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IP Attorneys Offering Strategic Counsel to Businesses in All Industries

Helping companies in and around Ohio develop and protect their intellectual property

Intellectual property creation and protection are essential to the profitability of any company. Today, many companies rely on technology to run their businesses. Most companies use, or should use, trademarks to help brand and market their business. Copyrights help protect the expression of your ideas from the competition. The ways you do business and your customer and vendor contracts can be considered trade secrets that are the lifeblood of any company.

At Gertsburg Licata, our IP attorneys help companies develop and protect their intellectual property. When necessary, we work with professionals, such as patent lawyers, to help you obtain and litigate your patentable ideas. We work to help insure that the company owns the intellectual property. We register your intellectual assets in the right forums. When necessary, we bring claims against competitors for violating your intellectual property. We also seek to enforce agreements with your employees who violate agreements to not use your intellectual property.

Types of intellectual property

The core types of intellectual property include the following:

  • Patents. Patents are highly valuable assets that give the inventor or an assignee specific rights for a set period of time in return for publicly disclosing the invention. There are specific requirements that must be met in order to obtain the patent, such as showing that the invention is novel, useful, and non-obvious. The exclusive rights are generally to prevent others from using, selling, making, or distributing the patented invention. Patents in the United States are processed through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
  • Trademarks. Trademarks are generally the way a company brands itself, its products and its services. Trademarks and service markers are recognizable as signs, expressions, and logos. Any legal entity, such as a corporation or an individual, can own the trademark. Trademarks must be registered and must be unique. Our Cleveland intellectual property lawyers have the experience and skills to research and register trademarks. When competitors or others violate the trademarks, we sue for trademark infringement.
  • Copyrights. A copyright generally applies to the expression of creative works, such as writings and songs. Multiple authors can own copyrights. Our lawyers work to explain what expressions are eligible for copyright protection, what steps must be taken in the United States and abroad to protect the copyright, and what rights a copyright secures the holders. Owners of a copyright generally have the right to license their work and control who can use it. We also explain how long copyrights last, and we litigate when people or businesses violate your copyright.
  • Trade secrets. Trade secrets are the methods a company uses to gain an advantage over the competition. They generally must be a process, design, or method that has not been made public and that the company that owns the secret has taken steps to keep the method secret. Companies often try to protect their trade secrets through non-disclosure agreements, work for hire, and non-compete clauses. We help prepare the proper agreement with employees and also to bring misappropriation agreements when competitors improperly steal or copy your trade secrets.

Our intellectual property attorneys also work to license your intellectual property for use by customers and to arrange for technology transfers from universities and other organizations. We also do the due diligence necessary when companies acquire the intellectual property of others. Our lawyers handle intellectual property in biotechnology, telecommunications, entertainment, the medical field including pharmaceuticals, the software industry, chemical companies, and other inventive businesses.

Make an appointment with one of our intellectual property lawyers

Your company has worked hard at great financial costs. You deserve to reap the benefits of this hard work. At Gertsburg Licata we help you create, protect, monetize, and litigate your intellectual property assets. Our intellectual property lawyers fight to protect your company from cheaters and counterfeiters. Our legal team understands the technical, creative, and business elements behind your intellectual property. For professional, respected legal counsel, please call our firm at 216-573-6000 or complete our contact form to speak with our legal team.