Your Guide to Intellectual Property Disputes
Becoming more common year after year, intellectual property disputes can involve a wide range of things. From patents on inventions to trade secrets regarding a company’s recipes or designs, these can lead to extremely complex legal situations that need to be resolved as quickly as possible. However, as in almost any legal dispute, intellectual property disputes pit the word of one person against another. Due to the complexities involved in navigating these cases to a successful conclusion, it is recommended you work with a San Francisco business attorney who specializes in intellectual property disputes, such as James M. Braden.
What is an Intellectual Property Dispute?
Since these disputes center on property that is not considered to be tangible in most cases, they focus primarily on which person or persons will own the rights to use and sell any items that are created primarily through a person’s creativity or intellect. This can include musical lyrics, books, machines, and various other items. If you believe your intellectual property is being misused by others who have no legal rights to be doing so, immediately hire a San Francisco business law firm that specializes in such matters.
Types of Intellectual Property
In most situations of this nature, the disputes will revolve around such things as trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. For example, if a musician writes a song and later finds another musician either claiming it as their own or writing another song with very similar lyrics, this could be a copyright dispute. In other situations, a logo or slogan used to promote a certain product may be copied by another competitor, which would ensue a trademark dispute. Should these situations develop, as well as those that may involve questions concerning patents or trade secrets, it is vital you not stand back and do nothing. Instead, hire a San Francisco business lawyer to handle your case at once.
Infringement
While there are many different types of intellectual property disputes, most center on the concept of infringement. Essentially, this means the intellectual property in question is alleged to have been used by another without the owner’s permission. For example, should a person copy musical recordings or movies and then sell them to others for a profit without the owner’s consent, this is copyright infringement. Since there will always be questions as to who actually owns the rights to various types of property, don’t take anything for granted in these matters. Rather, be proactive and hire a San Francisco business litigation attorney to resolve the matter in your favor.
How an Attorney Can Help
When you believe your intellectual property has been used by others without your consent, you should immediately schedule a consultation with a San Francisco business litigation lawyer who has years of experience handling various types of intellectual property disputes. Upon discussing your case and examining various types of evidence, your San Francisco intellectual property disputes attorney can use a number of remedies to resolve the matter. In many cases, a cease and desist letter will be sufficient, since this will order the other party to immediately stop their activities concerning the property in question. In more complex matters, the case may need to go to court to be settled. Should this occur, your San Francisco business attorney will likely seek not only the return to you of exclusive rights to your property, but also financial compensation for any damages you incurred.
Get Results
If you are determined to retain your intellectual property rights, hire a San Francisco business law firm that gets results in these matters. To do so, schedule a meeting today with San Francisco business lawyer James A. Braden.