California Intellectual Property Lawyer

Your business’s intellectual property (IP) may be your most valuable asset — it defines your business and sets you apart from competitors.

Protecting your IP is paramount, whether you seek to protect your company, monetize your innovations, or forge strategic partnerships. After all, your creations and products result from your innovation and become integral to your brand’s identity. In today’s fiercely competitive marketplace, your brand’s significance cannot be overstated. From your company’s name to the emblem that symbolizes your values and beliefs, these assets play a crucial role in your business’s growth, authenticity, trustworthiness, and development.

Every category of intellectual property comes with its own unique set of regulations and, in some instances, even international agreements. These laws continually evolve to stay in sync with the ever-changing world of technology. It’s a complex and ever-changing realm within the legal field.

For years, Fridman Law Firm has been at the forefront of providing practical, personalized, and responsive legal services to protect and enforce patents, trademarks, and other types of intellectual property. Our California intellectual property lawyers adeptly represent large multinational companies and small to mid-market businesses, servicing all their intellectual property needs. Let us provide the legal advice and assistance you need to protect, sell, buy, or amend your intellectual property in California. Call us today at 212-262-9823 to discuss your options.

What Is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property is a creation of the mind or intellect, such as designs, symbols, names, and images used in commerce, inventions, and artistic and literary works. In business, proprietary knowledge is also considered intellectual property.

Types of Intellectual Property Matters We Handle

Intellectual property law covers various areas, and it is important for creators to understand their rights and the various types of intellectual property that can be protected. Some of the areas we focus on include the following:

Patents

Patents are a secure form of protection that inventors and creators utilize to safeguard their inventions. Patents allow inventors to manufacture the products themselves or sell the right to manufacture to third parties. Usually, patents deal with physical entities, not ideas. Thus, ideas cannot be patented.
The types of patents include:

Utility Patent

This type of patent covers processes, machines, compositions of matter, and other new and useful materials. Examples of utility patents include any type of machine, new manufacturing processes, and other new products.

Design Patent

This type of protection refers to the ornamentation of a particular object. That means design patents only apply to appearance.

Plant Patent

People can also file patent applications for new and distinctive plants. However, this patent requires that the plant be found only in a cultivated state. Inventors can obtain exclusive rights to their creations for limited periods. While the pathway to obtaining those rights can be challenging, our California intellectual property lawyers can help you throughout your patenting journey.

Copyrights

Copyright registration is a type of protection for artistic or intellectual expression. Copyrights protect not only your ideas but also the way you express those ideas, whether through a song, book, business strategy, or any other creative property. For a copyright to be eligible, it must exist in a fixed medium. This means that for ideas to be copyrighted, they must be expressed in a fixed medium. Copyright protection also exists for digital formats.

Copyright protection doesn’t require federal registration. However, creators of original works should still file a copyright application. Here are the benefits of filing a copyright application:

• Acts as a presumption of ownership
• Adds value to the original work
• Helps to avoid copyright infringement

Our IP attorneys in California can help you acquire and register with the U.S. Copyright Office. We can also help with other copyright matters, including:

• Renewing
• Maintaining protection
• Licensing
• Enforcing your rights to copyrighted material

Copyrights can be used to protect material such as:

• Videos
• Books
• Music
• Audiovisual works
• Video games
• Digital content
• Computer software
• Architecture
• Sculptures
• Paintings
• Poetry
• Websites
• Photographs

Our California intellectual property lawyers can represent you and your interests should anyone infringe upon your rights or if you are accused of the same.

Trademarks

Trademarks, service marks, and trade names distinguish your brand from other brands in the market. They also protect your brand’s name and product or service. Marks may be logos, words, sounds, colors or color combinations, distinctive product designs, and packaging.

Basically, marks are anything used to identify the source of a product or service or distinguish it from other similar products. There are different types of trademarks that companies rely on for protection. They include:

Fanciful trademarks. These are identifiers that were created only to identify a particular brand and didn’t exist before they were trademarked. Examples include Pepsi and Kodak.

