Intellectual Property

Copyrights are a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works.

This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of the copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

  •   To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords
  •   To prepare derivative works based upon the work
  •   To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease or lending
  •   To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works.
  •   To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work
  •   In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of copyright.  These rights, however, are not unlimited in scope. The 1976 Copyright Act establishes limitations on these rights.  One major limitation is the doctrine of “fair use.”  In other instances, the limitation takes the form of a “compulsory license” under which certain limited uses of copyrighted works are permitted upon payment of specified royalties and compliance with statutory conditions.

Trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.

Service mark is the same as a trademark, except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product.
We provide trademark services including providing initial counseling, clearance opinions, search services, and preparation and filing of applications for registration of trademarks in the United States.  We can help determine the availability of your trademark.  Before applying for any trademark, your company should always conduct a trademark search.  Adopting, using, and registering a trademark, without first obtaining a search report, can be a risky and ultimately expensive mistake.

Our firm can evaluate threats made by competitors against your patent, copyright and trademark rights. We will prepare opinions relating to infringement and non-infringement, as well as the validity of patents.  We can provide guidance regarding the acquisition, management and enforcement of your intellectual property rights.
We understand intellectual property, and can help you benefit from and protect intellectual property interests.