Scott Austin is a Florida Bar Board Certified Intellectual Property attorney with a desire and vision to build lasting relationships and secure the brands and innovations that shape online business and technology. He is proud for the past 30 years to have obtained Intellectual Property protection for and defended through litigation some of the most innovative Fortune 500’s and start-ups in America and around the world. With an understanding of both the technical (programming background) and business (MBA and business founder) aspects of protecting and monetizing brands and technology Scott views the litigation process as a tool – a means to achieve a business objective. He is also one of seven members worldwide of ICANN’s Public Interest Commitment Dispute Resolution Procedure (PICDRP) Standing Panel as well as a member of the National Arbitration Forum panel of neutrals arbitrating international domain name disputes under ICANN’s UDRP, URS and PICDRP processes. He has represented clients before the ITC and in federal court on patent, trademark and copyright infringement claims and defending against patent trolls. He also protects brands before the TTAB in trademark oppositions and cancellations, and in DMCA takedowns involving content copyright infringement and online defamation.

Scott also counsels clients in the areas of unfair competition, the protection and misappropriation of trade secrets and trade dress, and related trade regulation matters. Scott’s dispute resolution skills are backed by years of experience negotiating and litigating complex technology transaction agreements, such as terms of use, terms of service, cloud storage agreements, privacy policies, COPPA compliance, SaaS, SLA and keyword and adword challenges.

Scott’s experience in enforcement and defense of brands, creative works and online content is worldwide and covers many industries, including: fashion houses, film, television and media producers, health care providers, health and fitness products, professional athletes and college sports teams, news organizations, book publishers, producers of wine, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and firearms, education and religious institutions, and automobile manufacturers. Scott also has contributed to changes in IP laws, policies and regulations through participation on major committees and working groups for legal and trade associations such as INTA, ICANN and The Florida Bar Business Law Section.

VLP’s approach provides the infrastructure to seamlessly team with in-house counsel and utilize client’s support staff so that our efforts stay focused on favorable results and settlements within defined budgets. In those roles he learned how to respond aggressively to help executives and managers obtain reliable answers to legal questions they could count on for risk assessment and decisive action.

Prior to joining VLP, Scott served as a partner in the Intellectual Property and Business Transactions practice groups of a national West Coast law firm. Scott has taught intellectual property law as an adjunct professor of law and chaired the Florida Bar Business Law Section’s Corporations, Securities and Financial Services Committee for two terms. He has received awards from the Florida Bar for his work on revisions to Florida’s business law statutes, which were adopted by the Florida legislature.

Education

  • J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, (Law Review Editor, Georgetown International Law Journal; Author, Note “Advertising Regulation in the Peoples Republic of China”)
  • M.B.A., Ohio University, , Beta Gamma Sigma (emphasis in Finance and Marketing)
  • B.S. summa cum laude, Ohio University, (Journalism)

Honors & Awards

  • Florida Superlawyer, Intellectual Property Litigation
    • VLP Law Group LLP webinar: Update on Domain Name Disputes in a Post-GDPR World (November 2018)
    • VLP Law Group LLP webinar: A Three Step Plan to Protect Your Domain from Cybersquatters After GDPR Narrows WHOIS to WHO (March 2018)
    • VLP Law Group LLP webinar: Internet Road Construction: Where is WHOIS and What is the Risk of Detour from new gTLDs (September 2016)
    • What Is Who Is And Where Is It All Going, Cybersecurity And Privacy Protection Conference (April 2016)
    • VLP Law Group LLP webinar: Recent Developments in Domain Name Disputes: What You Don’t Know Will Hurt You (January 2014)
    • Brand Protection on the Internet, Moderator, INTA Roundtable (January 2010)
    • Records Management Policies and Ethical Issues in E-Discovery, Speaker; Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (April 2008)
    • Recent Developments on IP and IT Issues in Computer Contract Provisions, Digital Technology Law Committee 2007 Annual Convention (2007)
    • Recent Developments on Disclosure Requirements for Data Breach and Data Theft for IT Managers, Society for Information Management, Cleveland, Ohio (October 2006)