Copyright protection may provide protection and remedies where patent and trademark protection may fall short or may not be available. With regard to your copyright needs, we can:
- prepare, file, and prosecute copyright applications
- take steps to remove infringing material from the Internet
- prepare copyright infringement opinions
- enforce and defend copyright infringements
- provide counseling regarding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other copyright statutes
- prepare licenses of copyrighted material
The enforcement of intellectual property rights often requires litigation. Litigation involving patents, trademarks and copyrights typically occurs in federal court. Trademark infringement and cases involving cyber squatting are covered under the Lanham Act, which allows for the recovery of injunctive relief, damages, and attorney’s fees in some cases. The Copyright Act governs disputes involving copyright infringement and the Patent Act controls those regarding patent infringement. In addition to infringement issues, litigation in federal court can be required to determine the validity of a party’s intellectual property rights, the meaning of patent claims, and the ownership of such rights among other matters. We can:
- prepare and file pleadings
- conduct discovery
- prepare and file motions
- argue cases at trial
- file and litigate appeals
- negotiate settlements
One common goal of developing intellectual property assets is so that they can eventually be licensed to a licensee. License agreements are very complex documents which should address all possible positive and negative scenarios. Intellectual property licensors commonly find themselves stuck in situations where they are not happy with the terms in their current license. Thus, it is important that an attorney experienced in licensing agreements prepare and negotiate any type of intellectual property license. We can:
- negotiate and prepare license agreements (licensor or licensee)
- review executed license agreements
- identify legal recourses available if you wish to terminate an existing license agreement
The Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Proceeding (UDRP) is similar to an arbitration proceeding and was developed to resolve disputes involving domains that contain terms that may be owned by others. The domain will be transferred from a registrant if it contains a trademark, was not registered for a legitimate purpose, and was registered in bad faith. Bad faith is determined by the intentions of the registrant. We can:
- initiate UDRP proceedings
- represent either registrant’s or complainants before a UDRP administrative panel
- negotiate settlements of UDRP proceedings
- take disputes out of the UDRP and into federal court when necessary
The Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (TTAB) is a three judge administrative panel that hears cases wherein parties: oppose the registration of an applied for mark, petition for cancellation of a registered mark, or appeal the decisions of examiners. The TTAB follows procedures nearly identical to the federal rules of civil procedure followed by all federal courts.
- initiate TTAB proceedings
- represent parties in such proceedings
- conduct discovery, prepare and submit motions and briefs
- negotiate settlements of TTAB proceedings
- take disputes out of the TTAB and into federal court when necessary
Information that is not publicly known is protectable by the law of trade secrets. Trade secret protection is typically used when a technology is not protected by a patent. Non-disclosure agreements are commonly used by inventors to protect their trade secrets before they show their invention to outside parties. Inventors commonly sign “boilerplate” non-disclosure agreements they find online. However, non-disclosure agreements can be subject to numerous pitfalls and an attorney should always prepare and review non-disclosure agreements signed by any party. We can:
- review and prepare non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)
- perform trade secret audits and help ensure your trade secrets maintain trade secret status
- pursue remedies if someone has misappropriated your trade secrets
