Mark J. Sever, Jr.

Mark is the Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Group. He concentrates his practice in corporate law, with a focus on intellectual property, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and technology matters. His clients include closely held and emerging growth companies, institutions of higher education, governmental and quasi-governmental entities, and large national and international privately and publicly held companies.

He provides general corporate representation and day-to-day business counsel, addressing entity formation and restructuring, corporate governance, and dissolution. He represents both buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions, including asset sales and stock sales. Mark has negotiated and drafted a wide range of complex business agreements, such as original equipment manufacturing (OEM), joint venture, sales, manufacturing, purchase, distribution, consulting, and employment agreements. He also assists businesses with international expansion through the creation of overseas affiliates and the establishment of outsourcing, distribution, license, franchise, and other strategic relationships. In addition, he regularly counsels business owners in partner or shareholder disputes and buy-outs.

Mark’s intellectual property practice spans IP-driven business transactions, protection strategies, and litigation. He advises on efficient and cost effective approaches to securing protection for inventions; assists with corporate and product name and logo selection; and manages the filing and prosecution of trademark applications in the United States and abroad. He counsels on “work for hire” and other copyright ownership issues and has obtained copyright registrations for software, website content, marketing materials, and architectural designs. He routinely prepares, reviews, and negotiates non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements (NDAs) and advises clients on trade secret protection measures for proprietary information, including business plans, customer and vendor data, and product cost and pricing information.

He has substantial experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating patent, copyright, trademark, and know-how licenses on behalf of both licensors and licensees. His technology transactions work includes software and information technology development, license, maintenance, and service agreements and AI development and model training agreements.  He also prepares website privacy policies, terms of service and use, and e-mail and Internet usage policies, along with data processing, data use, and data sharing agreements.  His branding work encompasses name, image, and likeness agreements; white-label and private-label agreements; publisher agreements; and social medial influencer agreements.

Mark represents clients in intellectual property disputes and litigation. He prepares and responds to demand letters addressing alleged infringements of patents, copyrights, and trademarks, and the misappropriation of trade secrets. He has litigated opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and has represented plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts in cases involving claims of intellectual property infringement. His litigation experience also includes false advertising, trade dress infringement, and federal and state unfair competition claims, as well as domain name disputes, including claims under the federal Anti-Cybersquatting Act.