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Once the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) grants a patent, the patent owner can then rest assured that his or her patent rights are safe, barring any challenges that arise in patent litigation, right? While that may seem like a logical assumption, it is not correct. In 2011, the America Invents Act created new procedures called “post-grant proceedings” that allowed members of the public to challenge the validity of issued patents, the most popular of which is known as inter partes review (IPR). While post-grant proceedings are complex, an Alabama patent litigation attorney can help you make sense of them and decide whether you should use them. 

Trademark registration confers a host of benefits that are not available to common law trademarks. For instance, registering your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) gives you rights throughout the United States and allows you to sue for trademark infringement in federal courts. Federal registration also provides nationwide constructive notice that your trademark belongs to you. However, the USPTO frequently refuses trademark applications for a variety of reasons. A trademark search executed by an Alabama trademark search attorney can help you avoid stumbling into one of those pitfalls. 

From games and social media apps to productivity tools and enterprise systems, many different types of software have significant monetization potential. But, companies can only monetize their software if they can protect it. Without adequate protections in place, companies can lose the ownership and exclusivity that are essential for commercialization. So, what intellectual property (IP) protections are available for software in 2022? Our Alabama intellectual property lawyer shares some insight.

Your startup has developed a cutting-edge innovation. It’s different from anything else on the market, and it has significant potential for monetization. At this stage, your next step may be to file for a patent. Here’s how you can tell if you are ready:

Patent license agreements allow companies to monetize their innovations without (or in addition to) developing their own products and services. These agreements have several key terms, and companies must ensure that their patent licenses contain appropriate restrictions and protections. If a license agreement doesn’t contain the necessary restrictions and protections, not only could this reduce the value of the license for the licensor, but it could potentially lead to the loss of the licensor’s exclusive patent rights as well.