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Startups and other small businesses often develop groundbreaking products with great commercial potential. However, their limited resources often prevent them from manufacturing and selling those products themselves. It becomes necessary, therefore, to license the invention to third parties who have the resources to do so or to use the invention as leverage for investment. But pitching an invention to a third party is not without risk; the other company could steal the invention or the inventor could inadvertently lose patent rights in it. An Alabama intellectual property lawyer can help you protect your IP in these scenarios. 

Intellectual property (IP) infringement is usually handled in the civil courts. In a typical scenario, one business begins selling a product that, unbeknownst to it, contains elements covered by a patent that is owned by another business. The second business sues the first business for patent infringement and the parties either settle or the case heads to IP litigation in a civil court. In some cases, however, IP infringement or theft can also be charged as a crime, with the alleged infringers or thieves being prosecuted in a criminal court. If you suspect that your IP assets are being infringed, an Alabama IP litigation lawyer can evaluate your case and help protect your rights. 

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.

Laws and social attitudes regarding cannabis have changed dramatically in recent years. Medical and/or recreational cannabis use is now legal in some form in the vast majority of states (including medical use in Alabama). The cannabis industry also received a boost under the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized cannabis and cannabis-derived products containing 0.3% or less THC (known as “hemp”). With an estimated market value of $14.9 billion in 2021, entrepreneurs in the legal cannabis industry are eagerly seeking IP protection for their products. But is such protection even possible? It’s complicated, as an Alabama intellectual property lawyer explains below. 

Startups and other early-stage companies have a lot on their minds — securing funding, finding the right talent, setting a business trajectory, and developing a winning product. For many companies, intellectual property protection may seem like a concern only to more established players. However, valuable intellectual property is crucial for the long-term success of any company and, in many cases, it will be the primary factor in determining its value. Companies should establish an innovation harvesting process to ensure that great ideas from the R&D department make it into patent applications. An Alabama intellectual property lawyer explains how to do this below.