VLP Law Group LLP is very pleased to announce that trademark attorney Scott R. Austin, Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Intellectual Property Law, has joined the firm from Gordon & Rees LLP.

Mr. Austin has broad expertise in intellectual property matters, including patent, copyright and trademark disputes, UDRP proceedings, and disputes involving antitrust, Internet law and ICANN policy and governance.

Mr. Austin also has a programming background and an IT law practice, which includes assisting clients with software development, cloud computing and service level agreements, online terms and conditions and EULA’s, technology licensing and privacy policies. He has represented numerous clients in software litigation, as well as counseling clients in data breach remediation and responding to unlicensed software audits by software copyright enforcement agencies such as the Business Software Alliance and the Software & Information Industry Association.

He has handled patent, trademark and copyright infringement litigation both in federal court and before administrative tribunals such as the ITC and TTAB. He is a panelist arbitrator for the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) which oversees the arbitration of domain name disputes under ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. He has also been involved in the development of ICANN policies as a member of multiple ICANN Working Groups and intellectual property watchdog groups, including the International Trademark Association’s Internet Committee Subcommittee on new gTLDs and the Intellectual Property Constituency that comments on ICANN’s policies and Internet regulation over gTLD applicants, registrars and registries.

“Mr. Austin’s background and experience will add to the depth of our trademark practice, expand our capabilities in opposition and cancellation proceedings, as well as provide us with particular expertise in domain name disputes arbitration and Internet law, allowing us to enhance and expand the IP services we offer our clients,” said Brian Davis, member of VLP Law Group’s Executive Committee. “We are excited to have him join our growing team.”

Mr. Austin has written extensively on intellectual property issues and has taught intellectual property and internet law. He is also active in key legislative committees of the Florida State Bar.

“I am very pleased to be joining VLP Law Group. This is an exciting opportunity for me to pursue recent advances in trademark and IT law and to provide clients with a progressive but costeffective approach to legal representation,” Mr. Austin stated. “I look forward to contributing to the firm’s growth and success.”

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