Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law: Intellectual Property Lawyer
Entertainment and intellectual property law covers a very broad spectrum of legal issues involving contracts, patents, trademarks, copyrights and more. The level of expertise of lawyers specializing in these areas can vary from generalists in the field to experts in sub-specialties that may range from information technology (“IT") to transactional entertainment law, which would include the representation of producers, writers, actors and directors. Thus, you should first focus your search for lawyers on those who hold themselves out as having expertise with the particular type of legal issues or problems that you are facing.If you’re in business and already have a working relationship with a lawyer, you may want to start there, as many business lawyers have developed some degree of expertise with intellectual property matters. At a minimum, intellectual property lawyer could initially assess your legal situation and try to come up with a game plan to deal with it.
Copyright Protection: Intellectual Property Lawyer
As with most areas of the law, there are lawyers who primarily do transactional work, and those who do litigation. So if you want to register a trademark or apply for copyright protection, you probably need an intellectual property lawyer who focuses on transactional work. If your legal issues involve a lawsuit, you will probably also want to look for a lawyer with litigation experience in trying entertainment or intellectual property cases.
If you have a patent issue, you definitely will want to talk to a patent lawyer. The law involving patents is so specialized that lawyers must specifically apply for and be given patent bar licenses before they can practice in this area.
Now that your search is focused, use the following guidelines to do some initial screening on the list of lawyers that you have and narrow it down to three or four prospective candidates:
- Look at biographical information, including whatever you can find on web sites for the lawyers and their law firms. Do they appear to have expertise involving intellectual property issues in the area in which you need a lawyer? If they profess to have expertise in this area, they should certainly have a good Web site with lots of information on it.
- Ask other people in your line of business if they have heard of the attorneys and what they think about them.
- Contact your state bar association or visit their web site to find out if the lawyer is in good standing. Is he or she a licensed patent lawyer?
- Check out online directories or the yellow pages of your telephone directory. Does the lawyer advertise? If so, do you find it compelling? Check out the online archives of your local newspaper or other publications, such as Daily Variety or Hollywood Reporter. Has there been any publicity about the lawyer or the cases that he or she has handled?
Typically, the procurement of a patent begins with the inventor describing his invention to a patent lawyer. The patent lawyer evaluates the utility, novelty and obviousness of the invention, and based on that evaluation and other business and technical considerations, advises the client as to whether a patent application should be filed on the invention. The evaluation generally consists of an in-depth investigation into the technical field involved, including study of the closest prior patents and references and a comparison with the invention to identify differences.
U.S. Patent Lawyer
The patent lawyer may also be called upon to file corresponding patent applications in other countries, increasing the area of patent protection the patent owner may enjoy if the invention is marketed worldwide. Although foreign firms usually handle the actual filing and prosecution of these foreign applications, the U.S. patent lawyer must have some working knowledge of the various patent laws and procedures in the major industrial nations of the world in order to render sound advice to the client.
Enforcement and Defense: Intellectual Property Lawyer
In addition to performing the challenging work of procuring intellectual property rights for their clients, patent lawyers are frequently called upon to protect their clients' property rights against infringers or misappropriates, or to defend their clients against accusations of infringement or misappropriation. Although law firms, which specialize in such matters, often handle the litigation of such issues in-house counsel may be called upon to provide necessary legal support.
Our free Lawyers and Attorneys Directory Search will help you to find the best intellectual property lawyer in your area. So, what are you waiting for? Make a search and contact intellectual property lawyer (U.S. patent lawyer) today!
