Nichole Hayden
Partner
23rd Floor
Charlotte, NC 28202
Charlotte partner Nichole Hayden is a registered patent attorney who counsels clients on the strategic acquisition, commercialization, protection, and management of intellectual property assets. With experience spanning IP transactions, portfolio development, and dispute resolution, Nichole helps businesses leverage their innovations to drive growth, secure competitive advantages, and navigate complex IP landscapes. She has...
Charlotte partner Nichole Hayden is a registered patent attorney who counsels clients on the strategic acquisition, commercialization, protection, and management of intellectual property assets. With experience spanning IP transactions, portfolio development, and dispute resolution, Nichole helps businesses leverage their innovations to drive growth, secure competitive advantages, and navigate complex IP landscapes. She has advised clients across diverse industries, including technology, software, manufacturing, consumer products, life sciences, and gaming.
Nichole's practice is focused on intellectual property transactions that enable clients to monetize, protect, and strategically deploy their IP assets. She structures and negotiates patent licenses, trademark licenses, software and technology agreements, and know-how and trade secret arrangements. Her work includes exclusive and non-exclusive licensing deals, revenue-generating licensing programs, field-of-use and territory-restricted licenses, and complex cross-licensing arrangements. Nichole also counsels clients on brand licensing, co-branding partnerships, and trademark coexistence agreements, helping businesses expand their market presence while managing IP risks.
Beyond licensing, Nichole advises on joint developments, collaborations, and strategic partnerships involving IP. She drafts and negotiates joint development agreements, co-commercialization arrangements, research and development collaborations, and consortium agreements. Her transactional experience extends to IP acquisitions and sales, including patent and trademark portfolio purchases, assignments, and technology transfers. Nichole helps clients structure transactions to maximize value, mitigate risk, and ensure proper allocation of ownership and control over jointly developed innovations.
Nichole plays a key role in IP due diligence and transactional support for mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, and investments. She conducts comprehensive IP due diligence to identify risks and opportunities and remedy or mitigate issues, negotiates representations and warranties related to IP ownership and freedom to operate, and drafts related agreements and post-closing licenses. Nichole also assists clients in securing IP interests as collateral in financing transactions and addressing IP issues in bankruptcy and restructuring matters. Nichole has worked on transactions across a range of industries - consumer goods, SaaS and e-discovery platforms, pet-care brands, fintech, energy infrastructure, and advanced technology - and deal sizes/values – middle-market acquisitions, cross-border transactions, and large SPAC deals, valued from the tens of millions to more than $700 million.
In addition to transactional work, Nichole manages global patent and trademark portfolios, guiding clients through the process of filing, prosecuting, and obtaining patents and trademarks in the United States and internationally. She develops comprehensive IP protection strategies aligned with business objectives, conducts patent and trademark clearance searches, prepares and prosecutes patent and trademark applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and manages patent and trademark registrations and enforcement. Nichole provides strategic counseling on portfolio optimization, IP risk assessment, and lifecycle management of IP assets.
Nichole also assists clients with IP dispute resolution, including settlement agreements, covenant-not-to-sue arrangements, and resolution of ownership disputes. She provides IP opinions on patentability, non-infringement, invalidity, freedom to operate, and trademark clearance, helping clients make informed decisions about product launches, competitive positioning, and litigation risk.
As former General Counsel to a software development startup company, Nichole gained hands-on experience at the intersection of IP, corporate transactions, and business operations. Managing IP portfolios, negotiating commercial agreements, and counseling executive teams on IP strategy gave her practical insight into how IP drives business value. She was the first in-house lawyer for the startup and created the legal structure that the company utilizes to this day. She managed IP, corporate transactions, licensing programs, litigation, and legal employment matters. This in-house perspective informs her business-focused approach to providing legal services.
advised clients across diverse industries, including technology, software, manufacturing, consumer products, life sciences, and gaming.
Nichole's practice is focused on intellectual property transactions that enable clients to monetize, protect, and strategically deploy their IP assets. She structures and negotiates patent licenses, trademark licenses, software and technology agreements, and know-how and trade secret arrangements. Her work includes exclusive and non-exclusive licensing deals, revenue-generating licensing programs, field-of-use and territory-restricted licenses, and complex cross-licensing arrangements. Nichole also counsels clients on brand licensing, co-branding partnerships, and trademark coexistence agreements, helping businesses expand their market presence while managing IP risks.
