Scott M. Douglass

Technology Transactions and IP Licensing (Software, SaaS, and AI)
Scott structures and negotiates IP and technology transactions involving cutting-edge technologies. His work includes software and AI agreements, end-user and SaaS licenses, nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements, IP asset sales, and trademark, copyright, and patent licensing. He is particularly adept at counseling clients on IP rights and deal structures in fast-moving areas at the forefront of innovation, including AI and software.

Intellectual Property Litigation (Technology, Trademarks, Copyrights, Trade Dress, and Patents)
Scott litigates technology, trademark, trade dress, copyright, utility patent, and design patent matters in federal courts across the country. He represents both rights holders and accused infringers, handling disputes ranging from emergency injunctions to summary judgment and pretrial motions. His approach is strategic and business-first – guiding clients from initial investigation and filing through discovery and dispositive motion practice, with a focus on aligning litigation strategy with long-term business objectives.

Brand Strategy and Trademark Counsel
Scott counsels clients on brand adoption and protection, including managing more than 500 trademark applications and registrations at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and enforcing marks before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).

Online Enforcement, DMCA Takedowns, and Copyright Registration
Scott also assists clients with online brand enforcement and digital IP issues, including Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) arbitrations, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedowns, and copyright protection, helping safeguard creative works and protect IP value in the digital age.

Industries Served
Scott works with companies and individuals across the business life cycle, from startups to small and mid-sized businesses to Fortune 500 and publicly traded companies. His clients come from a range of industries, including supply chain, transportation, and logistics; construction; entertainment; alcohol and spirits; food and restaurants; pharmaceutical products; manufacturing; and professional and financial services.

Background
Earlier in his career, Scott served for three years as a legislative aide to two U.S. senators, covering homeland security, banking, and finance issues. During law school, he clerked for two federal magistrate judges in Tennessee and for the general counsel of one of the largest tobacco companies in the world. Scott studied Arabic in the Middle East and traveled throughout Africa and the Middle East.

(Note: Scott's patent work is focused on litigation and licensing; he does not prosecute patents.)

• Technology & IP Licensing and Counseling

• Advised a fintech company on a cross-license and joint development agreement to integrate AI-enabled software into a financial management platform.

• Negotiated a celebrity endorsement deal and adjacent marketing services agreement with a country music artist on behalf of an established alcohol and spirits brand.

• Advised a global manufacturer of retail, industrial, and commercial machines on IP aspects of development, supply, joint venture, commercial, and manufacturing agreements.

• Negotiated a data use and access license for a data analytics company.

• Advised a global medical technology manufacturer on software licensing issues in light of historical contracts.

• Advised a digital health technology startup on a licensing agreement to deploy the client's on-demand video and software platform in its first commercial environment.

• Negotiated a technology use and IP license for a health data technology startup.

• Created and negotiated a license arrangement for an AI-enabled SaaS platform to acquire access to a legal library to serve as the training data and knowledge base for the client's generative AI technology.

• Negotiated a copyright license for the use of a nationally recognized alternative learning curriculum for an educational startup.

• Advised a non-profit organization dedicated to freedom of speech on the interplay of copyrights, trademarks, and contractual obligations.

• Facilitated multiple trademark licensing deals across a range of industries, including banking and finance, software, food and restaurants, clothing, and retail stores.

• Advised a digital printing company on copyright and trademark issues vis-à-vis third-party design platforms and ultimate rights holders.

• IP & Technology Litigation

• Enforced a health care company's longstanding technology agreement against a technology services provider.

• Obtained summary judgment of patent invalidity for a client accused of infringement relating to crane and rigging technology.

• Prevailed on a motion to exclude a plaintiff's patent damages expert on the basis that the expert failed to properly apportion the royalty base and rate to the client's accused products.

• Achieved dismissal of patent infringement claims against a name-brand automotive manufacturer by investigating and identifying a fatal venue issue, all before having to answer the complaint.

• Obtained summary judgment on a trademark infringement claim on behalf of a nationally recognized construction services brand.

• Secured an injunction against a defendant for trademark infringement, broadly prohibiting the defendant from further use of the client's mark in advertising, domain names, and search engine optimization (SEO).

• Defeated a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against a client in the entertainment and restaurant industry.

• Achieved a favorable settlement on behalf of a restaurant group seeking to enforce contract terms and prevent trademark infringement by a seller who continued using the trademark after a transaction.

• Defeated a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against a music festival client.

• Achieved a favorable settlement after filing a motion for summary judgment on behalf of a client accused of federal trademark infringement by a Fortune 500 company.

• Defended a client against federal trade dress infringement claims, resulting in a voluntary nonsuit by the plaintiff.

• Achieved a favorable settlement in a federal trademark infringement suit against an accused infringer who adopted the client's logo for advertising to competitors.

• Successfully pursued a motion for sanctions against a defendant in a federal trademark infringement case.

• Achieved a favorable settlement on behalf of a client accused of federal trademark counterfeiting and infringement by a Fortune 500 company.

• Prevailed on a motion to dismiss for a lack of personal jurisdiction on behalf of defendants improperly sued in federal district court.

