Intellectual property is often among a business’s most valuable assets. Whether your business develops a new invention, creates a distinctive brand, produces original creative work, or builds proprietary business information, intellectual property rights are often a key part of any business’s competitive advantages. A Brooklyn intellectual property attorney can help you identify, secure, enforce, and maintain intellectual property rights.

If you need the support of an experienced intellectual property lawyer, consider Jones IP Law. I help inventors, startups, entrepreneurs, and established businesses protect valuable intellectual property. Led by attorney Michael Jones, the firm provides personalized and cost-effective intellectual property services backed by extensive technical knowledge and legal experience. I assist clients throughout Brooklyn with patents, trademarks, copyrights, intellectual property strategy, and related legal matters.

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What Is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property (IP) rights protect creations of the mind. Different IP protections cover different types of assets. Some of the most common IP rights include patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. The firm helps with them all.

Patents

A patent protects inventions and gives the patent owner the right to exclude others from making, selling, using, offering for sale, or importing the invention. To be patentable, an invention generally must be:

Patentable subject matter—the invention fits within a category eligible for patent protection, such as a process, machine, manufactured product, composition of matter, ornamental product design, or qualifying plant variety;
New—it has not been publicly disclosed before the relevant filing date;
Useful—it serves a practical purpose; and
Non-obvious—it would not have been an obvious improvement to someone skilled in the relevant field.

An invention has a patentable subject matter if it meets the legal requirements for a:

Utility patent—a new and useful process, machine, manufactured product, or composition of matter;
Design patent—the ornamental appearance of a product; or
Plant patent—new and distinct plant varieties.

Requesting a patent requires you and your lawyer to work with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Trademarks

Trademarks include words, names, logos, slogans, trade dress, product packaging, and other identifiers that distinguish one company’s goods or services from those of another. Businesses often use trademarks to protect:

Company names,
Product names,
Service brands,
Logos and design elements, and
Marketing slogans.

To qualify for legal protection, a mark must be distinctive, not just descriptive of the goods or services being offered, and not too similar to a mark already in use. You gain rights to the mark as soon as you begin using it, but your lawyer can help you broaden those rights through trademark registration with the USPTO.

Copyrights

A copyright protects original works of expression that exist in a fixed and tangible form. Copyright law commonly protects works like, for example:

Writings,
Software code,
Photographs,
Videos,
Music,
Graphic designs,
Website content, and
Marketing Materials.

Copyright protection arises automatically when you create a qualifying work, but registration provides important procedural and enforcement benefits.

Trade Secrets

A trade secret is information that a company takes reasonable steps to keep secret, and that derives value from not being publicly known. Trade secrets may include, for example:

Formulas,
Manufacturing processes,
Customer lists, and
Business methods.

Trade secret protection can last indefinitely if information remains confidential and continues to provide economic value.

How Does Your Brooklyn Intellectual Property Attorney Help?

Intellectual property protection often involves coordinating various aspects of what makes a business valuable. Your Brooklyn intellectual property lawyer can help you develop a strategy that aligns your intellectual property protection with your broader business goals.

Identifying Intellectual Property

Many businesses possess valuable intellectual property without fully recognizing it. A Brooklyn IP attorney can evaluate your company’s operations and identify assets that may qualify for patent, trademark, copyright, or trade secret protection. Knowing what you own is the foundation for seeking explicit legal protections.

Protecting Intellectual Property

Brooklyn’s economy includes virtually every type of business. Depending on your goals and the nature of your business, your attorney can help by:

Evaluating what assets you might be able to protect,
Conducting prior art searches,
Preparing patent applications,
Conducting trademark clearance searches,
Registering trademarks and copyrights,
Responding to patent and trademark office actions, and
Developing trade secret protection policies.

From technology startups in the Navy Yard to creative businesses in Williamsburg and manufacturers operating throughout the borough, Brooklyn organizations often face unique intellectual property challenges. I can help determine which protections you qualify for.

Drafting Intellectual Property Agreements

Businesses often use contracts when they share, license, develop, purchase, sell, or protect intellectual property. A startup may hire a software developer and need to confirm who owns the resulting code. A business may license its technology to another company, allow a third party to use its trademark, or require employees and contractors to keep confidential information secret. Your Brooklyn intellectual property lawyer drafts and reviews agreements that clearly define ownership rights, permitted uses, payment obligations, and confidentiality requirements.

Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property disputes often arise when someone infringes on protected rights or misappropriates confidential information. Someone may infringe intellectual property rights by using patented technology, protected trademarks, or copyrighted material without authorization. Trade secret disputes typically involve someone improperly acquiring, disclosing, or using confidential business information.

Jones IP Law can guide you through disputes. I investigate potential infringement, evaluate available claims and defenses, send and respond to cease-and-desist letters, address online infringement and takedown issues, pursue negotiated settlements, and represent you in court when necessary.

Maintaining Intellectual Property Rights

Some forms of intellectual property require maintenance. Copyrights generally do not require ongoing maintenance, and copyright protection often lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years.

For other IP, your attorney can help you meet those maintenance obligations, including:

Patents—utility patent owners must pay maintenance fees to the USPTO at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after issuance;
Trademarks—trademark owners must continue using the mark in commerce, avoid uses that could cause the mark to become generic, and file periodic maintenance and renewal documents with the USPTO; and
Trade secrets—businesses must continue protecting confidential information through reasonable security measures, confidentiality agreements, and internal policies.

As your business grows, your Brooklyn IP attorney helps ensure your protections remain in place.

Protect Your Intellectual Property with Jones IP Law

Intellectual property rights protect innovation, build brand value, and support long-term business growth. Whatever type of IP assistance you need, our Brooklyn intellectual property law firm can help. Jones IP Law combines legal experience with extensive technical knowledge to help inventors, startups, and businesses safeguard intellectual property.

Legal References Used to Inform This Page

To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal resources during the content development process: