Eureka moments…sometimes they lead to big ideas or new inventions that can significantly change or advance a given industry. If these ideas or inventions gain traction and become marketable, they are considered the inventor’s intellectual property (IP).
Registering your IP protects against infringement — and helps to legally ensure that no one else, without your permission, can exploit your work for commercial gain. According to statistics compiled by Westlaw Edge, since 2009, over 2,000 patent infringement cases were filed in New Jersey, making it second only to Delaware for total number of cases.
Three major types of IP registration.
- Patent ®: Safeguards intellectual property by preventing other parties from copying, making, using, or selling the invention without the inventor’s consent.
- Trademark ™: Protects your IP from being registered by others, and helps prevent others from using a trademark that is similar to yours with related goods or services.
- Copyright ©: Protects your exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and perform or display the created work, and prevents other people from copying or exploiting the creation without the copyright holder’s permission.
Legal recourse against infringement
The IP attorneys at Weiner Law Group advise clients on all available options such as:
- Cease and Desist letter: This effectively puts the infringer “on notice” to stop using your work.
- Send a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice: for copyright infringement on the Internet.
- Request a court injunction to legally prevent the IP infringer from continuing to make or sell the product.
- File a lawsuit. IP infringement offenses are actionable if the case is strong enough to move forward.
Weiner Law Group: Protecting the work you’ve worked so hard to build
When your intellectual property rights are in dispute or being infringed upon, count on the attorneys at Weiner Law Group LLP to vigorously defend and protect what’s yours. To arrange for a consultation appointment, call our Parsippany office at 973-403-1100 or learn more about our Intellectual Property practice.