Marshall J. Nelson

Marshall Nelson focuses on copyright, trademark and other intellectual property as well as First Amendment and media law issues. For many years he has represented newspapers, broadcasters, publishers and other media in the Northwest and nationally. He serves as copyright, trademark and advertising counsel for a wide range of businesses, handling registration, licensing and contested matters. A frequent speaker and author on intellectual property and media law issues, Marshall is also the author of amicus briefs in both the Washington and U.S. Supreme Courts on significant media issues.

Marshall's clients include: Allied Daily Newspapers, Clearwire Corporation, , Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Mountaineers Books, , The Seattle Times, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Teatro ZinZanni, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, and many authors, including Ivan Doig and John Medina. For many years he was counsel to Gary Larson and FarWorks, Inc.

Practice Highlights

Litigation

• Lead counsel for The Seattle Times in successful motions to open sealed court files in more than 35 King County Superior Court proceedings, resulting in changes in local court procedures and news stories that were among finalists for the 2007 Pulitzer Prizes
• Argued newspaper’s right of access to teacher sexual misconduct records before Washington Supreme Court in Bellevue John Does v. Bellevue School District and Seattle Times Company, 164 Wash.2d 199, 210 (2008)
• Represented media organizations as amicus curiae before Washington Supreme Court in In re Orange, 152 Wash.2d 795 (2004) establishing right to open court proceedings at all stages of criminal trials
• Regularly represent trademark owners in opposition and cancellation proceedings before Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and in domain name disputes in ICANN arbitration proceedings

Transactions

• Principal attorney for Clearwire Corporation on non-patent intellectual property matters involved in $12 billion transaction with Sprint and others
• Management of domestic and international trademark portfolios for many companies, including Clearwire and Kaiser Permanente
• Primary responsibility for due diligence review and documentation of non-patent intellectual property matters in acquisitions and financing transactions