Admiralty - General - Intellectual Property Rights

Nautilus has three major disciplines of expertise: Admiralty including cruise-line expertise, extensive cargo claim knowledge and commercial/private vessel matters; General, including surveillance, product liability and internal theft, and Intellectual Property Rights, including trademark and copyright issues.

Nautilus acts for the interests of domestic insurers, Lloyd's Underwriters, the Institute of London Underwriters, fixed premium underwriters and the world's largest protection and indemnity clubs.

All of our work in admiralty is for the interests of vessel owners, operators, charterers, their insurers and attorneys who represent them.

A sampling of Nautilus' involvement in maritime matters includes:

• Marine Surveys
• Stowaways
• Hull/machinery breakdown
• Fire/sinking
• Drowning deaths
• Longshoreman injuries
• Oil spills
• Boating accidents/fatalities
• Recovered vessels*
• Vessel sinkings and physical damage
• Stolen vessels
• Collisions
• Vessel disappearance
• Groundings
• Seized vessels
• Wreck removal

*Stolen vessels with up to $750,000 have been located and recovered. Recoveries have occurred in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Haiti, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and through the continental United States.

CARGO

Nautilus has staff experts who possess a thorough understanding of how cargo moves. This intimate knowledge of the industry is what it takes to complete successful investigations stateside and throughout the western hemisphere. Work on claims involving:

• missing / stolen cargo
• high-jacked shipments/containers
• damaged shipments
• short shipments

In addition to the recovery of merchandise, underwriters have been provided recommendations as to how to protect shipments while in transit in order to limit their exposure to further theft.

CRUISE-LINE SPECIALTY AREAS

• Vessel safety audits*
• Training of ships' personnel to deal with on-board accidents
• Training of shoreside personnel regarding ship-related incidents
• Creation and customization of accident reporting forms
• Vessel-related crew injuries
• Crew injuries/fatalities
• Crew-member illnesses
• Reported rapes
• Inappropriate behavior by crew
• Robberies and theft aboard ships

*Nautilus conducts shipboard inspections for insurance purposes. These inspections are accomplished for insurers and ship owners in order to minimize hazards aboard that may contribute to shipboard accidents. Ship's staff and crew are educated on how to respond to shipboard incidents and how to protect the interests of owners and insurers.

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Nautilus Investigations handles many types of cases under our general investigations. Some of the assignments received by Nautilus Investigations are collateral to our maritime and Intellectual Property Rights cases. Representations are as follows:

DUE DILIGENCE INQUIRIES

Complete computer background dossiers include but not limited to:

• Vehicle/vessel/aircraft ownership
• Criminal history (state and federal)
• Prior worker's compensation claims
• Civil suits/judgments/filings
• Plaintiff / defendant searches, judgments and filings
• Driver's license history
• Corporate involvement
• Fictitious names filings
• Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings
• Telephone cross reference
• Financial and asset searches
• And much more

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Since 1982, investigative efforts on behalf of trademark owners and their attorneys have resulted in hundreds of successful civil and criminal actions. Nautilus works in the mainland U.S., Puerto Rico, Panama, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and throughout South America on assignments such as:

*Nautilus' investigation of counterfeiters resulted in criminal prosecutions under Federal Statutes for counterfeiting 18Stat. 2320. Acting with U.S. Customs and the Secret Service, Nautilus was part of a task force that investigated and prosecuted companies and individuals under what then was a "new" federal statute. These early, successful prosecutions are now cited as case precedents.

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