These premier firms that advise clients on open source licensing and support software M&A activity work with Black Duck to help their clients address open source-related intellectual property issues.

Please select a region or scroll down below:



Global

 


Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird is an international commercial law firm with over 800 lawyers worldwide. They specialise in combining leading edge legal expertise with an in-depth understanding of chosen industry sectors including information technology, electronics communications, financial services, aviation & aerospace, life sciences, media and sports.

In each of these sectors Bird & Bird provide a full range of legal services from all our offices including advising on commercial, corporate, EU and competition, dispute resolution, employment, finance, tax and real estate matters. With 21 offices throughout Europe and Asia, they are strategically placed to offer local expertise within a global context.

Since several years, legal directories recognise Bird & Bird as one of the leading law firm in Information Technologies in Europe.


Legal Alliance - DLA

DLA Piper are relationship-driven lawyers, working to meet the ongoing legal needs of our clients wherever they do business. Operating across Asia, Europe and the US, they offer you more than 3,100 lawyers in 58 offices in 22 countries. They place the highest value on building close working relationships with our clients. To accomplish that, DLA offer you lawyers who are culturally attuned to the business demands and legal requirements of their countries, who have excellent legal skills, and who are totally committed to our client service ethic.



North America

 


Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe

Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe is an international law firm which serves a local, national, and international clientele, including large corporations, foreign governments, small-to-medium sized domestic and non-U.S. businesses, and individuals.
The lawyers at the firm embrace a philosophy of managing client projects with commitment to excellence and quality, timely legal work, attention to detail, and careful and thoughtful analysis, while being mindful of clients’ sensitivities to legal fees and expenses. Lawyers at the firm practice in these areas of the law: corporate, transactional, international (export controls and sanctions, FCPA, antiboycott, customs), computer and software and technology, civil and criminal litigation, real estate, intellectual property, government contracts, and white collar defense. Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe is known for its leadership role in the export controls and sanctions and foreign sovereign immunities practices, and in advising governments, embassies, consulates and international organizations. BCR's attorneys are intimately familiar with the computer and software industry and its needs, including content development, licensing, distribution, source code protection and more.

The firm's attorneys are admitted in jurisdictions beyond the capital region of Washington DC and the United States, and are qualified or fluent in other languages, including German, Greek, Portuguese, Arabic, and Spanish.


 Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC has 550 attorneys and government relations professionals practicing throughout the United States, with offices in Washington, D.C., Alexandria, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Miami, Aventura, Tampa, Wilmington, Princeton, Newark, San Diego, Temecula and Silicon Valley. In California, the firm is known as Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney LLP.

Buchanan's attorneys have experience in industries that include entertainment and media, pharmaceuticals and biomedicine, nanotechnology, financial institutions, construction, franchise and real estate. Within these and other industries, Buchanan attorneys focus on more than 65 practice areas including Corporate Finance, Litigation, Intellectual Property, Tax, Government Relations, Health Care and Labor & Employment. The firm serves national and international clients that include Fortune 500 corporations, start-ups, technology companies and financial institutions.


Choate

Choate, Hall & Stewart has maintained a position as one of the nation's leading law firms for over a century. While proud of our history and our past success, we are even more excited about our future. We have more than 200 lawyers and 250 other employees. Our clients range from Fortune 100 companies to leading venture capital and buyout funds to technology startups. Our attorneys are bright, creative, hard-working and aggressive problem solvers who understand our clients' businesses and have an unwavering commitment to helping our clients achieve their business goals.


Foley & Lardner LLP

Foley & Lardner LLP represents technology companies in all stages of the business life cycle, from start-up through angel and venture capital funding to successful exits.

Foley's Emerging Technology attorneys understand the needs of creative, fast-moving businesses and provide practical advice from equity and founder issues, venture financings, and strategic alliances to employment matters, private and public securities, acquisitions, and complex financings. From Boston to Silicon Valley, we play a key part in the local and regional start-up communities and have close contacts with angel and venture funds, accelerator programs, and university tech centers and tech transfer offices.

Our world-class Intellectual Property lawyers possess exceptional technical skills and business insight in many of the industries represented at the Nantucket Conference: social media, communications, mobility, gaming, electronics, cleantech, health IT, and software, among others. In addition to our IP experience, the firm is nationally recognized as a thought-leader in privacy, IT outsourcing, open source, and government relations.

We have more than 70 attorneys in our Boston office who are deeply committed to the emerging technology sector and work in tightly integrated teams with colleagues in 21 offices across the country and internationally in Shanghai, Brussels, and Tokyo to offer seamless and comprehensive counsel to innovative companies spanning every stage of the life cycle, from start-up to public ownership.

