Tag: Copyrights

Selling Your Business Patent

Posted by rainmakereditor on with 0 Comment

Looking back on every business you went into over the past week to complete errands or make purchases, consider that each one of them (even the franchises!) sprang originally from a dream, an idea, a concept in someone’s mind that could eventually turn into an invention requiring a business patent. Coupled with drive and determination, that idea turned into a real product or service, situated at a real business site—with all the real responsibilities of bringing in clients, maintaining capital, managing employees, and more.

And while you are probably a customer at many other businesses on a regular basis, you may also be an entrepreneur running a company of your own where it is so easy to get caught up in the daily grind that you forget what the original inspiration or motivation was to begin with. Staying fresh and continuing to innovate is vital to any business though, and while you may have trademarks or service marks already in place—perhaps even copyrights—you, your employees, or independent contractors may also be continuing to create intellectual property like patents.

A patent is defined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office as an invention which can be divided into three categories: utility, design, or plant (and yes, that literally refers to the discovery or creation of a new plant). Once you have registered for a patent—and it is highly recommended that you work with an intellectual property attorney in doing so—you may have a bit of a wait, anywhere from a matter of months to almost two years on average, and very possibly even longer. A patent is usually good for around 20 years and means that you have the sole rights to manufacturing and distribution.

In some cases, you may have a patent that you want to sell—or you may want to grant licensing rights. While selling it is a great way to make income that could perhaps fund another invention, it is permanent. Speak to your attorney about the best route for your business, along with the legalities of selling it, along with considering whether your better option would be to sell licensing and perhaps collect royalties. Working with another entity for licensing can be tricky so do not go it alone when negotiating agreements and drafting contracts.

The Bolender Law Firm can assist you in all intellectual property matters. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

Your Intellectual Property Needs

Intellectual Property Needs: Is a Copyright License Enough?

Posted by rainmakereditor on with 0 Comment

While some businesses take off from the very start and allow their owners enormous—and startling—success, for the average entrepreneur there are many challenges initially. It may take quite some time to get a new company off the ground, and then the challenges in maintaining enough capital can be staggering. Inventory must be purchased, employees must be paid, along with all the essential bills that come with running an office like rent, utilities, supplies, and so much more.

Along with the long list of routine duties that must be continually completed, you must please your public too, no matter what type of industry you are catering to. For most business owners, that means creating unique products and services that set them apart, and if you cannot, your prospects for the future may be slim. This is why protecting everything you have built is so important too—from having your business properly insured and updated to making sure information about your specific innovations is not leaked, and trade secrets don’t walk out the door.

Intellectual property law may seem intimidating, but with the help of a skilled law firm like the Bolender Law Firm, you can look forward to guidance in registering your unique concepts, artistic work, slogans, services, inventions, and more—along with ensuring that you have legal recourse should another party infringe. You may be familiar with the term copyright, but unsure as to exactly what that encompasses.

In applying for a copyright, you may be hoping to protect information on your website, or protect written or other artistic works like music, screenplays, text (a cookbook would be a good example), architecture, or software. In some cases, the copyright may not be expansive enough for your needs in terms of protecting your individual or company’s work from infringement; for instance, you may be interested in copyrighting a computer program that you wrote, but a patent may be required to protect it further from infringement by others as you are able to protect the system and its processes—in other words, it may be in your best interest to go a step further in applying for a patent to protect the way your software or other creation works.

For more on different types of intellectual property, check out some of our previous blogs discussing issues such as trademarks and service marks too. The Bolender Law Firm can assist you in all intellectual property matters. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!

copyrights

Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents: Understand the Differences & What You Need

Posted by Jeffrey Bolender on with 0 Comment

As a company owner, you may have accrued numerous assets after years in business. You may own real estate—to include your business site—company vehicles, a large amount of office property and inventory, and other investments that relate to your industry. What about intellectual property though? You, your business partners, and independent contractors working for you either temporarily or long-term may be busy creating items that are truly some of your most valuable assets, and they must be protected.

As you begin producing different types of work, innovations, and perhaps even major inventions, you may be confused about what security measures you need to take, and how to do so; however, with the expert legal assistance of a firm like Bolender Law Firm, you will have a better understanding of your options regarding materials, negotiating licenses, preparing applications for registration, and more.

The terms copyright and trademark are sometimes used interchangeably, but they actually denote very different types of intellectual property law, along with patents. We’ve included brief information regarding each, so you can think about what may apply to your needs, and what type of protection your intellectual property requires:

  • Copyrights – whether you are applying for your own or asking permission to use a copyright assigned to another entity, this grants exclusive rights to the creator of an expression of art, whether that may be a book or a screenplay, software, music, or more. Copyrights are covered for a period of 95 years if they were published after 1922, but before 1987. If they were developed but not actually published before 1978, the work is covered for the lifetime of the creator, and an additional 70 years after that.
  • Trademarks – this type of intellectual property protection becomes critical when you are creating a brand. By registering a trademark (such as a logo), you allow your company and its products to be distinguished from that of the competition; likewise, the service mark denotes the services you offer.
  • Patents – this license is reserved to grant exclusive rights for inventions—usually for about 20 years from the time of application. During that timeframe, others may not manufacture the invention for their own purposes, use it, or sell it.

The Bolender Law Firm can assist you in all intellectual property matters. Call us at 310-320-0725 now or submit an easy consultation request online. We are here to help!