Intellectual Property News

July 2006 Newsletter

Patent, Infringements and Defenses

In order to encourage the advancement of science and technology, the federal government gives an incentive to inventors to disclose new ideas that have been embodied in inventions by granting a patent, a temporary right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing the patented invention without the inventor's permission. Activities that encroaches upon the right given by a patent is said to infringe the patent, for which an inventor may bring a lawsuit in order to obtain a remedy. If you become aware of activies which encroach upon your legal patent rights contact one of our Patent Attorneys to review your legal options.

Patent Applications disclosing Multiple Inventions
If an application contains multiple inventions within the application as determined by looking at the claims which are to more than one independent and distinct invention, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) may impose a restriction requirement. The applicant must then elect one of the inventions for prosecution in the original application but may file divisional applications claiming the non-elected inventions. More...

Protecting Valuable Secrets

A trade secret is any sort of business or technological information not generally known that provides a company or other business entity with a competitive advantage or from which the company derives some economic benefit. Trade secrets are not registered, unlike copyrights and trademarks, nor is there a process for protecting trade secrets that is similar to the patent process. Instead, trade secrets are protected under state law. Although trade secret law was originally based in common law, several states have enacted trade secret statutes. If you believe you have a valuable secret which provides value to your company, then contact one of our attorneys to discuss protecting or preventing the disclosure of your porential trade secret.

Protecting and Registering Service Marks

Service marks are used to identify services which are performed by one person for the benefit of a person or persons other than himself or herself, either for pay or otherwise. A service mark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms "trademark" and "mark" are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and service marks. If you believe you have a service mark which you would like to protect, contact one of our Attorney's to schedule an appointment and review your service mark.

Dilution of your Trade or Brand Identity
A trademark is infringed when the mark or a similar mark is used in a way that is likely to confuse the public into believing that the trademark owner is the source or sponsor of products that it does not actually make or endorse. Trademark anti-dilution laws are intended to enable trademark owners to prevent the gradual weakening or whittling away of the strength of their marks, through blurring or tarnishment, even if the public is not likely to be confused. Until 1996, trademark dilution laws consisted of a patchwork of non-uniform state statutes and common law. In early 1996, Congress enacted the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA) to provide nationwide injunctive relief for diluting uses of nationally famous trademarks. More...

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