property and technology issues. He advises clients in connection with transactions involving the development, acquisition, disposition and commercial exploitation of intellectual property, with an emphasis on technology-related products and services. Alan also represents a wide variety of companies in connection with IT and business process outsourcing arrangements, strategic alliance agreements, commercial joint ventures and licensing matters. He is a recognized expert in Internet and electronic commerce issues and has been involved in many of the major policy issues surrounding the commercial development of the Internet. Alan has advised foreign governments and multinational corporations in connections with these issues, and is a frequent speaker at major industry conferences and events around the world. As Chair of the Firm's National Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice, Alan brings a practical, business-oriented approach to advising companies as they expand their use of new leading-edge technologies.

Areas of Experience

• Intellectual property
• Worldwide intellectual property protection programs
• Patent, copyright and trademark licensing
• Trademark selection, registration and maintenance
• Copyright registration and protection strategies
• Protection of trade secrets
• Intellectual property due diligence in mergers, acquisitions, and financings
• Obtaining, recording and perfecting security interests in intellectual property
• Intellectual property audits
• Outsourcing Arrangements
• RFP preparation, response and assessment
• Service Level Agreements
• Data center operations
• Business process outsourcing
• Facilities management
• Offshoring issues
• Computer law
• Software protection and licensing
• Systems integration
• Software development agreements
• OEM, VAR and dealer agreements
• Joint and collaborative projects
• Internet and new media law
• Electronic publishing
• Privacy and defamation issues
• Online commercial ventures
• Taxation of online activity
• Domain name/trademark disputes
• Advertising, Marketing and Promotion matters
• Sweepstakes
• Promotional games and contests
• Advertising review and compliance
• Advertising and Promotional Agency Agreements

Significant Representations

• Served as lead counsel in numerous IT and Business Process Outsourcing transactions for major multinational corporations.
• Advised leading companies in connection with software development transactions, OEM, VAR and Dealer Agreements, and information services contracts
• Counseled multinational corporations on various cutting-edge liability issues facing those doing business on the Internet, including electronic commerce, copyright infringement, domain name trademark disputes, defamation and privacy issues.
• Advised clients in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America in connection with online commercial ventures and multimedia electronic publishing.
• Advised governments and private stakeholders in connection with proposed electronic commerce legislation, including significant projects for the Government of India and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
• Represented numerous significant brand owners in connection with trademark and unfair competition issues, including selection and registration of marks, prosecution and defense of opposition proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and trademark and trade dress infringement actions in the federal courts.
• Advised both company and agency clients in the area of advertising, marketing and promotion law, including sweepstakes and other sales promotions.
• Reviewed national advertising and promotional marketing programs for a wide range of national and multi-national corporations.

Professional & Community Involvement

• Active participant in the 1996 international copyright treaty negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland
• Chair, Internet Gambling Subcommittee of the American Bar Association Subcommittee on Cyberspace's Internet Jurisdiction Project
• Author of numerous articles
• Regular speaker to industry and bar association groups worldwide
• Frequently featured and cited in national newspapers and magazines on legal issues related to the Internet
• Member, Computer Law Association
• Member, New York New Media Association

Awards & Recognition

• Listed, Best Lawyers in America, 2006 Edition

Education

• J.D., University of Georgia School of Law, 1984
• Articles Editor, Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law
• B.A., Emory University, 1979

Admitted to Practice

• New York
• Georgia