Intellectual property, although intangible, is still ownable and your intellectual property rights should be protected. An intellectual property lawyer who is trained to help reclaim patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret rights can help protect your intellectual property. Types of intellectual property include patents, trademarks and trade dress, copyrights, and trade secrets.

Patents

A patent is granted by the government allowing a (usually) 20 year monopoly on an invention previously “not generally known.” Patents are intended to encourage investment in research and development. If you create a new useful process for doing something, a machine, manufacture, or even an improvement on something already in existence, you can patent your invention and prohibit others from “making, using, offering for sale, or selling…or importing” the invention in the U.S. Your right to patent your invention is a constitutional right.

Patent lawyers will research previously granted patents for you to see if a similar product has already been patented or whether you should apply for a patent for your invention. A patent attorney will also tell you if your idea is not patentable because it is a law of nature, a physical phenomena, or abstract. You should find a specialized patent or intellectual property attorney because in order to prosecute a client’s patent application, he or she must be registered with the U.S. patent office. A patent lawyer will also have to have passed a science and engineering exam to better understand and serve clients.

Trademarks

Trademarks are granted for words, names, symbols, or devices which separate and distinguish businesses and services. These include arbitrary names such as Kodak, suggestive names such as Caterpillar (tractors), descriptive names which indicated the business’ products or services, and generic names which are descriptive. Generic and some descriptive names cannot be protected, so a trademark or intellectual property lawyer should be consulted to see if your name qualifies for trademark rights.

Trademark lawyers can also be sought to make sure that your new business isn’t using a registered mark. The consequences for using a registered mark, even though you may have put money and advertising into promoting your business, include being sued for infringement.

Copyrights

Copyrights protect the individual’s expression of an idea, but do not protect the idea itself (see patent). Copyrights are intended to promote scientific progress. If you come up with an idea or invention while working for a company, it is able to be patented or trademarked by the company you work for, but copyrightable work belongs to you, the employee, not the company employing you. However, there are loopholes, and an intellectual property lawyer will help you both with the process of getting your expression copyrighted but will also save you trouble and time in getting over road blocks.

If you are a company, you need an intellectual property lawyer who specializes in copyrights because especially with internet businesses, you will need to make sure that contractually your web site design can be copyrighted to your company and will not belong to the employee or independent contractor who created it. This also applies to software.

Trade Secrets

It is important to protect your business’ trade secrets so they will not be misappropriated. Whereas patents have a limited time of coverage and after 20 years are released, trade secrets are always protected. To qualify as a trade secret, it must have independent economic value to the company.

Orange County intellectual property lawyers at Klein & Wilson are the top trial attorneys in Orange County, California, with extensive experience in representing plaintiffs and defendants in trademark infringement, trade secret, unfair competition claims, intellectual property and copyright infringement claims. They bring nearly a half century of trial experience to the courtroom. The firm routinely and successfully represents large and small clients against some of the largest and most prominent firms in the world. Klein & Wilson’s significant case results speak for themselves, and this is why Klein & Wilson has developed such a noteworthy client list. To speak with their experienced Orange County attorneys, e-mail Klein & Wilson today or call them toll free for a consultation regarding your rights.

Discrimination is perhaps the most frequently encountered type of employment lawsuit. Federal law bans employers from using a persons race, religious views, gender, original nationality, handicaps, or age when deciding to hire or fire someone. Unfortunately, discrimination still happens quite frequently. A civil rights attorney can help you understand whether or not your civil rights have been violated.

Another area in which employment lawyers could be needed is with regard to severance negotiations. It is true that there is no law requiring companies to provide severance packages to their workers. Nonetheless, many contracts contain severance agreements. If you are unsure as to exactly what the severance agreement in your contract requires of your employer, then you should meet with an attorney.

Employment lawyers are often involved in disputes regarding overtime pay. Overtime regulations are far from standardized and are different depending on where you are. They can also be hard to understand. For this reason, it is worth consulting with a legal counselor familiar with the particular regulations in your area. This is one instance where speaking with a local attorney makes a lot of sense. He will be better able to help you learn whether your employer owes you for unpaid work.

Wrongful termination is a further area where a civil rights attorney may be required. The majority of states go by the “at will” policy. This allows an employee to quit whenever he wants to for whatever reason he likes. It also gives employers the right to let their employees go at any time and for any reason (with some notable exceptions). Obviously discrimination is not a justifiable reason to fire someone. So if you feel your recent firing was due to discrimination, or if your employer breached your contract, then you could have a winnable lawsuit.

There are many areas that employment lawyers can help you with. One of which is Orange County employment lawyers at The Carter Law Firm. They represent employees in and throughout California who have been the victim of a wrongful termination, suffered discrimination or harassment in the workplace, or have had overtime pay improperly withheld. They have extensive experience in class actions for wage and hour violations in the high-tech, service, and retail industries, and are ready to take on the largest corporation if that is what it takes to vindicate your rights.

Their attorneys have successfully recovered over $100,000,000 for clients within the past four years alone, and they continually stay abreast of current developments in employment law to ensure that they offer the best possible legal representation. They know how important your case is to you, and work hard to be responsive to your needs and make the process as worry-free for you as possible. If you have been wronged by your employer, large or small, singly or as part of a company-wide class action, their lawyers are ready to help you recover what was taken from you, whether it was your job, your finances, or your dignity. For a free initial consultation, contact the Carter Law Firm today.