Trademarks & ServiceMarks
Trademarks and Service Marksare words, artworks, symbols, or combinations of these which business use to identifytheir goods and services. These marks are important because they identify the sourceof the goods and services to the consumer. Businesses which provide quality goodsand services seek to protect their trademarks and service marks because their marksidentify the source of the goods and services for the consumer. Infringers illegallyuse duplicates or near-duplicates of legitimate trademarks in an effort to trade off ofthe goodwill and reputation of the legitimate marks.
Protectable trademark rights can be acquired through simple use of amark in commerce. If the mark is used in interstate commerce, the mark owner shouldconsider federal registration of the mark, which increases the owner's rights and theremedies which the owner may seek in court against an infringer.
Costs related to trademark registration:
!! PTO fees are subject to annualrevision each October.
!!Attorney fees will vary; thefollowing references to attorneys fees are fee guidelines used by R. Perry McConnell, P.C.and are not reflective of or binding on any other law firm.
Federal registration is performed through the United States Patentand Trademark Office (the "PTO"). The cost of filing the registrationapplication will include preparation of the application documents and the PTO's $325.00filing fee. R. Perry McConnell, P.C. performs the preparation and filing of thetrademark registration application on a flat-fee basis.
Further costs of registration include attorney time to respond to communications from thePTO, if necessary. Depending on the mark and the area of commerce in which it isused, the PTO may reject the application or require disclaimers regarding certain portionsof the mark, requiring a response on the client's behalf. R. Perry McConnell, P.C.bills such responses on an hourly fee basis.
Prior to filing a registration application, the client may elect to perform a search tosee whether there are known impediments to registration. R. Perry McConnell, P.C.performs such searches on a flat-fee basis.
Copyrights
Copyrights are the rights of authors intheir works, such as written or graphic works, plays, music, and so forth. Federalregistration of copyrights is done through the Library of Congress. Although anauthor has a copyright in a work from the moment it is created, federal registrationprovides increased benefits to the copyright owner, including the right to seek statutorydamages for infringement.
R. Perry McConnell, P.C. provides legal advice and services relatedto copyright registration and protection.
Trade Secrets
Trade Secrets are what they sound like --secrets which one possesses about how to do business, manufacture goods, or otherwisecompete in the marketplace which others do not know. Trade Secrets are protectable,and remedies may be sought in court against those who steal (or"misappropriate") one's trade secrets.
Sometimes it is necessary to reveal trade secrets on a limited basis,such as in trying to find someone to manufacture something using a secret process. To protect trade secrets in these situations, nondisclosure agreementsare used to provide a contract of secrecy between the trade secret's owner and the otherparty.
R. Perry McConnell, P.C. provides legal advice and services related to protecting andenforcing rights in trade secrets.
Licensing
All types of intellectual property may at one time or another belicensed by their owners. The owner of a proprietary process may license it to amanufacturer, and collect royalties on goods manufactured. The owner of a patent maylicense another to make or use his invention. Some licenses are automatic. Forexample, if you buy a patented good from a store, you obtain an implied license to use it; otherwise no one would buy it and the patent would be worthless.
Formal license agreements between intellectual property owners and their licensees areimportant documents because they secure rights for the licensees and income orcorresponding rights to the owners. Legal advice in insuring that an intellectualproperty license functions properly is an important step in the process.
R. Perry McConnell, P.C. provides legal advice and services related to licensingintellectual property.
