Trademarks & Service
Marks
Trademarks and Service Marks
are words, artworks, symbols, or combinations of these which business use to identify
their goods and services. These marks are important because they identify the source
of the goods and services to the consumer. Businesses which provide quality goods
and services seek to protect their trademarks and service marks because their marks
identify the source of the goods and services for the consumer. Infringers illegally
use duplicates or near-duplicates of legitimate trademarks in an effort to trade off of
the goodwill and reputation of the legitimate marks.
Protectable trademark rights can be acquired through simple use of a
mark in commerce. If the mark is used in interstate commerce, the mark owner should
consider federal registration of the mark, which increases the owner's rights and the
remedies which the owner may seek in court against an infringer.
Costs related to trademark registration:
!! PTO fees are subject to annual
revision each October.
!!Attorney fees will vary; the
following 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 Patent
and Trademark Office (the "PTO"). The cost of filing the registration
application will include preparation of the application documents and the PTO's $325.00
filing fee. R. Perry McConnell, P.C. performs the preparation and filing of the
trademark registration application on a flat-fee basis.
Further costs of registration include attorney time to respond to communications from the
PTO, if necessary. Depending on the mark and the area of commerce in which it is
used, the PTO may reject the application or require disclaimers regarding certain portions
of 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 to
see 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 in
their works, such as written or graphic works, plays, music, and so forth. Federal
registration of copyrights is done through the Library of Congress. Although an
author has a copyright in a work from the moment it is created, federal registration
provides increased benefits to the copyright owner, including the right to seek statutory
damages for infringement.
R. Perry McConnell, P.C. provides legal advice and services related
to 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 otherwise
compete 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 agreements
are used to provide a contract of secrecy between the trade secret's owner and the other
party.
R. Perry McConnell, P.C. provides legal advice and services related to protecting and
enforcing rights in trade secrets.
Licensing
All types of intellectual property may at one time or another be
licensed by their owners. The owner of a proprietary process may license it to a
manufacturer, and collect royalties on goods manufactured. The owner of a patent may
license another to make or use his invention. Some licenses are automatic. For
example, 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 are
important documents because they secure rights for the licensees and income or
corresponding rights to the owners. Legal advice in insuring that an intellectual
property license functions properly is an important step in the process.
R. Perry McConnell, P.C. provides legal advice and services related to licensing
intellectual property.