For more information, visit us at Foley.com.


 Legal Alliance - Goodwin Proctor

Goodwin Procter is one of the nation's leading law firms, with a team of 650 attorneys serving clients through offices in Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. We are a hard-driving, entrepreneurial and dynamic group, working tenaciously for clients whose problems and challenges we treat as our own.


Gowlings

 Gowlings, one of Canada's largest law firms, is a premier provider of legal solutions. Its specialized Technology Industry Group blends business law and IP expertise with first-hand experience in cleantech, software, nanotechnology, e-commerce, wireless and telecom and delivers deep expertise in Open Source Software licensing matters.

Through specialist teams that include legal professionals with extensive experience in both science and engineering, Gowlings works with its clients to develop customized strategies that help achieve their goals. Assisting a variety of technology-driven organizations, Gowlings provides solutions at every stage of development, from start-ups to international companies.


Legal Alliances - GTC

 GTC Law Group develops and executes effective intellectual property strategies tailored to their clients' business objectives. They are dedicated to assisting their clients in building IP bridges that link their ideas to target audiences and markets. GTC focuses on three main practice areas: IP strategy, technology-related transactions, and general corporate services, including mergers and acquisitions. Their clients range from Fortune 100 companies to venture capitalists and emerging-growth, technology-based firms. GTC lawyers and consultants have extensive, multi-dimensional experience in a wide range of fields, including business, law and technology. And they are all inspired by their clients' passion for ideas and innovation - regardless of their industry or size.


Legal Alliance - Leonard Street & DeinardWhen the doors of Leonard, Street and Deinard opened in 1922, our four founders had no way of knowing their inspiration and values would inform quality legal practice into the 21st century. From Minnesota's boardrooms and courtrooms to the Nuremberg war crime trials and today's complex legal challenges, the 180 attorneys of Leonard, Street and Deinard are respected for their experience and legal acumen. We work to understand client needs, stay focused on goals, and provide wise counsel and practical advice. Everyone is dedicated to client success. It's a firm tradition.

 


 Legal Alliance - Rosenlaw

Rosenlaw & Einschlag's specialty is technology and computer law. They can help you with copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret and other issues relating to intellectual property. They also understand the business aspects of technology, and can help you develop and implement an intellectual property strategy that supports your business objectives.



Europe

 


AB

Alain Bensoussan, established in Paris in 1978, is dedicated to handling computer and software law since its creation. This early specialization enabled the firm to naturally develop its expertise in, and be at the forefront of, the new technologies legal practices such as the internet, e-commerce, e-banking, biotechnology and energy.

Alain Bensoussan has been ISO 9002: 1994 certified since 1998. The firm is now ISO 9001: 2000 certified for "advice and litigation in the area of advanced technologies law, in particular computer and telecommunications law."

The Firm's activities include: Computers and Software, Telecommunications Law, High Technology, Communications and Media, Internet Law, Data Privacy, E-Commerce, Electronic Banking, Trademarks, Intellectual Property, Copyrights, Patents, Business Law, Labor Law, Litigation.


Beiten Burkhardt

BEITEN BURKHARDT is an independent international commercial law firm with over 390 lawyers. We advise medium-sized companies, large corporations and groups of various industries, particularly in the IT and Telecommunications area as well as the public sector comprehensively on all aspects of commercial law. Apart from our offices in Germany, we have a strong international presence in Eastern Europe, China and Brussels. We cooperate closely with excellent law firms in other key markets. In teams managed by partners we are developing solutions for our clients on performance-minded terms. 


Cabinet CHÉRON

Antoine CHERON is lawyer at the bar of PARIS, at the bar of BRUSSELS and professor at the Pantheon-Assas Paris II University. His law firm, based in Paris, provides consulting services for companies seeking advice and counsel on Intellectual property law, Corporate and Commercial rights.

He provides legal service for French and international clients, from major groups to individuals assisting them in their transactions and contentious matters.

Antoine CHERON is notably specialized in computer and software area, that includes: advice, negotiation and draft IT contracts; exploitation of Intellectual property rights concerning protection of software, patents, copyrights, use and distribution of free software; development of Intellectual property strategy supporting Innovation; litigation on IT matters.


Cotty Vivant Marchisio & Lauzeral

Cotty Vivant Marchisio & Lauzeral is an independent corporate law firm, having a presence in Paris, Tokyo, Singapore and Dubai. The firm is composed of some 45 lawyers, who all share the same values: the pursuit of excellence and the search for pragmatic and effective solutions for our clients.

The Firm has rapidly developed since its inception and is now considered as one of the leading firms in the French market, in particular in technology-related matters.

