Intellectual Property Lawyers in Gainesville, Florida

Have you created a unique invention? Have you designed a logo for an established or start-up business or perhaps a software program for a video game? If so, you may want to seriously consider protecting your creative works by protecting your exclusive rights to produce or use them.

What is intellectual property law?

Intellectual property is the area of law that protects the rights of creators to their intellectual works. The purpose of intellectual property law is twofold: (1) to promote economic growth and (2) to encourage new creative works and expressions.¹ Both prongs are satisfied by protecting the intellectual property owner’s legal rights.

What is protected under intellectual property law?

Intellectual property protects a wide range of creative works, expressions, inventions and information, including:

• Copyright – protects works of authorship that have been tangibly expressed in a physical form (e.g., a literary work, film, computer program, photograph).²
• Trademark – is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others (e.g., a business logo, symbol, or name).
  • A subset of a trademark is a service mark. A service mark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than goods.³
• Patent – a limited duration property right relating to an invention.⁴
• Trade Secrets – consist of information and can include a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique or process (e.g., a restaurant recipe, sports drink formula, manufacturing processes, customer lists).⁵

Can I transfer or sell these rights?

Yes, an owner of such rights may license or assign the rights to another. A license is a contractual right that allows you to control, manage, and protect your intellectual property in a business relationship with another.⁶ An assignment is the equivalent of selling your intellectual property rights to another.⁷ In either case, a well-drafted and enforceable contract is necessary to protect both the licensor/assignor and licensee/assignee. In the sale of a company the value of this intellectual property should be carefully considered by both buyer and seller.

Gainesville, Florida, intellectual property attorney, Richard Knellinger is knowledgeable in different areas of intellectual property and can help determine under which category your creative work fits. In addition, our legal professionals will make sure that you understand your legal rights as the creator and suggest to you the best protection for your creative work.

If you work in a creative environment producing new creative works such as in the music industry, graphic designing or engineering, obtaining the protection offered under intellectual property laws for your creative works is imperative in order to maintain the originality and integrity of your works.

Our intellectual property lawyer, Richard Knellinger at the law office of Knellinger & Associates, in Gainesville, Florida can help you protect your next invention, design, or creative work.

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1. Gerald F. Masoudi, Intellectual Property and Competition: Four Principles for Encouraging Innovation, THE U.S. DEP’T OF J. April 11, 2006), http://www.justice.gov/atr/speech/intellectual-property-and-competition-four-principles-encouraging-innovation.
2. United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark, Patent, or Copyright, http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/trademark-basics/trademark-patent-or-copyright (last visited Dec. 14, 2015).
3. Id.
4. Id.
5. Uniform Trade Secrets Act § 1(4).
6. See Economics and Statistics Administration & United States Patent and Trademark Office, Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus, available at http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/news/publications/IP_Report_March_2012.pdf.
7. See United State Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Assignments: Change & Search Ownership, http://www.uspto.gov/trademark/trademark-assignments-change-search-ownership (last visited Dec. 14, 2015).