Beyond licensing, Nichole advises on joint developments, collaborations, and strategic partnerships involving IP. She drafts and negotiates joint development agreements, co-commercialization arrangements, research and development collaborations, and consortium agreements. Her transactional experience extends to IP acquisitions and sales, including patent and trademark portfolio purchases, assignments, and technology transfers. Nichole helps clients structure transactions to maximize value, mitigate risk, and ensure proper allocation of ownership and control over jointly developed innovations.
Nichole plays a key role in IP due diligence and transactional support for mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, and investments. She conducts comprehensive IP due diligence to identify risks and opportunities and remedy or mitigate issues, negotiates representations and warranties related to IP ownership and freedom to operate, and drafts related agreements and post-closing licenses. Nichole also assists clients in securing IP interests as collateral in financing transactions and addressing IP issues in bankruptcy and restructuring matters. Nichole has worked on transactions across a range of industries - consumer goods, SaaS and e-discovery platforms, pet-care brands, fintech, energy infrastructure, and advanced technology - and deal sizes/values – middle-market acquisitions, cross-border transactions, and large SPAC deals, valued from the tens of millions to more than $700 million.
In addition to transactional work, Nichole manages global patent and trademark portfolios, guiding clients through the process of filing, prosecuting, and obtaining patents and trademarks in the United States and internationally. She develops comprehensive IP protection strategies aligned with business objectives, conducts patent and trademark clearance searches, prepares and prosecutes patent and trademark applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and manages patent and trademark registrations and enforcement. Nichole provides strategic counseling on portfolio optimization, IP risk assessment, and lifecycle management of IP assets.
Nichole also assists clients with IP dispute resolution, including settlement agreements, covenant-not-to-sue arrangements, and resolution of ownership disputes. She provides IP opinions on patentability, non-infringement, invalidity, freedom to operate, and trademark clearance, helping clients make informed decisions about product launches, competitive positioning, and litigation risk.
As former General Counsel to a software development startup company, Nichole gained hands-on experience at the intersection of IP, corporate transactions, and business operations. Managing IP portfolios, negotiating commercial agreements, and counseling executive teams on IP strategy gave her practical insight into how IP drives business value. She was the first in-house lawyer for the startup and created the legal structure that the company utilizes to this day. She managed IP, corporate transactions, licensing programs, litigation, and legal employment matters. This in-house perspective informs her business-focused approach to providing legal services.
Experience
Representative Matters
- Primary patent counsel to a Fortune 500 consumer products company in the food-packaging space, overseeing the strategy and execution of its global patent portfolio – from preparing and filing applications to coordinating prosecution across international offices. She also structures, drafts, and negotiates technology licenses and joint development agreements that drive the company’s key innovation and partnership initiatives.
- IP counsel to a prominent international manufacturer of high-performance protective solutions, guiding the company’s global trademark portfolio, brand management efforts, and a broad range of licensing and joint development arrangements that advance its branding and commercial partnerships.
- Patent counsel to an emerging medical device company, building a strategic patent portfolio to protect its innovations and competitive position, including drafting and prosecuting key patents that underpin the technology recently cleared by the FDA.
- Lead IP counsel to a variety of large, cross-border SPAC transactions valued at $200 million, $685 million, and $750 million, for example.
- Lead IP counsel for M&A transactions on the buy and sell side, such as:
- acquisition of a confectionery brand in the lower middle market
- sale of an e-discovery and digital-forensics platform
- divestiture of a premium outdoor-furniture manufacturer in a transaction recognized in the $100 million to $1 billion range
- investment into a combined specialty-foods group valued at approximately $28 million
- strategic investment in a sports media and technology company
- acquisition of a digital sports data and statistics platform
- many financial-services, fintech, insurtech, and wealth-management transactions
Previous Professional Experience
- General Counsel for privately owned software development company in the gaming industry
- Gaming licensing, regulatory compliance, advice, and opinions
- Advised and managed corporate, compliance, litigation and intellectual property matters
- Advised, negotiated, and drafted customer and vendor contracts, license and supply agreements
- Managed numerous outside counsel
Education
-
Drake University Law School,
JD,
highest honors
(2004)
- Order of the Coif
- Finalist, Supreme Court Moot Court Competition
- Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts Award for Excellence in Advocacy
- Drake Law Review
- Intellectual Property Law Society
- Wofford College, BS, Chemistry, magna cum laude (2001)
Admissions
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
- U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
Practice Areas
Representative Matters
- Primary patent counsel to a Fortune 500 consumer products company in the food-packaging space, overseeing the strategy and execution of its global patent portfolio – from preparing and filing applications to coordinating prosecution across international offices. She also structures, drafts, and negotiates technology licenses and joint development agreements that drive the company’s key innovation and partnership initiatives.
- IP counsel to a prominent international manufacturer of high-performance protective solutions, guiding the company’s global trademark portfolio, brand management efforts, and a broad range of licensing and joint development arrangements that advance its branding and commercial partnerships.
- Patent counsel to an emerging medical device company, building a strategic patent portfolio to protect its innovations and competitive position, including drafting and prosecuting key patents that underpin the technology recently cleared by the FDA.
- Lead IP counsel to a variety of large, cross-border SPAC transactions valued at $200 million, $685 million, and $750 million, for example.
- Lead IP counsel for M&A transactions on the buy and sell side, such as:
- acquisition of a confectionery brand in the lower middle market
- sale of an e-discovery and digital-forensics platform
- divestiture of a premium outdoor-furniture manufacturer in a transaction recognized in the $100 million to $1 billion range
- investment into a combined specialty-foods group valued at approximately $28 million
- strategic investment in a sports media and technology company
- acquisition of a digital sports data and statistics platform
- many financial-services, fintech, insurtech, and wealth-management transactions
Previous Professional Experience
- General Counsel for privately owned software development company in the gaming industry
- Gaming licensing, regulatory compliance, advice, and opinions
- Advised and managed corporate, compliance, litigation and intellectual property matters
- Advised, negotiated, and drafted customer and vendor contracts, license and supply agreements
- Managed numerous outside counsel
Media
Recognitions
- Greenville Business Magazine Legal Elite of the Upstate, Intellectual Property and Innovation (2020)
Professional Activities
- Leadership Greenville Class 36
- South Carolina Bar
- American Bar Association
- Greenville County Bar Association
- Carolina Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law Association
- Board of Counselors, Drake University School of Law (2017–present)
Charlotte partner Nichole Hayden is a registered patent attorney who counsels clients on the strategic acquisition, commercialization, protection, and management of intellectual property assets. With experience spanning IP transactions, portfolio development, and dispute resolution, Nichole helps businesses leverage their innovations to drive growth, secure competitive advantages, and navigate complex IP landscapes. She has... advised clients across diverse industries, including technology, software, manufacturing, consumer products, life sciences, and gaming.
Nichole's practice is focused on intellectual property transactions that enable clients to monetize, protect, and strategically deploy their IP assets. She structures and negotiates patent licenses, trademark licenses, software and technology agreements, and know-how and trade secret arrangements. Her work includes exclusive and non-exclusive licensing deals, revenue-generating licensing programs, field-of-use and territory-restricted licenses, and complex cross-licensing arrangements. Nichole also counsels clients on brand licensing, co-branding partnerships, and trademark coexistence agreements, helping businesses expand their market presence while managing IP risks.
Beyond licensing, Nichole advises on joint developments, collaborations, and strategic partnerships involving IP. She drafts and negotiates joint development agreements, co-commercialization arrangements, research and development collaborations, and consortium agreements. Her transactional experience extends to IP acquisitions and sales, including patent and trademark portfolio purchases, assignments, and technology transfers. Nichole helps clients structure transactions to maximize value, mitigate risk, and ensure proper allocation of ownership and control over jointly developed innovations.
Nichole plays a key role in IP due diligence and transactional support for mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, and investments. She conducts comprehensive IP due diligence to identify risks and opportunities and remedy or mitigate issues, negotiates representations and warranties related to IP ownership and freedom to operate, and drafts related agreements and post-closing licenses. Nichole also assists clients in securing IP interests as collateral in financing transactions and addressing IP issues in bankruptcy and restructuring matters. Nichole has worked on transactions across a range of industries - consumer goods, SaaS and e-discovery platforms, pet-care brands, fintech, energy infrastructure, and advanced technology - and deal sizes/values – middle-market acquisitions, cross-border transactions, and large SPAC deals, valued from the tens of millions to more than $700 million.
In addition to transactional work, Nichole manages global patent and trademark portfolios, guiding clients through the process of filing, prosecuting, and obtaining patents and trademarks in the United States and internationally. She develops comprehensive IP protection strategies aligned with business objectives, conducts patent and trademark clearance searches, prepares and prosecutes patent and trademark applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and manages patent and trademark registrations and enforcement. Nichole provides strategic counseling on portfolio optimization, IP risk assessment, and lifecycle management of IP assets.
Nichole also assists clients with IP dispute resolution, including settlement agreements, covenant-not-to-sue arrangements, and resolution of ownership disputes. She provides IP opinions on patentability, non-infringement, invalidity, freedom to operate, and trademark clearance, helping clients make informed decisions about product launches, competitive positioning, and litigation risk.
As former General Counsel to a software development startup company, Nichole gained hands-on experience at the intersection of IP, corporate transactions, and business operations. Managing IP portfolios, negotiating commercial agreements, and counseling executive teams on IP strategy gave her practical insight into how IP drives business value. She was the first in-house lawyer for the startup and created the legal structure that the company utilizes to this day. She managed IP, corporate transactions, licensing programs, litigation, and legal employment matters. This in-house perspective informs her business-focused approach to providing legal services.
Experience
The following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.Representative Matters
- Primary patent counsel to a Fortune 500 consumer products company in the food-packaging space, overseeing the strategy and execution of its global patent portfolio – from preparing and filing applications to coordinating prosecution across international offices. She also structures, drafts, and negotiates technology licenses and joint development agreements that drive the company’s key innovation and partnership initiatives.
- IP counsel to a prominent international manufacturer of high-performance protective solutions, guiding the company’s global trademark portfolio, brand management efforts, and a broad range of licensing and joint development arrangements that advance its branding and commercial partnerships.
- Patent counsel to an emerging medical device company, building a strategic patent portfolio to protect its innovations and competitive position, including drafting and prosecuting key patents that underpin the technology recently cleared by the FDA.
- Lead IP counsel to a variety of large, cross-border SPAC transactions valued at $200 million, $685 million, and $750 million, for example.
- Lead IP counsel for M&A transactions on the buy and sell side, such as:
- acquisition of a confectionery brand in the lower middle market
- sale of an e-discovery and digital-forensics platform
- divestiture of a premium outdoor-furniture manufacturer in a transaction recognized in the $100 million to $1 billion range
- investment into a combined specialty-foods group valued at approximately $28 million
- strategic investment in a sports media and technology company
- acquisition of a digital sports data and statistics platform
- many financial-services, fintech, insurtech, and wealth-management transactions
Previous Professional Experience
- General Counsel for privately owned software development company in the gaming industry
- Gaming licensing, regulatory compliance, advice, and opinions
- Advised and managed corporate, compliance, litigation and intellectual property matters
- Advised, negotiated, and drafted customer and vendor contracts, license and supply agreements
- Managed numerous outside counsel
Education
-
Drake University Law School,
JD,
highest honors
(2004)
- Order of the Coif
- Finalist, Supreme Court Moot Court Competition
- Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts Award for Excellence in Advocacy
- Drake Law Review
- Intellectual Property Law Society
- Wofford College, BS, Chemistry, magna cum laude (2001)
Admissions
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
- U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
Practice Areas
- Cloud Computing, Licensing, & Transactions
- General Counsel Services
- Patent Counseling and Procurement
- Trademarks & Copyrights
- Intellectual Property
Industries
- Greenville Business Magazine Legal Elite of the Upstate, Intellectual Property and Innovation (2020)
- Leadership Greenville Class 36
- South Carolina Bar
- American Bar Association
- Greenville County Bar Association
- Carolina Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law Association
- Board of Counselors, Drake University School of Law (2017–present)
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