Cotty Vivant Marchisio & Lauzeral represents corporate as well as institutional clients, and ranging from publicly traded companies to start-ups, in a number of jurisdictions (in France, Japan, South East Asia and the Middle East).

The Firm advises clients on domestic and international transactions as well as with regard to dispute resolution in all major fields of business law, including IT, IP, M&A, private equity, stock exchange and financial law, tax, and labour law.


DELEPORTE WENTZ AVOCAT

DELEPORTE WENTZ AVOCAT is a law firm specializing in computer and information technology law, based in Paris. The practice focuses on advising advanced technologies businesses, relying on our thorough understanding of the IT industry, of the corporate environment, and on the daily working relationship with management teams and in-house counsel on innovative and leading-edge projects.

Bénédicte Deleporte, Attorney-at-Law, is the founder of DELEPORTE WENTZ AVOCAT. She has several years’ experience in computer and IT law acquired in private practice and as in-house counsel for multi-national companies.

 


Kahn & Associes

Founded in 1988, Kahn & Associés has in a short period of time established itself as a leading French law firm and has a pre-eminent position in information technology and intellectual property.

Kahn & Associés has a strong international focus and has been providing a complete range of legal services to its clients in all areas of business law and at all stages of a company’s life.

Its foremost objective is to provide insightful and timely assistance and advice to clients in a practical and business-oriented manner. All the lawyers are flexible in adapting to each client’s needs and procedures.


 Kemp Little

In ten years of legal practice, Kemp Little has earned a reputation for top quality, cost effective delivery in the technology, media and telecoms sector that remains unsurpassed. The depth and range of their client base and experience give them the edge. Kemp Little recognises that success in a world driven by technology means using lawyers who understand it. Clients range from the largest global public companies and organisations to early stage ventures with exciting new technologies. Kemp Little’s goal is to provide their clients with what they want - the best legal advice, delivered by people who are as focused, entrepreneurial and commercial as they are, on time and on budget.


  Legal Alliance - Moorcrofts

Started in January 2000, Moorcrofts LLP is a young law firm located in the Thames Valley, England. Moorcrofts LLP provides specialised legal advice for corporate transactions, intellectual property law, human resources and commercial property to businesses including finance, IT, service and technology companies in the M4 and M40 corridors and beyond.


Racine

Racine is a corporate law firm established in France. In addition to branches in Paris and the provinces, they have an international network of offices, including an outfit in Brussels (Racine & Vergels), in Beirut (HKM & Partners) and different partnerships around the world. With nearly 100 lawyers, 35 of whom are partners, Racine provides legal advice and represents its clients in litigation.

The Information Technologies Department is made up of respected lawyers with a proven track record in this field. The company provides legal advice and handles litigation for large groups, public sector entities and SMEs and is particularly in : network and IT disputes and advice; protecting and upgrading intangible assets; dematerialization of transmissions and filing – digital evidence law; outsourcing ; IT system structure; personal data protection & internet.

Racine also advise companies on choosing the protection measures adapted to their needs and on draft agreements regarding the use or transfer of their intellectual property assets. Their Intellectual and Industrial Property team therefore works in the following fields on a regular basis: brands (protecting and defending the brands against third-party infringements, assignments and licences, co-existence agreements, forfeiture and nullity disputes, counterfeiting claims); trademarks and domain names; designs and models (protecting designs and models, assignments, designer and artistic director contracts); know-how (transfer of know-.how, research and development agreements); copyright (transfer and use of copyright, publishing contracts, audiovisual contracts, translation contracts).


Staub & Associates

Computer law constitutes one of the historical activities of Staub & Associes. Legal500 Europe 2008-2009 Guide recommends Staub & Associes for "IT, telecom and the Internet' and "Intellectual Property". Entrepreneurial and independent, the firm is composed with lawyers sharing the same ethic and professional culture, applying working methods which correspond to the highest quality and efficiency requirements. The diversity of the company's legal competences allows them to take care of all your needs, for the purpose of your business activities, protecting your intangible properties, implementing your partnerships, running your major IT projects and financial operations. The firm gathers teams with multiple and complementary competences offering French and foreign companies a comprehensive legal support.


 Taj

Taj, a member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, is one of the leading French Law firms and advises groups on their international tax and legal strategies. It employs more than 400 professionals, including 39 partners.

The company offer an extensive range of services covering most aspects of legal matters including corporate mergers and acquisitions and intellectual property law to French and foreign multinationals, small and medium sized companies, public and private institutions, and government organizations.


 

If you would like to discuss your organization becoming a Legal Partner, please click here to contact our Business Development team.

 



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