• Achieved a favorable settlement in a federal trademark infringement suit against a competitor that violated a decade-old settlement agreement.

• Enforced trademark and copyright rights in a nationally recognized brand against multiple defendants who sought to unlawfully use the brand for commercial development.

• Succeeded in taking down more than a dozen infringing domain names under the UDRP.

• IP Prosecution

• Registered approximately 200 trademarks with the USPTO.

• Currently managing multiple foreign trademark portfolios.

• Conducted due diligence and advised companies on issues involving trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets, and other aspects of IP in multiple sales, acquisitions, mergers, and other transactions.

• Overcame USPTO actions based on mere descriptiveness, likelihood of confusion, geographic descriptiveness, and other grounds.

• Protected the IP rights and exposure to liability through licensing, nondisclosure, and settlement agreements for brands, products, and inventions for diverse clients.

• Listed in Chambers USA as a leading Intellectual Property lawyer in Tennessee (2025)
• Listed in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch^® in America for Intellectual Property Law and Litigation: Intellectual Property (2021 – 2023)
• Selected to Mid-South Super Lawyers "Rising Stars" in Intellectual Property (2018 – 2023)
• Participant – Nashville Bar Foundation Leadership Forum (2019 – 2020)
• Member – American Intellectual Property Law Association
• Member – Copyright Society of the South
• Member – International Trademark Association
• Member – Memphis Bar Association
  • Co-chair, Business Law Section (2021 – present)
• Member – Nashville Bar Association
  • Co-chair, Business Law Committee (2019 – 2020)
  • Former Member of Board of Directors, Young Lawyers Division
• Member – Tennessee Bar Association
• Member – Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association
• Member – Licensing Executives Society
  • Former Chair – Webinar Committee
  • Former Chair – Emerging Enterprises Committee

• "The Fast-Moving Race Between Gen-AI and Copyright Law" (July 2024)
• "Re-Considering the Right of Publicity in the World of Generative AI," republished in IP Watchdog (July 2024)
• "Don't Forget About NFTs! USPTO and USCO Issue Joint Study on the Interplay Between NFTs and Intellectual Property," republished August 2024, in The Licensing Journal (June 2024)
• "The Supreme Court Draws the Line on the Foreign Reach of the Lanham Act" (July 2023)
• Co-author – "Licensing in Bankruptcy," Scott Douglass, Dominic Rota, and Michael Wennerlund, American Bankruptcy Trustee Journal, Vol. 38, Issue 2 (Spring 2022)
• Co-author – "Thinking of Rebranding Post-Pandemic? The 'Tacking' Doctrine May Say Otherwise," Tennessee Bar Journal (May/June 2021)
• Co-author – "Trademarks + The Significance of Source," Barista Magazine (October/November 2019)
• Co-author – "Right Before Remedy – Supreme Court Requires Businesses to Register Their Copyrights Before Enforcement," Association of Corporate Counsel Tennessee Focus (First Quarter 2019)
• Co-author – "Cybersecurity and Your Company: Don't Wait Until You've Been Hacked To Get Serious About Security," Attorney At Law Magazine (March 2017)

• "Drafting Ethical Cease and Desist Letters for Trademark and Copyright Infringers," Association of Corporate Counsel Tennessee (2021)
• "'So You Want to Start A . . .' – Intellectual Property Considerations for the 'Non-Startup' New Business," Nashville Bar Association, Business Law Institute (2020)
• "Ethics & Professionalism in Intellectual Property Law," Tennessee Bar Association, Intellectual Property CLE Blast (2019)
• "Leveraging Tech for Legal," Roundtable Hosted by Evolve Law
• "IP Curriculum," Entrepreneur Center Accelerators (Project Music/1440)
• "Intellectual Property: Nuts and Bolts," National Business Institute, Manufacturing Law Event, Nashville

• The FTC's Proposed Ban on Non-Competes: What We Know and What You Can Expect (February 2023)
• Recent Developments in IP Law (December 2022)

• Baker Donelson Represents cj Advertising Owners in Sale to Herringbone Digital (November 14, 2025)
• Chambers USA Ranks 97 Baker Donelson Attorneys in 2025 Edition (June 5, 2025)
• Baker Donelson Represents IMC Logistics in Strategic Partnership Agreement with Kuehne+Nagel (December 5, 2024)
• 44 Baker Donelson Attorneys Named to 2023 Mid-South Super Lawyers; 32 Named to Mid-South Rising Stars (November 28, 2023)
• 55 Baker Donelson Attorneys Named to 2022 Mid-South Super Lawyers; 30 Named to Mid-South Rising Stars (November 29, 2022)
• Baker Donelson Welcomes IP Shareholders Edward Lanquist Jr. in Nashville and Scott Douglass in Memphis (August 23, 2022)

• Baker Donelson's Addition of IP Shareholders Ed Lanquist and Scott Douglass Featured in Nashville Post (August 23, 2022)

• The FTC's Proposed Ban on Non-Competes: What We Know and What You Can Expect (February 21, 2023)
• Recent Developments in IP Law (December 13, 2022)