Frequently Asked Questions

Protecting your intellectual property from unauthorized use involves several proactive steps.

1. Register Your IP: Consider registering your patents, trademarks, and copyrights with the relevant government authorities. Registration provides legal evidence of ownership and strengthens your position in case of infringement.
2. Monitor and Enforce: Regularly monitor the use of your IP to detect any unauthorized use or infringement. If you find unauthorized use, take prompt action to enforce your rights through cease-and-desist letters or legal action.
3. Use Notices: Include copyright notices (©), trademark symbols (™ or ®), or patent numbers (if applicable) on your creations, products, or websites. This informs others about your rights and acts as a deterrent against potential infringement.
4. Non-Disclosure and Licensing Agreements: When sharing sensitive information with others, use non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of your trade secrets. For licensing your IP, have written agreements that clearly define the terms and conditions of use.
5. Work with an IP Attorney: Consulting with an experienced intellectual property attorney can help you navigate the complexities of IP protection, monitor for infringements, and take appropriate legal action when necessary. Attorney Sarah Walkington helps IP owners secure protection and enforce their legal rights for all types of intellectual property.

Eligibility for legal protection as a patent, trademark, copyrighted work, or trade secret depends on federal and state laws. Attorney Sarah Walkington can advise on whether your creation qualifies for IP protection and guide you through the  processes for securing maximum protection.

Securing a trademark registration from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) enables you to protect a word, phrase, symbol, design, or combination of those elements that you use to distinctly identify your business or product.

A trademark enables you to establish brand recognition in the marketplace and distinguish your goods or services from those of your competition. Your trademark may consist of a word, phrase, symbol, or design — or a combination of those elements — that distinctively identifies your business or creations and provides protection for your brand. Having a strong trademark can substantially improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Trademark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is crucial to establishing and protecting enforceable legal rights in a trademark. Especially for individuals and businesses with an online presence, registration is essential to creating nationwide legal rights in your trademark. Having a registered trademark facilitates protection of your trademark and enforcement of your legal rights against infringers, counterfeiters, and scammers.

A strong trademark enables you to establish brand recognition in the marketplace and distinguish your goods or services from those of your competition. Trademark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is crucial to establishing and protecting enforceable legal rights in your trademark. Especially for individuals and businesses with an online presence, registration is essential to creating nationwide legal rights in your trademark and enforcing those rights against infringers and counterfeiters.

The trademark registration process is more than simply completing and filing a form with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  It is a formal and detailed process with several stages. Requests from the USPTO for amendment or additional information are not uncommon. If the USPTO identifies a reason for refusing your registration, you may not be able to overcome the obstacle.

Getting assistance from a qualified lawyer can make a significant difference in the trademark registration process and outcome. Representation by an experienced trademark attorney like Sarah Walkington can improve your chances of successful registration. The process is also likely to go more efficiently, because all essential details are properly addressed at the outset.

Social media creators can protect their work through patent, trademark, and copyright laws. If you are a social media creator, Sarah Walkington can help you identify your  intellectual property rights and can help you secure legal protection for those valuable assets.

Amazon sellers can face a wide range of potential IP issues relating to patent, trademark, and copyright law. Sarah Walkington assists Amazon sellers with all types of IP issues that arise in their online businesses and can help you secure legal protection for your valuable IP assets.

If you produce creative content online, Sarah Walkington can help secure IP protection for your work to protect against infringement and violation of your IP legal rights.

Federal patent statutes establish a complex regulatory framework that allows inventors to apply for patents, granting them legal rights to protect their inventions. By successfully obtaining a patent issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the patent holder is granted the right to prohibit others from making, using, or selling the invention throughout the United States, as well as the right to prevent others from importing the invention into the United States.

Sarah Walkington is a USPTO registered patent attorney with over 20 years of experience in IP law. Sarah’s practice encompasses assisting clients with two types of patents:

• Design patents: Generally, a design patent protects the appearance of an invention. More specifically, design patents protect new, original, and ornamental designs for articles of manufacture.
• Utility patents: Generally, a utility patent protects the structural or functional features of an invention. More specifically, utility patents protect new or improved processes, machines, articles of manufacture, or compositions of matter.

Both types of patents have specific eligibility requirements. For utility patent protection, an invention must be novel, non-obvious, and useful. Novelty means the invention is new and has not been publicly disclosed before. Non-obviousness refers to the invention not being an obvious improvement over existing technology. Usefulness requires that the invention has a practical application and provides some functional benefit. For design patent protection, a design must be novel, original, and ornamental. Novelty means it has not been publicly disclosed prior to the application. Original means it is not a copy of existing designs. Ornamental means the design must have an ornamental or decorative nature, rather than purely functional aspects.

The patent prosecution process involves preparing and filing a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and engaging in correspondence with the USPTO to secure protection for your invention. It is a highly technical and often complicated process, governed by complex laws, regulations, policies, and procedures. Attempting to obtain a patent without assistance from a knowledgeable patent lawyer creates a substantial risk of mistakes or omissions that could cause delay in getting protection for your invention, and could even result in a loss of patent rights altogether.

Trade secrets can include, for example, customer data, business plans, product information, manufacturing processes, and technical or operational know-how. Unlike other forms of intellectual property, trade secrets cannot be registered. If a business owner wishes to secure the available protection under trade secret laws, specific steps must be taken to identify the information and guard against unintentional disclosure. If you use trade secrets in your business, it is essential to take the necessary steps to safeguard those secrets. Sarah Walkington helps businesses identify trade secrets and take the necessary steps to protect them.

The first step to leverage your IP is to register it with the relevant authorities, which give you legal protection and exclusive rights to license, transfer, or sell your IP rights to others. For IP owners looking to license or transfer rights to others, written agreements are essential to safeguarding legal rights. Sarah Walkington can assist you with registering your IP and drafting, reviewing, and negotiating IP licenses and other agreements involving IP assets.