Arbitrary trademarks. These identifiers use designs or words that have no connection to the actual products or services.

Suggestive trademarks. These types of marks have some connection with a product or service, but the association isn’t immediately apparent.

Other types of trademarks include descriptive and generic trademarks, service marks, trade names, trade dress, certification marks, and collective marks.
There are significant differences between California and federal trademark regulations. They include:

• California trademarks are not as expensive as federal trademarks.
• California trademarks only offer protection in California, while federal trademarks offer national protection.
• For some companies, you may only be able to register a trademark in California and not federally. This applies to cannabis-related businesses.

At Fridman Law Firm, we understand the importance of trademark protection. We can advise you and offer comprehensive trademark services, including:

• Registering trademarks
• Renewing and maintaining trademarks
• Licensing and franchising
• Enforcing trademark rights
• Performing trademark clearance searches
• Conducting due diligence

Trade Secrets

Most businesses, including startups, have secret information that may not be patentable but gives them a competitive edge. Such information could be a survey of market demand, a manufacturing process, knowledge about a customer or supplier, or product testing results that may be considered trade secrets. Protecting a trade secret begins with identifying what information or know-how is valuable and needs protection, then determining whether that information is better protected as a trade secret or through patenting. Proprietary information, such as client lists, pricing information, and secret formulas, can be protected from use by competitors or former employees.

The following requirements must be met for something to qualify as a trade secret:

• It must be unknown to the general public or industries
• Action must be taken to guard the secret
• The secret must be of value to the owner

Right of Publicity

Athletes, entertainers, celebrities, and other public figures gain economic value from their likenesses through endorsement deals and print ads. The theft of celebrity likenesses to promote online sales has been on the rise, especially in the digital age. California offers statutory claims for such public figures.

Our California business attorneys have experience representing parties in matters involving the unauthorized use of likenesses.

The Fridman Law Firm Difference

Your Experienced Intellectual Property Lawyer in California

At Fridman Law Firm, our excellent team of experienced IP lawyers can help ensure the protection of your brand’s intellectual property. We have assisted many businesses across different industries to secure and safeguard their intellectual property.

Comprehensive Intellectual Property Services

Our seasoned California intellectual property lawyers are well-versed in the entire range of intellectual property matters. We can help you navigate the whole journey, from registration and enforcement to commercialization.

Partner-Driven Approach To Help You Understand Intellectual Property and Your Rights

If you share intellectual property, such as designs, patents, technical know-how, or confidential information, with third parties, you should use confidentiality agreements or licenses to protect the information appropriately. That’s something that our highly experienced California intellectual property attorneys can help you with.

Technology Specialists

We pride ourselves as specialists in intellectual property law, especially in the fields of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. We assist our clients in the following intellectual property matters: patent, trademark, copyright, right of publicity, and trade secret matters.

At Fridman Law Firm, we combine our legal excellence and experience to offer you tailored solutions for a better chance at success. Some of the intellectual property matters we can assist you with include:

• Intellectual property licensing, including trademarks, patents, and trade secrets.
• Counseling, clearance, and registration of intellectual property such as copyrights and trademarks.
• Auditing and assessing your intellectual property and crafting policies to better protect your assets.
• Handling administrative proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the United States Copyright Office.
• Negotiating purchase agreements involving intellectual property.
• Performing U.S. and international copyright, patent, and trademark searches and filings.
• Trademark development, registration, and protection.
• Consultation on domestic and global trademark usage, marketing, licensing, and franchising.
• Negotiating and enforcing license agreements.

Contact Our California Intellectual Property Lawyers: Legal Excellence Tailored to Your Needs

Fridman Law Firm can be your partner in protecting your company’s established intellectual property to ensure you reap the benefits of your innovative ideas. We offer personalized legal counsel on a wide range of matters related to intellectual property. Contact us today at 212-262-9823 to schedule a meeting and discover how we can help you with your intellectual property needs.