PRACTICE AREAS

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Our Practice Areas

We practice intellectual property law, the law that protects your ideas. That's why we say we practice "idea law." Our team has technical backgrounds related to electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and other high-tech fields that inform our approach to patent law. We complement that core practice area with experience in trademark, copyright, trade secret law and related licensing and enforcement expertise.

Patents

  • Patent Application Filings
  • Responses to Office Actions
  • Opinions

Patents protect your ideas. You have identified a problem and created a solution for fixing it. This problem-solution relationship is the heart of every invention. Thomas Edison saw the potential light source in electricity but faced the problem of controlling it in a way that everyone could use. Tabitha Babbitt saw carpenters sweating over a hand saw where the return stroke did no cutting and invented the circular saw that provides an endless cutting motion. Rommy Revson saw women struggling with rubber bands in their hair and put fabric around the bands to invent the Scunci® or scrunchy.

If you or your company can relate to these problem solvers, you’re an inventor. The path to creating value from your invention starts with getting a patent.

Your patent will give you a monopolistic right to exclude others from making, using, and selling your invention for a set period of time.
Schott, P.C. can help you with your patent rights.

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Copyrights

  • Copyright Application Filings
  • Opinions
  • Advice

Copyrights protect your original works of authorship and artistic expression. Did you compose a song? Paint a landscape? Photograph a sunset? Write a movie? Create a computer program? These are the kinds of things that are protected by a copyright.

You have certain copyright rights once you create your work and fix it in some medium. But to secure attorney fees and statutory damages in copyright infringement litigation–or credibly threaten to sue for them–you need a federal copyright registration. There are other advantages to federal registration, but the one most attractive to business owners is building value in intellectual property portfolios.

Schott, P.C. can help you with your copyright rights.

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Trademarks

  • Trademark Application Filings
  • Responses to Office Actions
  • Opinions

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies and distinguishes the source of your goods from someone else’s. Famous trademarks include Nike’s slogan JUST DO IT®, the McDonald’s golden arches, and the company name Starbucks Corporation®. Trademark protection can extend to the appearance of the goods packages–and even colors and sounds.

When you register your trademark, you get exclusive ownership of the mark and create value in your business. You also put others on notice that you own the mark. Finally, your registration allows you to sue for, and threaten to sue for, triple damages and attorney fees for trademark infringement.
Schott, P.C. can help you with your trademark rights.

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Licenses and Assignments

  • Technology Licensing
  • Assignment of Intellectual Property
  • Due Diligence

Licenses and assignments are the legal contracts commonly used to grant intellectual property rights (patent, copyright, trademark) to others. The difference between them is easy to understand.

A license usually leaves some part of the ownership of the intellectual property in question with its original owner. This is what happens when Microsoft® grants you a license to use its suite of Office® products. They haven’t given you Office® to use and sell however you see fit. There are restrictions on your use and Microsoft has kept ownership of Office® for itself.

An assignment, in contrast, usually transfers all intellectual property rights from one party to another, leaving no ownership in the intellectual property with the original owner.

When drafting a license or assignment, you want to ensure that the price you ask or offer is appropriate and that the intellectual property rights transferred are what you intend.

Schott, P.C. can help you prepare, negotiate, and enforce your licenses and assignments.

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Litigation

  • Cease and Desist Letters
  • Complaints, Responsive Filings, Appeals
  • Second Chair Litigation

Litigation is usually a last resort when two parties cannot reach agreement. Before you reach that point, however, there are many issues for which you may need advice. You may want to get opinions from an attorney that can potentially shield you from increased damages. Or you may want an opinion from your attorney to evaluate your case before you spend money in litigation. Schott, P.C. can prepare these opinions.

Once you determine that litigation is your only option, either as plaintiff or defendant, you will need someone to guide you through the process. We can be that guide based on our experience litigating:

  • shareholder disputes,
  • breach of contract lawsuits,
  • employment agreements,
  • patent infringement,
  • copyright infringement,
  • trademark infringement,
  • trade secret misappropriation,
  • unfair competition,
  • construction disputes, and
  • many other business matters.
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Building IP Value

  • Infringement Analysis
  • White Space Reviews
  • Identifying Value in Your IP Portfolio

Whether you own intellectual property already or are building your intellectual property portfolio, you should develop a strategy for building value from your IP.
One of the following services from Schott, P.C. may help you build value from your IP portfolio:

  • We can host an IP Review Meeting where we review your business and product development to identify untapped IP. It’s rare that we can’t increase the value of your IP portfolio in one of these meetings.
  • We will prepare opinions and claim charts analyzing potential infringers in the marketplace, and work with you to decide the best path forward.
  • We will draft a technology area analysis that reviews what others are patenting in your field and what areas you may be able to move into.
  • We can contact competitors and other market players to negotiate licenses and acquisitions.
  • We will put you in touch with venture capital investors and help you negotiate with them as you grow your business.
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Patents

  • Patent Application Filings
  • Responses to Office Actions
  • Opinions

Copyrights

  • Copyright Application Filings
  • Opinions
  • Advice

Trademarks

  • Trademark Application Filings
  • Responses to Office Actions
  • Opinions

Licenses and Assignments

  • Technology Licensing
  • Assignment of Intellectual Property
  • Due Diligence

Litigation

  • Cease and Desist Letters
  • Complaints, Responsive Filings, Appeals
  • Second Chair Litigation

Building IP Value

  • Infringement Analysis
  • White Space Reviews
  • Identifying Value in Your IP Portfolio