Intellectual Property:
Protect Your Investment
Intellectual Property law consists of a body of state, federal and common law that protects intangible property such as inventions, business secrets, brand names, and artistic expressions. The underlying policy of intellectual property law is to encourage individuals and businesses to invest in innovation and to prevent unfair competition by competitors desiring to exploit such efforts. Each area of Intellectual Property Law affords varying levels of protection for different types of subject matter. The attorneys at The Humphries Law Firm routinely assists individuals and companies of varying sizes develop strategies to protect their intellectual assets so they can protect and leverage those assets to build business value.
Patents
Patents are business tools that can be used to prevent competitors from making, using and selling a patented invention. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues three (3) different types of patents – utility, plant and design patents. A utility patent may be issued for a process, a machine, a manufactured article, a composition of matter, or an improvement of an existing technology provided that the invention (i) has utility, (ii) is novel, and (iii) is non-obvious. A plant patent may be issued for asexually or sexually reproducible plants that are (i) novel and (ii) non-obvious. A design patent may issue for ornamental or aesthetic designs that are (i) innovative, (ii) nonfunctional, and (iii) part of a functional manufactured article. A utility patent has a term of twenty (20) years from the date of application, a plant patent has a term of twenty (20) years from the date of application, and a design patent has a term of fourteen or fifteen (15) years from the date of grant.
It is important to note, patents do not automatically confer the right to practice the invention. Analyzing the barriers to entering a new market often involves a detailed analysis of both the chances of being able to secure patent protection and the chances of exploiting the invention without infringing on another patent holder’s rights. The Humphries Law Firm can provide your company with the tools and advice you need to analyze and minimize these risks. Whether your focus is national or international, we can guide you through the entire patent prosecution process from the initial patentability and operability searches to patent issuance. We are proficient in filing domestic applications and as well as international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, to national phase applications filed under 35 U.S.C. § 371 and domestic applications claiming foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119. Our firm also assists clients create nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements, patent licensing agreements, and employment agreements. If we can be of service to you, we hope you will not hesitate to contact us.
Trademarks
Trademark law protects a company’s investment in their brand identity. Trademarks are symbols, words and other devices that signify the source of a product or a service (not the product or service itself). Trademark law prevents a competitor from trading on the goodwill your business has developed by marketing your products and services to consumers using the brand identifier. Trademark registration can be accomplished at the state or federal level with the main benefits being statewide or nationwide notice of your claim to use the mark to identify the source of your goods or services. Other benefits include the presumption of ownership and validity and marks that are used for a period of years can be deemed “incontestable” making a competitor’s challenge even more difficult.
Trademark owners are often threatened with potential infringement suits by other mark holders as well as those entities that have applied for a mark and/or those that simply misunderstand Trademark law. The attorneys at The Humphries Law FirmTM can provide advice regarding the strength of the threat and strategies to deal with it without the disruption and expense of litigation using a combination of creative prosecution strategy and negotiation; however, our firm has experience and reputation to resolve trademark disputes in the courtroom when needed.
Our firm can assist new and established companies research the feasibility of using and registering a potential mark or can assist in the registration of a mark that is already in use. The Humphries Law Firm has the expertise necessary to register your trademark through domestic applications filed under the Lanham Act internationally through international applications under the Madrid Protocol. Our firm can also assist owners of an international registration originating in another country to extend protection to the United States through requests for extension of protection in the United States under the Madrid Protocol.
Trade Secrets
Trade Secrets are a creation of state law. The North Carolina Trade Secrets Protection Act (NCTSPA) creates civil penalties for the unauthorized acquisition, disclosure or use of certain types of information and under the right circumstances, Courts will allow owners of such information to obtain injunctive relief to restrain competitors from making use of the information and they will award damages including attorneys’ fees. Trade secret protection extends beyond mere confidentiality, a term synonymous with non-disclosure, and can be used to prevent competitors from using the information even if they have acquired it innocently. The purpose of the NCTSPA is to protect a company’s investment of time, energy and money into developing information useful in their operations – information that is not otherwise available without the investment. The statute can be used to protect a variety of types of information as long as the information has actual or potential value to those in a particular industry or market, as a result of not being generally known or readily ascertained through independent development or reverse engineering and that is subject to reasonable efforts to ensure secrecy.
First, the information must have actual or potential commercial value. Information that is not commercially valuable in some way is not protectable under the NCTSPA. Second, the information’s value must come from the information not being generally known to those who would make commercial use of the information, e.g. competitors and former employees. As the name implies, the information cannot be commonly known in the industry and still protected under the Act. Third, if the nature of the information is such that it can be derived from an examination of a publicly available disclosure or product, i.e. it can be reverse engineered, then the information is not protectable. In addition, if the information can be derived from independent investigation, it is not protectable under the NCTSPA. After all, if the information is easy to come by or readily apparent from something the company produces, then it is not really a secret.
More important than the type of information, the manner in which the information is treated is more determinative of whether the Courts will extend protection. The NCTSPA requires the information to be subject to efforts to ensure its secrecy that are “reasonable under the circumstances.” As a result, there is no magic formula or minimum amount you can do to ensure the information will remain protected. Trade secrets require planning and strategy and waiting until a disgruntled employee shows signs of leaving to try to protect sensitive information is a mistake that cannot easily be corrected. The best form of protection consists of a mixture of employment agreements, company policies, and security agreements.
The attorneys at the Humphries Law Firm can assist you and your business with planning and protecting your valuable business information and enforcing those rights against those who violate them.
Copyrights
Copyright protection is a valuable tool for artists, architects, authors and others engaged in creating original works. Copyright provides the owner with a bundle of rights that generally include the right to reproduce, distribute, perform and display the work as well as the right to create derivative works.
Copyright protection is said to exist at the time an original work, embodying a minimal amount of creativity is fixed in tangible form. That is to say that copyright exists when the work is created. However, federal copyright registration confers a number of advantages that are important when enforcing your copyrighted works, the most notable being the ability to file a lawsuit for damages and the ability to pursue statutory damages. While copyright is said to exist at the moment of creation, you cannot sue someone for damages as a result of copyright infringement until or unless you register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office.
Copyright protections may extend to a vast array of works, including but not limited to sculptures, photographs, sketches, books and novels, architectural design, choreography, video, sheet music, recorded musical performances, source code, movies, videos, plays and dramatic performances, web design, video games, etc.
The attorneys at the Humphries Law Firm have the experience necessary to assist you with all aspects of Copyright protection from initial registration to enforcement under the U.S. Copyright Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Contact us to schedule a consult to discuss your individual needs.