DLA Piper LLP (US)

Intellectual Property and Technology; Trademark and Copyright; Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate; Media, Sport and Entertainment

Of Counsel

Ryan Compton is Of Counsel in the Intellectual Property and Technology practice group at DLA Piper LLP (US) in Washington, D.C., where he is also a member of the Technology and Sports, Media, and Entertainment Sectors.

Ryan’s trademark experience encompasses trademark counseling, with an emphasis on complex intellectual property licensing, including the design and implementation of intercompany license structures, and multi-jurisdictional trademark portfolio management. He frequently advises clients on brand development and the intellectual property aspects of mergers and acquisitions including due diligence and agreement drafting.

Ryan has experience in copyright counseling and develops enforcement and registration strategies for creative properties, software, and online databases, performs copyright compliance audits, and consults clients on Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) issues. He has participated in the Copyright Office’s multi-stakeholder DMCA notice and takedown working group and other rule-making activities.

Ryan counsels clients on online intellectual property protection, including online trademark and copyright enforcement, domain name portfolio management (including generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) rollout issues), fraud investigations, defamation claims, and domain name disputes. He has investigated and executed enforcement programs against content scraping, software piracy, beta-tester non-disclosure agreement violations, infringement in mobile application software, “gold-farming” and other online fraud.

Ryan manages trademark and copyright portfolios which range from small startups to large-scale mature entities, including some of the world’s most well-known brands, in over 100 countries.  He assists in litigation matters before the federal courts and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and manages a large number of multi-jurisdictional IP enforcement matters around the world. In addition, he is experienced in trademark selection, adoption and use of trademarks, domestic and global trademark prosecution and enforcement.

Ryan is a strong advocate of pro bono work and serves on the boards of the Community Economic Development Project of the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center and Critical Exposure (http://www.criticalexposure.org).

Ryan earned a B.S. in Political Science, with minor concentrations in Computer Science and Business Administration, from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from Emory University School of Law. He frequently presents CLE programs and primers on intellectual property basics and substantive issues to help businesses maximize the value of their brands, such as the gTLD rollout and the intellectual property aspects of M&A deals.  Ryan is a frequent contributor to DLA Piper’s intellectual property blog, found at http://www.remarksblog.com.  Ryan is an avid follower of online, hardware, and software technology developments, and social media trends.  He has lifelong devotion to music as a listener, musician, recording artist, disc jockey, executive staff at a radio station, concert promoter, and legal consultant to independent record labels.  He also enjoys instructing high-performance driving techniques, playing tennis, and working in his garage.

International Trademark Association

J.D., Emory University School of Law; B.S., Vanderbilt University