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Merek, Blackmon & Voorhees, LLC ("MBV") provides a full range of Intellectual Property services. If you are interested in more information you can contact us and/or submit relevant information using a submission form. Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights have different forms and should also be accompanied by a Client Information Form.
All submissions are considered confidential.
Intellectual Property is the general name for products of the human intellect such as an idea, invention, expression, unique name, business method, technology transfer, industrial process or chemical formula. Intellectual Property Law is highly specialized and in the United States, only a specially registered Patent Attorney or Patent Agent may prosecute a patent application before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO"). Intellectual Property is broken down into Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights or Trade Secrets. Their differences as well as our services are explained below.
A patent is awarded to an Inventor and gives him or her the right to bar others from making, using or selling his or her invention for up to 20 years. In order to be awarded a patent the invention or idea must be new, not patented by someone else, and must be useful or demonstrate some utility. Patents are awarded on a variety of inventions and ideas ranging from drug formulas to mascara brushes, tire treads to telecommunication switches, golf clubs to new varieties of roses.
The first step in filing a patent is to perform a search and find out if the idea or invention already has been awarded a patent. The PTO has a search room where there are more than 6 million patents. MBV can perform the preliminary search and provide a patentability report that includes information and guidance about whether or not an application for a patent should be prepared. If the patentability report is favorable then MBV can prepare an application and file the application with the PTO.
After filing the application, your idea or invention will be in a "Patent Pending" state during which a Patent Examiner (who works for the PTO) reviews your application to determine its patentability. He or she will review your application as well as other similar patents and determine if the application is novel and unobvious. If this is the case then a patent will be awarded, but if the Patent Examiner determines otherwise, then he or she may reject the application. If an application is rejected MBV may file a response including amendments to the application or arguments supporting allowance of the application for further review by the Patent Examiner.
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A trademark is a word, name, symbol, slogan, sounds or color used to distinguish your goods and services from everyone else. A trademark can be registered and renewed for as long as it is being used. Trademarks range from professional sporting team logos, the phrase 'Blue Light Special' used by K-Mart as well as the General Electric slogan "we bring good things to light."
Filing a trademark is a simple process. A trademark application can be filed prior to its use or after use of the mark begins. MBV will assist in the preparation of the application and file it with the Trademark Office. After the application has been filed with the proper information a Trademark Examiner conducts a search to determine if a given mark is confusingly similar to an existing trademark. If not then the trademark gets published in the Official Gazette of the Patent Office which is a national publication. The general public may express concern if they feel it is too close to an existing trademark but if no one writes in to oppose the trademark then the Trademark Examiner sends the mark to be registered.
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A copyright is the legal protection automatically granted to the creations of authors, musicians, writers, artists and other intellectual works. A copyright is awarded for the life of the creator plus 70 years for works created after 1978. Motion pictures, photographs, songs, poems, videos, books, catalogs and sales literature are examples of works that can be copyrighted.
In order to obtain a copyright registration which grants the author certain additional legal rights and presumptions, MBV needs to prepare a copyright application and file it with the Copyright Office. If the provisions of copyright law have been complied with then a certificate of registration is issued to the copyright owner.
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A trade secret is legal protection given to a company to protect their invention, process or business information. In order to be protected by the court the information must be secret, substantial and valuable. Proprietary client and customer information such as prices for services and contract terms can be protected. You can also protect methods or processes such as how to apply paint on a car. The most famous trade secret is probably the recipe for Coca-Cola™.
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