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Intellectual Property
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Patents |
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There are two kinds of patents: Design and Utility. Utility patents are the kind most commonly referred to when one seeks to protect an invention. They are granted for any new and useful process, machine, manufacture or compositon of matter or any new and useful improvement thereof, including new uses of old devices or new combinations of well-known components. Design patents cover only the new design of an object -- its ornamental appearance.
Patents may be appropriate for licensing to you or by you to generate greater income. We can assist you in the valuation of the patent, its potential markets, both product and geographical, and the various options available for payment and royalties. Patents may need to be enforced against infringers, or defended against attack through litigation. We do both more simply and less expensively. Patenting begins with an interview wherein we evaluate your idea, method or product to determine whether or not it is patentable subject matter. Our interview will uncover why you seek a patent: to protect a market niche, to protect a product line, to further the prestige of the company for bidding on contracts, to enhance assets for investors, strategic partners, acquisitions and mergers, or initial public offerings (IPOs). This way we can more assuredly prepare a patent that does what you want it to do. We will then, with your full presence and participation, draft claims to the invention that provide the proper scope of protection. At that point, too, we can estimate a fixed price for preparing and filing the patent application and stick to that price within a small known variation provided the inventor thereafter adds no new matter. |
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Trademarks |
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Trademark protection is obtainable for any word or symbol, or combination thereof, which is used on goods to indicate their source. Any word, even common words, can become a trademark -- look, life, time, apple -- so long as the word is not used descriptively. Apple for fruit salad might not be protectable. Apple for computers certainly is.
Trademarks require particular attention to detail to establish and are thereafter fragile assets. Before you begin using a mark and investing your substantial advertising and promotional dollars in a mark, we can advise you as to whether or not it is a good mark. If the mark is clear for adoption, we will instruct you on how properly to use the mark on the goods in commerce to establish local and national rights on which worldwide rights can be based. Once the mark is established, we can advise you on its proper use to avoid loss of the mark and can guide your licensing/assignment of the mark to avoid abandonment. |
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Copyrights |
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Copyright covers all manner of writings, and "writings" is very broadly interpreted. It includes books, advertisements, brochures, spec sheets, catalogs, manuals, parts lists, promotional material, packaging and decorative graphics, fabric designs, photographs, pictures, film and video presentations, audio recordings, architectural designs, and even software and data bases. Software and data bases are protected not only in written form, but also as stored in electronic memory.
Copyrights are available for all works of authorship. Works that are primarily utilitarian or mere ideas are not copyrightable. The form of the expression of the idea, and not the idea itself, is what is protectable. Our job is to make those concepts clear to you. Copyright law establishes that whoever creates a work is the author and owner unless the author is a full-time employee, then the employer is the owner. Our job is to help you understand the ownership issue vis-a-vis part-time employees, consultants, independent contractors, friends and relatives and to show the written contractual solution to the ownership question. |
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Trade Secrets |
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Trade secrets cover everything that patents cover, and much more. They protect any knowledge you have that gives an advantage in business over your competitors. A trade secret is knowledge, which may include business knowledge or technical knowledge, that is kept secret for gaining an advantage in business over one's competitors. Customer lists, sources of supply of scarce material, or sources of supply with faster delivery or lower price may be trade secrets. Certainly secret processes, formulas, techniques, manufacturing know-how, advertising schemes, marketing programs and business plans are all protectable.
