Practice areas
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law
Mr. Vermut, a partner at DMHD, practices exclusively in the area of information technology law and intellectual property law. His intellectual property law practice includes patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret and unfair competition matters. He represents clients on patent and trademark matters before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He also assists individual inventors, start-ups, small businesses, corporations and universities in all aspects of intellectual property law.
Information Technology law is the application of several areas of the law (contract, intellectual property, data privacy and protection laws) to constantly evolving computer, software, hardware and network technology. This practice area requires extensive knowledge of old and new technologies, IT and electronic commerce trends and both legal and technical experience. Mr. Vermut counsels clients on software licensing, data licenses, on-line service, technology consulting, and software development agreements, hosting agreements, non-disclosure agreements, vendor agreements, software as a service (SaaS) agreements, the management and protection of personally identifiable information (PII), and various other information technology related contracts and transactions. He also advises clients on technology and compliance audits and technology disputes. He represents software developers, service providers and information technology departments and other businesses and individuals with these needs.
Education
- University of Florida, B.S. (Computer Engineering, Mathematics Minor), 1992
- Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center, J.D., summa cum laude, 1996
- Valedictorian
- Articles Editor, Associate Editor, Nova Law Review
- Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M., with distinction, 1997
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, Northern District, Middle District and Southern District of Florida
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District and Western District of Arkansas
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- Supreme Court of the United States
Professional affiliations
- Registered Patent Attorney, United States Patent and Trademark Office
- Admitted to the Florida Bar, Board Certified in Intellectual Property
- Admitted to The District of Columbia Bar
- Admitted to the Colorado Bar
- American Bar Association, Section of Science and Technology
- American Intellectual Property Law Association
- The Florida Bar, Computer Law Committee
- The Florida Bar, Business Law Section
- The Jacksonville Bar Association, Intellectual Property Section, past president (2006, 2007)
Recognition
- AV Peer Review Rated by Lexis Nexis | Martindale Hubbell
- Florida’s Super Lawyers list, Intellectual Property (2012-2019)
- Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of Trademark Law (2016 – 2025)
- Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of Copyright Law (2017 – 2025)
- Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of Patent Law (2018-2025)
- Best Lawyers’ Jacksonville Lawyer of the Year in the practice area of Trademark Law (2022)
- Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, Intellectual Property Rights
- Florida Super Lawyers Rising Star, Intellectual Property (2009)
- CALI Excellence for the Future Award, Law and Cyberspace Seminar, Georgetown University
Professorships
- Adjunct Professor of Law: Patent Law, Advanced Patent Law and Intellectual Property Licensing, University of Florida Levin College of Law, 1999-Present
- Guest Lecturer: Patents, Product Development, and Technology Transfer, University of Florida College of Engineering, 2000-2003
- Adjunct Professor of Law: Patent Law, Florida Coastal School of Law, 1998-2002
Publications and Presentations
- Presenter: Jacksonville Bar Association, CLE, Things Transactional Lawyers Should Know about Intellectual Property and Essentials of Cloud-Based Software Licensing, 5th Annual Marshall M. Criser, Jr. Transactional Law Seminar, November 8, 2017
- Program Guest: WJCT-FM, First Coast Connect Radio Show, Google Trademark Lawsuit, aired August 28, 2017
- Presenter: National Business Institute, CLE on Software Licensing and SaaS Agreements, Audio Webinar, August, 7, 2017
- Program Guest: WJCT-FM, First Coast Connect Radio Show, What the Aereo Supreme Court Decision Could Mean for the Future of TV, aired April 28, 2014
- Program Guest: WJCT-FM, First Coast Connect Radio Show, Controversy Over The Rights To The Song “Happy Birthday”, aired July 8, 2013
- Program Guest: WJCT-FM, First Coast Connect Radio Show, Examining The Supreme Court Ruling On Gene Patenting, aired June 17, 2013
- Program Guest: WJCT-FM, First Coast Connect Radio Show, Tech Tuesday: Patent Trolling, aired June 11, 2013
- Author: “Staying Informed on New Technology and Trends Affecting the Practice of Trademark Law,” Chapter of Aspatore’s Inside the Minds series, Recent Trends in Trademark Protection, Aspatore (2012 Ed.)
- Author: “A Synthesis of the Intellectual Property and Antitrust Laws: A Look at Refusals to License Computer Software,” Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts, Columbia
University School of Law, Volume 22, No. 1, Fall 1997 - Author: “File Caching on the Internet: Technical Infringement or Safeguard for Efficient Network Operation?,” Journal of Intellectual Property Law, University of Georgia, Volume 4, 1997
- Presenter: Jacksonville Bar Association, CLE, Owner Agreements and Intellectual Property Issues, Inaugural Marshall M. Criser, Jr. Transactional Law Seminar, June 1, 2012
- Presenter: The Nassau County American Inn of Court, CLE, Florida’s Right of Privacy and the Trial of Mary Kinnan Rawlings and Her Book Cross Creek, June 3, 2010
- Presenter: Florida Coastal School of Law, CLE, Litigating Domain Name Disputes and Intellectual Property Contract Issues, October 23, 2009
- Presenter: Jacksonville Bar Association, CLE, Litigating Domain Name Disputes in Florida, October 15, 2009
- Presenter: Jacksonville Bar Association, CLE, Perfecting Security Interests in Intellectual Property Assets, March 14, 2008
- Presenter: Jacksonville Business Journal, Technology Forum and Exposition, Legal Outlook: Considerations for Technology Implementations, March 5, 2008
- Program Guest: WUFT-TV Public Broadcasting Network, Law Matters Television Series, Intellectual Property Rights, aired February 21, 2008
- Presenter: American Intellectual Property Lawyers Association, AIPLA 2015 Mid-Winter Institute, Licensing provisions discouraging licensee litigation and validity challenges, January 29, 2015
- Presenter: Florida Coastal Law Review, 2014 Symposium on Hot Topics in Patent Law, Patent Jurisdiction and Procedural Considerations After Medtronic, Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC, March 7, 2014
- Presenter: LawReviewCLE, CLE, Intellectual Property Basics, February 14, 2012
- Presenter: UNF International Trade Certificate Program 2012, Intellectual Property and International Business Transactions, February 3, 2012
- Presenter: Florida Bar CLE, Beyond the Boilerplate: A Case Method Review of Software License Provisions, Dec. 8, 2005
- Presenter: Intellectual Property Basics, ASME Southeastern Region XI Conference, April 8, 2005
- Presenter: Jacksonville Information Technology Council, Intellectual Property and Computer Law Issues, November 29, 2005
- Presenter: Jacksonville Bar Association, CLE, Understanding Trade Secrets, November 23, 2004
- Presenter: University of Florida Third Annual Law & Technology Conference, Intellectual Property Deal Structure, February 20, 2004
- Presenter: Intellectual Property Issues: Florida Community College at Jacksonville, October 27, 2003
- Presenter: University of North Florida, Protecting Intellectual Property University of North Florida, April 25, 2003
- Presenter: University of North Florida, Intellectual Property Issues at the University of North Florida, 2002
- Presenter: Jacksonville Bar Association, Licensing issues in the Electronic Age, November 2002
- Presenter: Suntrust Bank, Perfecting Security Interests in Intellectual Property Assets, December 2001
- Presenter: Lorman Education Services, Trade Secrets and the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine, 2000
- Presenter: Florida Bar CLE, Fundamentals and Developments in Trademarks, November 5, 1999
- Presenter: Lorman Education Services, Trade Secrets and the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine, 1999
- Presenter: Lorman Education Services, Copyright Damages and Remedies, 1998
