Practice Areas
Honors + Affiliations
Lifetime Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Member, American Bar Association (ABA), Intellectual Property Law (IPL) Section
Co-Editor, ABA, The Intellectual Property Handbook: A Practical Guide For Franchise, Business and IP Counsel
Co-Chair, ABA IPL Section, 2007 and 2008 Annual CLE Programs
Former Chair, ABA IPL Section, Trademarks and Unfair Competition Division (responsible for six committees covering Internet issues, federal trademark legislation, international treaties, Patent and Trademark Office affairs, state trademark laws, unfair competition, franchising, and counterfeiting)
Former Chair, ABA IPL Section, Copyright Division (responsible for nine committees covering domestic and international legislation, Copyright Office affairs, and special interests)
Former Articles and Topics Editor, Franchise Law Journal
Former Chair, ABA IPL Section, Copyright Office Affairs Committee
Former Chair, ABA IPL Section, Franchising Committee
Former Co-Chair, ABA IPL Section, New Publications Committee
Member, CT Corsearch Trademark Advisory Board
Member, ABA Forum on Franchising
Member, International Trademark Association
Member, Copyright Society of the USA
Member, District of Columbia Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section
Member, The George Washington University School of Law Intellectual Property Advisory Board
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Pennsylvania
- Washington, D.C.
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1111 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20004-2541
Phone: 202.739.5216
Mobile: 703.587.5084
Fax: 202.739.3001
James R. Sims III is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Intellectual Property Practice. His practice focuses on trademark, copyright, licensing, and franchising issues for clients in the financial services, pharmaceutical and life science, high-technology, food, education, consumer products, transportation, luxury resort lodging, and software industries. Mr. Sims works with clients to protect and exploit their intellectual property rights domestically and internationally as well as the divesture and acquisition of IP and related rights. He has drafted and negotiated numerous licenses, franchise agreements, and distribution agreements and counsels clients on a wide range of franchise and license issues. Mr. Sims often helps clients structure systems to avoid triggering application of franchise regulation and handles M&A work involving franchise systems as well as distributor and licensee networks that implicate concerns under franchise regulations.
Mr. Sims has represented clients in administrative litigation before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (including having represented the American Bar Association's Intellectual Property Law Section) and litigation regarding trademark, copyright, and franchise issues in federal district court. He also recently served as acting chief trademark counsel for a Fortune 250 consumer products company for several months, counseling on a wide range of trademark, copyright, and advertising matters.
Mr. Sims has written articles on intellectual property and franchising topics for The National Law Journal, The Licensing Journal, The Corporate Lawyer, Licensing Economics Review, Franchise Law Journal, American Bar Association (ABA) reports, and Morgan Lewis's Intellectual Property Handbook and other publications, and he frequently speaks on intellectual property, Internet, and franchise issues. He also served as co-editor of the ABA's recent comprehensive IP publication, The Intellectual Property Handbook: A Practical Guide for Franchise, Business and IP Counsel.
Mr. Sims is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania.
Education
- George Washington University National Law Center, 1986, J.D.
- Hope College, 1981, B.A.