The Law Firm of Roth, Blair, Roberts, Strasfeld & Lodge

Intellectual Property / Patent / Trademark

Intellectual Property Practice

Our firm is unique in that we have attorneys who are licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Corporate clients and entrepreneurs alike must protect their intellectual property from unfair competition, copying and confusion. Using patent protection, trademarks, copyright law and trade secret agreements, our firm can uniquely provide legal services to enhance the wealth of your business and protect your unique technology developments to give you the competitive advantage you deserve.

Patenting Your Invention

Businesses and entrepreneurs alike rely on creativity and innovation to compete in today’s economy. Failure to protect your inventions, whether a new product, process or machine, can invite copying. At RothBlair, we can protect your innovation by patent protection. We have attorneys licensed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office who are knowledgeable about the patenting process. RothBlair can provide a full range of services to its clients, including:

  • developing a patent strategy;
  • drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications;
  • negotiating and drafting license agreements; and
  • drafting contracts, assignments, and employment agreements to assure the transfer of patent rights from employees and independent contractors to your business.

Regardless of the size of your business, patent protection is often an integral part for the proper development of your business and assurance that your creativity will not be misappropriated.

Branding Your Products and Services

Proper branding is often the hallmark of a successful product or business. Regardless of the size of your business, trademark protection should always be an important part of your business plan. RothBlair has attorneys on staff licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Our knowledgeable intellectual property lawyers can provide you with legal services for the selection, protection and maintenance of your brand and logos, including:

  • the selection of a strong trademark;
  • registering and maintaining your trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office;
  • drafting agreements for the use of your brand names and logos for the sale of your products and services; and
  • developing branding strategies, including creating family brands and certification marks.

Your investment of time and money must be protected from competitors using confusingly similar trademarks. Proper legal protection of your trademarks gives you that competitive advantage and prevents competitors from unfairly diverting your customers to their competing products and services.

Acquiring and Protecting Your Copyrights

Many believe that copyrights simply protect the works of authors, artists and photographers. However, a successful business must not overlook the value of copyrights to protect labels, manuals, advertising literature, mechanical and architectural drawings, proprietary software, photographs and packaging.

RothBlair has attorneys on staff who can handle your copyright questions. Our knowledgeable intellectual property lawyers can identify your copyrighted materials and provide the legal strategies necessary to protect these rights, including:

  • conducting an intellectual property audit to identify copyrighted assets;
  • drafting agreements to acquire ownership or to assure a work made-for-hire relationship;
  • registering and maintaining copyrights with the U.S. Library of Congress; and
  • developing copyright strategies for ancillary works.

The investment to protect copyrighted materials is often overlooked. Proper legal documents must be in place to acquire, own and maintain copyrighted works.

Trade Secret Protection Has Its Place

Every business and entrepreneur has trade secrets. Whether it’s a proprietary manufacturing process, customer list, pricing and costs, suppliers list, software, recipes or compositions of material, trade secrets are often a valuable asset.

It’s important to identify your trade secrets early in business and protect them with reasonable safeguards. RothBlair has attorneys on staff who can handle these issues, including:

  • preparing employee agreements to assure that trade secrets are not wrongfully disclosed or taken upon termination of employment;
  • preparing agreements with independent contractors having access to your facilities, floor plans or computer system;
  • assuring proper research and development agreements are in place with others so that ownership rights to intellectual property are transferred to you on or before payment.

The Coca-Cola® formula has been maintained as a trade secret for nearly 100 years, and we can agree that formula is extremely valuable. Therefore, do not underestimate the value of trade secret protection in your business.

Licensing and Transferring Intellectual Property

Acquiring and transferring patents, trademarks and copyrights often requires a search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records, as well as the records of the U.S. Copyright Office. Intellectual property, much like real property, must be examined before closing and assignments are recorded to assure the proper transfer or licensing.

Our firm is unique in that we have attorneys who are licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and we can provide you with legal services to verify and record the chain of title of the intellectual property rights before and after closing.