Trade Secrets require constant vigilance. If the secret gets out, there is no more trade secret. We can advise you, after a trade secret audit, on what you must do to secure your premises, maintain the confidentiality of important documents, control visitor access and educate your employees, consultants, suppliers and agents to prevent loss of your trade secrets. |
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Licensing / Technology Transfer |
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| Licensing Agreements are simply contracts that deal with the transfer of technology or intellectual property, such as Patents, Trade Secrets, Know-How, Copyrights, and Trademarks. The licensed property can be anything from the right to use Mickey Mouse on "T" shirts or to make copies of the Star Wars movie, to the right to operate under the McDonald's name, use a patented method of making a microchip or to make, use or sell a piece of software. The basic considerations are the same for all the different types of licenses but specific clauses and language must be tailored to the specific environment. Iandiorio & Teska possess the requisite skill and knowledge to create licensing agreements which safeguard the interests of our clients. |
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Litigation and Infringement |
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| Litigation. The very word can generate reactions of fear, dread, annoyance and confusion -- no matter whether you are the intellectual property owner or the accused infringer. All infringement is based on the violation of some right. In the case of patents that is the exclusive right to make, use, sell, offer for sale or import the patented invention. Infringement of a trademark occurs when an unauthorized party uses in commerce a similar mark on similar goods so as to cause a likelihood of confusion. A copyright is infringed when the owner's exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform or display the copyrighted work is done without his authorization. |
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Disclosure Agreements |
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Whenever an idea, information, invention, or any knowledge of particular value is to be revealed, a disclosure agreement should be signed by the receiving party to protect the disclosing party. The disclosure may be necessary to interest a manufacturer in taking a license to make and sell a new product; to hire a consultant to advise in a certain area; to permit a supplier to give an accurate bid; to allow a customer to determine whether or not it wants a product or wants a product modified; to interest investors to invest in the business. Such agreements are not only important to protect the knowledge or information itself but also to preserve valuable related rights such as domestic and foreign patent rights. These agreements should be short and to the point.
Disclosure agreements are similar to Employment Contracts and Consultant Contracts in that all are fundamental forms of protection during the development of a new concept, product or process. And they are all too often overlooked until it's too late: an unprotected relationship is underway and a problem has arisen.
Common business practices have given rise to two different names for disclosure agreements-- Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA's) and Confidential Disclosure Agreements. Confidential Disclosure Agreement is the rubric used when the intention of the agreement is to protect secret information and prevent the receiver or disclosee from using or disclosing the information. Non-Disclosure Agreement is the name of an agreement whose intention is to attempt to prevent the transferred information from being construed as a public use, disclosure, or offer for sale which could result in the loss of patent rights.
Disclosure agreements are designed to protect an idea prior to the utilization of traditional forms of intellectual property protection. Whether or not an idea or product is protectable by such exclusive statutory rights as patent or copyright, there still is a need, at the early stages before such protection can be obtained, for keeping the basic information confidential to prevent public use or disclosure which can result in the loss of rights and/or inspire others to seek statutory rights before you can. Disclosure agreements define the obligations of the parties during the critical early stages of development of a new concept, product or process. These obligations are often overlooked until it's too late: the relationship is well under way, and a problem has arisen. Iandiorio & Teska has extensive experience at crafting disclosure agreements that protect the interests of our clients. |
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Employment Contracts |
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Employment contracts must be fair to both parties and should be signed by all employees, at least all employees who either may be exposed to company confidential matters or may contribute ideas or inventions to the business. They should also be short and readable.
Employment Contracts are similar to Disclosure Agreements and Consultant Contracts in that all are fundamental forms of protection during the development of a new concept, product or process. And they are all too often overlooked until it's too late: an unprotected relationship is under way and a problem has arisen. Employment contracts, like all agreements, must have consideration flowing both ways. In an employment contract the consideration from the employee is all those promises to keep secrets and assign ideas and inventions; the consideration from the business is to employ the employee. Thus it is best to present these contracts to the prospective employee well before he begins work.
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Consultant Contracts |
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Consultant Contracts are similar to Disclosure Agreements and Employment Contracts in that all are fundamental forms of protection
during the development of a new concept,
product or process. And they are all too
often overlooked until it's too late: an
unprotected relationship is underway and
a problem has arisen.
A Consultant Contract requires more detail
than do Employment Contracts. It should clearly
define: the specific task for which the consultant
is hired; the time period to be covered;
achievement goals; a payment plan; a progress
reporting plan; who is actually doing the work. Consideration
needs to be given to the consultant's
desire to retain rights to his stock in trade
or to work for a competitor or customer in the future and
the boundaries need to be established early and accurately. |
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