Florida Intellectual Property Lawyers: Greenspoon & Marder P.A.

Intellectual Property Law is the keystone of the great American Success Stories. Ever since Thomas Jefferson founded the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the way to advancement of civilization and culture through sciences and the arts has been the ability of people to capitalize on their ideas, creations, art and inventions. This ability to pursue dreams has encouraged the likes of Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, Ernest Hemingway, George Lucas, Muddy Waters, Deon DiMucci, Norman Rockwell, Bill Gates and millions of other Americans to invest in their hard work and inspirations.

Do you want to obtain a patent, copyright, or trademark rights? Contact our Florida Intellectual Property Lawyers and get the legal advice you’ll need to obtain a successful intellectual property right.

Intellectual Property is defined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office as: “Creations of the mind - creative works or ideas embodied in a form that can be shared or can enable others to recreate, emulate, or manufacture them. The main ways to protect Intellectual Property are: Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets.”

Packaging a combination of such creative ideas or Intellectual Property for sale to others interested in promoting and selling the creator’s goods and/or services in a particular business format is called “Franchising”. There are two primary types of franchises: the business format franchise and the distribution franchise. Often, franchises are a blend of these primary types. Probably the best example of franchising is the story of McDonald’s. In 1952 a man named Ray Kroc, at the age of 52 – when most are beginning to contemplate retirement - borrowed against his home and used all his savings to buy the exclusive rights to sell and distribute an invention called the “Multimixer”. He was selling his Multimixer in California in 1954 when he happened on a very busy little hamburger stand run by Dick and Mac McDonald. Seeing the opportunity to combine his invention product with the McDonald Brothers’ trademark and business format, Mr. Kroc convinced them to let him open eight stores in different locations. The rest is history.

Reflecting on the success of innovations such as McDonalds, Bell Telephones, Microsoft and even George Lucas’ Star Wars, American franchising systems and the unique ability under the Intellectual Property Laws instituted by Thomas Jefferson, American Industry and Ingenuity are emulated the world over by folks trying to attain the stellar success of so many now famous American franchises, inventions, trademarks, works of art, literature and entertainment.

Intellectual Property Laws provide opportunities for any individual regardless of race, creed or economic strata to make their mark and to improve the world. It encourages investment in Research and Development as well as the production of music, art, entertainment and literature.

Each has at its core, a natural elementary school sense of fairness. If we work hard to study for a test or to create a project, we want exclusive credit for our work. We do not like cheaters or copycats.

Patent Law involves the protection of inventions. Patents give inventors the exclusive right to make, sell, and import their inventions. Patentable inventions come in the form of physical gadgets as well as unique business methods and novel processes for accomplishing various work. The Patent Act is the law affecting patents and patent infringement.

Copyright Law protects original works of authorship, music, art, photography, and even computer programs and mask works. Copyrightable works may not be copied, performed or reproduced without license from the author. The Copyright Act contains the provisions for asserting the rights of authors, artists, musicians, computer scientists, software engineers and even photographers against copyright infringement.

Trademark Law protects entrepreneurs of all kinds to protect their distinct brand identity. Trademark Law provides the dual service of assisting consumers to identify the source of goods or services by the markings and names on the packaging or marketing materials and to disallow copycats from free-riding on the true trademark owner’s reputation. Trademark law has taken on monumental proportions with the advent of the internet and e-commerce. In the internet and e-commerce world consumers cannot touch the goods and services offered. Brand names and trademarks are heavily relied upon when purchasing online. On the internet and in e-commerce we see a strong interplay between domain names and trademarks. Special laws, among them, the Anti-Cybersquatting Act, are emerging to regulate this area of law. A special provision of Trademark Law protects boat hull designers.

Trade Secrets protect the economically advantageous yet secret or confidential data, information, processes, plans, ideas and methods which individuals and companies use to set themselves apart in the market place. The most famous trade secret is the recipe for Coca Cola. What makes trade secrets interesting unique among the four primary intellectual is that under Patent, Copyright and Trademark Laws the inventor, author, or entrepreneur discloses her ideas and methods to the public in exchange for a monopoly on making, selling, reproducing or importing their intellectual property. This adds information to the public domain and encourages others to build upon it which leads to ever increasing improvements. Trade Secrets, on the other hand, do not necessarily encourage such endeavors because they are kept for the owners’ use alone.

Aside from selling their inventions, trademarked goods and services, copyrighted works, and goods or services derived from trade secrets, the main way inventors, artists and entrepreneurs profit from their intellectual property assets is through licensing. Intellectual Property Licensing and Portfolio Management are specialized fields serviced by Intellectual Property Attorneys. Patent, Copyright, Trademark and Trade Secret owners may license their intellectual property to other businesses, distributors, production companies, manufacturers, performers among many others.

Intellectual Property Law brings to mind a frontier land where the brave, innovative, and industrious are rewarded for their struggles against failures and risks taken in furtherance of staking their claim. To quote Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky Balboa”: “It’s not how hard you can hit; it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”

Get Immediate Legal Assistance! Contact our Florida Intellectual Property Lawyers to get answer about patent, copyrights, or trademarks. We are here to assist you with all of your intellectual property legal concerns.