Our mission

We are a full service intellectual property law firm with one mission in mind: to help you claim your success. Your ideas and intellectual properties, left unprotected, could become someone else's profits. We pride ourselves in not only providing superior legal services to our clients, but also in helping them to develop intellectual property strategies that will help them in building a promising future.

What we offer

Our legal services range from patent searches, patent applications, technical drawings, patent prosecutions, trademark searches, trademark applications, trademark prosecutions, to copyright application filings and licensing agreements. In addition, we provide value-added services such as venture capital resources, prototyping and negotiations to facilitate pioneering entrepreneurial process.

What makes our service quality second to none

We take great care in ensuring patent application acceptance. We have attorneys that worked as patent examiners in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the International Trade Commissions. We also realize that IP attorneys must understand technology well. That is why all of our attorneys are highly educated and experienced in science and technology.

We have a broad spectrum of industry specific legal experience including medical devices, software, electrical apparatus, financial services and More

We have a worldwide clientele. We have not only represented U.S. companies to claim intellectual property rights in Europe and Asia, but also helped international companies to file IP applications and resolve IP disputes in the U.S.

What is a patent.

A patent is a grant made by the United States government on a new invention. It gives its creator the exclusive right to control the use, manufacture and sale of the invention. Our attorneys have great expertise in protecting intellectual properties for a wide range of industries/products. We possess in-depth technical knowledge in medical devices, electrical apparatus, mechanical apparatus, chemical compositions & processes, pharmaceuticals, computer hardware/software and more.

Patent Office action

An office action is any rejections or objections which the patent examiner may have on the patent application as filed. Such office actions must be addressed within six months otherwise the patent application will become abandoned. The applicant is notified in writing of the examiner’s decision by an Office “action” which is normally mailed to the attorney or agent of record. The reasons for any adverse action or any objection or requirement are stated in the Office action and such information or references are given as may be useful in aiding the applicant to judge the propriety of continuing the prosecution of his or her application. If the claimed invention is not directed to patentable subject matter, the claims will be rejected. If the examiner finds that the claimed invention lacks novelty or differs only in an obvious manner from what is found in the prior art, the claims may also be rejected. It is not uncommon for some or all of the claims to be rejected on the first Office action by the examiner; relatively few applications are allowed as filed.

We specialize in answering office actions on a flat fee basis.

Trademarks

What is a trademark or service mark?

A trademark refers to a mark or brand name. A trademark includes a word, name, symbol, logo, or any combination. The trademark is used to identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller from others. The function of trademarks are to indicate the source of the goods/services to the consumer public. The advantages with Federal registration include: notice to the public of ownership of the mark, legal presumption of ownership nationwide, and exclusive right to use the mark with the goods/services in the registration.

What is a trademark?

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, logo, design, or a combination thereof that identifies the source of the goods or services .

What is a service mark?

A service mark is a trademark that identifies and distinguishes the source of a service.

STEP BY STEP 1. Pick a lists of names you would consider for your business 2. Decide if you desire in addition to a brand name, a visual logo would add to the recognition of your business 3. Provide filing information to your attorney a. Ownership information (individual or business) b. Address c. State of incorporation d. Date of first use of the trademark e. Provide mark or logo f. Provide a description of goods or services. g. Provide a specimen/sample of goods or services with mark attached 4. The attorney will do a search of the trade names and provide an analyst on the likelihood that the trademark will be granted

Identifying Your Mark: Decide on the brand name, logo; or a combination thereof.

Identifying Your Goods and/or Services Identify the goods and/or services to which the mark will apply. The identification of goods and/or services must be specific enough to identify the nature of the goods and/or services.

What is a copyright? A copyright protects works of authorship, such as writings, music, and works of art that have been tangibly expressed. For more information, contact the U.S. Copyright Office (a division of the Library of Congress).

What is a certification mark? A certification mark is any a word, name, symbol, logo, or any combination which certifies the goods and services of others when they meet certain standards. The sole purpose of a certification mark is to indicate that certain standards have been met by member parties.

What is a collective membership mark? A collective membership mark is any word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination thereof which indicates that the user of the mark is a member of a particular organization. The owner of the mark exercises control over the use of the mark; however, because the sole purpose of a membership mark is to indicate membership, use of the mark is by members.

What is a collective mark? A collective mark is any word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination thereof owned by a collective group or organization and used by members to indicate the source of the goods or services.

Benefits of federal trademark registration Owning a federal trademark registration provides advantages, including: Public notice of ownership of the mark; A legal presumption of ownership and your exclusive right to use the mark nationwide in connection with the goods/services in the registration; The ability sue for infringement of the mark in federal court; The use of the U.S. registration to obtain registration in foreign countries; The ability to use U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service to prevent importation or seizing of infringing foreign goods; The right to use the federal registration symbol ®; and Listing on online database of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. "TM" or "SM" or the ® symbol "TM" (trademark) or "SM" (service mark) is a designation to alert the public to your claim to a “common-law” mark. No registration is necessary to use a "TM" or "SM" symbol. Common law protection will not give all the rights and benefits of federal registration.

You may only use the federal registration symbol "®" after the USPTO actually registers a mark.

Must I be a U.S. citizen to obtain a federal registration? No, but your citizenship information must be provided in the application.

“Use in commerce” and “Intent to use” in commerce?

If you have already used your mark in commerce, you may file under the “use in commerce” basis. Section 45 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1127, defines "commerce" as "all commerce which may lawfully be regulated by Congress." Section 45 defines "use in commerce" as follows:

The term "use in commerce" means the bona fide use of a mark in the ordinary course of trade, and not made merely to reserve a right in a mark. For purposes of this Act, a mark shall be deemed to be in use in commerce-- (1) on goods when-- (A) it is placed in any manner on the goods or their containers or the displays associated therewith or on the tags or labels affixed thereto, or if the nature of the goods makes such placement impracticable, then on documents associated with the goods or their sale, and (B) the goods are sold or transported in commerce, and (2) on services when it is used or displayed in the sale or advertising of services and the services are rendered in commerce, or the services are rendered in more than one State or in the United States and a foreign country and the person rendering the services is engaged in commerce in connection with the services.

If you have not yet used your mark in commerce, but intend to use it in the future, you must file under the “intent to use” basis. An “intent to use” basis will require filing an additional form and fee.

What is a specimen? A specimen is a sample of your goods or services with mark attached in commerce.

Does United States Federal registration provide for international trademark protection No, trademarks must be filed in each individual country. However a United States federal registration can provide for a basis of foreign registrations.