Automotive

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Automotive legal counsel for an industry going electric, connected, and software-defined, covering battery and EV technology IP, vehicle software licensing, data and privacy, and the supply agreements that keep production moving.

The car is becoming a computer on wheels, and the legal questions have changed with it. Software, batteries, connectivity, and data now drive value as much as steel and assembly lines do. Because our attorneys have engineering backgrounds, we are comfortable in the technical details of electrification and vehicle software, and we help automotive companies handle the IP, licensing, regulatory, and supply matters that come with this shift.

Electric Vehicle Technology

Electrification reorders the whole IP and commercial map. We advise on battery technology patents and licensing, charging infrastructure agreements, and the supply contracts that secure cells and critical materials. When you pursue an EV development joint venture or a technology transfer, we structure it so ownership of jointly developed improvements is clear from day one, and so a partner today does not become a competitor armed with your designs tomorrow.

Connected and Software-Defined Vehicles

Modern vehicles ship features over the air and collect data continuously, which creates obligations long after the sale. We handle automotive software licensing, over-the-air update frameworks, and connected-services agreements, and we work through who owns the data a vehicle generates and how privacy rules apply to it. We also help align your cybersecurity practices with the standards regulators and OEM customers now expect across the connected-vehicle supply chain.

Supply Chain and Manufacturing

Automotive supply chains span borders and break in unexpected ways. We draft and negotiate supply agreements, write force majeure and disruption terms that actually allocate risk, and structure joint manufacturing arrangements. We manage the IP relationships with suppliers so that tooling, designs, and process improvements stay where they belong, and we step in when a supply dispute threatens to stop a line.

Frequently asked questions

Use a layered approach: patents for novel cell chemistry, pack design, and thermal or charging systems, and trade secrets for manufacturing processes and formulations you can keep confidential. Battery IP moves fast, so file early and consider both the device and the process. Where you can't detect infringement in a finished product, a trade secret often protects you better than a patent that's hard to enforce.

Watch the license scope, update and security obligations, indemnification for IP infringement, and especially open-source license terms that can require you to disclose your own code. Software-defined vehicles ship code that lives for years, so negotiate long-term support, the right to patch, and clear allocation of liability for software defects. An open-source audit of your build before launch prevents copyleft surprises down the line.

Connected vehicles generate location, biometric, and behavioral data that trigger privacy laws like the CCPA and GDPR, plus growing scrutiny of how automakers share data with insurers and third parties. You need clear notice, a lawful basis or consent where required, data minimization, and contracts controlling what your vendors do with the data. Treat the vehicle as a data platform and govern it the way you'd govern any other one.

Tie pricing, capacity commitments, quality standards, and IP ownership of jointly developed parts down in writing, and build in remedies for supply disruption. Automotive supply chains are deep and interdependent, so a single supplier's IP claim or shortage can halt a line. Clarify who owns tooling and improvements, secure continuity and second-source rights, and make sure indemnities cover defects that surface in your finished vehicles.

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