MARTIN J. ELGISON
Partner, Intellectual Property, Alston & Bird
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Martin J. Elgison is the founder of Alston & Bird's Intellectual Property Practice, which currently comprises more than 130 lawyers in five offices. Mr. Elgison plays a significant role in the management of the Firm’s IP practice as the Co-Coordinator of the Firm’s seven intellectual property practice groups and the leader of one of those practice groups, the Intellectual Property-Transactional Group.

Mr. Elgison has a broad range of experience in intellectual property matters that includes litigation, transactional matters and counseling. He has served successfully as lead counsel, including as lead trial counsel, in patent, trademark, copyright, trade dress, trade secret and false advertising litigation, as well as disputed matters involving computer software and other technology. At the appellate level, Mr. Elgison has argued cases before the Fifth, Eighth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeal. Mr. Elgison also assists clients in negotiating and structuring complex transactions involving intellectual property rights, including technology and software agreements, media broadcast and distribution agreements, sponsorship and promotional agreements, electronic publishing transactions and web-based services agreements. Mr. Elgison utilizes his broad experience to counsel clients in a wide range of industries on intellectual property portfolio management, protection and enforcement strategies.

Mr. Elgison writes and speaks frequently on intellectual property matters, including such diverse topics as protection of intellectual property in advertising, copyright protection for computer screen displays, the use of metatags and hyperlinks, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and other matters involving intellectual property rights on the Internet. Mr. Elgison is currently listed in the 2005-2006 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for his expertise in intellectual property matters, and has been included in every edition since the inception of the list in 1991-1992. He is also listed in the 2005-2006 edition in the Entertainment Law category, and is ranked in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers.

Mr. Elgison received his J.D., cum laude, in 1981, from the University of Miami School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review. He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and has been admitted to practice in numerous federal district courts around the country as well as the Fifth Circuit, Sixth Circuit, Eighth Circuit, Ninth Circuit, and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals.