Intellectual Property Consulting, LLC, a New Orleans-based business and IP law firm, is expanding into Birmingham, Alabama. IPC has merged with The Watson Firm, a 13-year-old boutique law firm that specializes in business consulting and legal counsel to entrepreneurs. The newly merged firm will operate under the IPC brand, retaining all current attorneys and staff from both firms. While letterhead and email addresses will change, clients will continue to work directly with their established legal teams as the firms integrate, says the IPC website. “We are excited to welcome The Watson Firm into the IPC family,” said IPC Managing Partner Greg Latham, who founded IPC in 2007. “This merger strengthens our position as a premier law firm with offices in both Alabama and Louisiana, dedicated to providing exceptional legal services in intellectual property and business law.” Over the last 17 years, IPC has grown into one of the largest IP boutique law firms along the Gulf Coast, offering patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret litigation, as well as application and prosecution legal services. The firm manages one of the largest trademark portfolios in the U.S., and the firm’s registered patent attorneys assist clients with patent applications around the world. The Watson Firm was founded in 2011 by Tripp Watson, who will now lead the IPC Birmingham office. He is joined by two associates Madison Thomas and JD Dickerson, who along with paralegal Candricka Sutton now join IPC’s bench of attorneys and paralegals, including attorneys Latham, Stephen Kepper, Mark Melasky, Ben Meroney, Adriano Pacifici, Jared Rovira, Adam Vickers, and paralegals Caroline Reid and Heather Cristia.. “We are thrilled to join forces with IPC,” said Watson. “This merger allows us to leverage IPC’s deep expertise in intellectual property law while continuing to provide the high-quality business law services our clients rely on. We recognized early on our close alignment with IPC on important issues regarding vision and culture.”