Metairie Intellectual Property Lawyer

Understanding Intellectual Property Rights in Louisiana

The term “intellectual property” can refer to any creation of the mind, such as an original music composition, a written work like a novel or poem, or a piece of visual art like a painting or sculpture. With the advent of digital media, intellectual property can define a much larger range of creative works, and it is essential for creators to know how they can protect their creations.

Experienced Legal Counsel for Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property law is inherently complex, and it’s common for creators to overlook crucial aspects of the process of legally protecting their work. If you intend to commercialize a creative work of any kind, it is vital to know what intellectual property rights you need to legally assert to ensure that others do not infringe upon your work and attempt to profit from it without your consent. A Metairie intellectual property attorney is an invaluable asset for any such situation.

The Bradley Law Firm can provide the professional legal guidance you need to address your intellectual property rights-related questions. Attorney Jarred Bradley has helped many clients in the Jefferson Parish area with their intellectual property rights, including establishing these legal protections and resolving disputes in which other parties have infringed upon them. Whatever type of work you have created and whatever type of protection you need, you can rely on The Bradley Law Firm to provide comprehensive legal representation for all legal matters related to your intellectual property.

Understanding Different Types of Intellectual Property Protections

It’s possible to register your intellectual property in different ways depending on the type of property in question, how you intend to use it, and what type of protection you believe that you need for it. Two of the most commonly registered intellectual property protections in the United States are copyrights and trademarks. These two types of protection are commonly conflated but work in different ways.

A copyright applies to a creative work that you intend to commercialize and prevents others from using it as their own. Copyrights are commonly applied to creative written works, musical compositions, digital artwork, and software code. Once a work has been created, there is a de facto copyright automatically applied. This means that you simply need to indicate that your work is copyrighted for it to be so. However, you must register your copyright with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) if you want the ability to sue for infringement should another party use your copyright without your express permission.

Trademarks intend to protect business properties, preventing others from damaging the reputation of a business. While a copyright can protect your creative work, a trademark protects your business image, preventing others from conducting business by leveraging your reputation. You must register a trademark through the USPTO; there is no way to automatically apply a trademark as you would a copyright because the USPTO must ensure that no confusingly similar trademarks already exist.

Patents are another type of intellectual property that you may legally protect. A patent applies to a new invention, a new process, or a scientific procedure. Owning a registered patent will prevent others from attempting to sell products or services based on your patented work. Similar to a trademark, registering a patent will require close review from the USPTO to ensure that no confusingly similar patents already exist.

Legal Services Your Metairie Intellectual Property Attorney Can Provide

The process of legally protecting any intellectual property in the New Orleans metro area or anywhere else can be more confusing and multifaceted than the average person is prepared to handle. Additionally, this is not a one-time issue; many people who register their intellectual properties will later need to engage in legal proceedings to protect them and to recover compensation for damages inflicted by parties that have used their properties without authorization.

The Bradley Law Firm provides a wide range of legal services to clients in Jefferson Parish, and our team has years of experience handling all types of intellectual property cases. Attorney Bradley is also familiar with some of the newest forms of intellectual property requiring legal protection, such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and the complex legal issues pertaining to this emerging market. You can rely on our firm for legal representation for:

• Intellectual property registration: An experienced Metairie intellectual property lawyer can help determine what types of legal protections are most suitable for your intellectual property and guide you through the process of obtaining the protections you need. The Bradley Law Firm has experience with copyright registration, trademark registration, and patent registration, and we know how to guide our clients through all the tedious interactions they may have with the USPTO.
• Data privacy: In the modern digital world, data privacy is crucial for every individual and every business. Some digital data can qualify for intellectual property protection. Our firm leverages technology and experience to help our clients, and we have the resources and skills you need on your side to ensure the most robust legal protection for all your sensitive data.
• Infringement representation: Intellectual property rights do not only protect your work, but also allow you to pursue compensation for damages when others violate your property rights. If you have experienced copyright infringement, trademark infringement, or any other type of infringement upon your intellectual property rights in Metairie, you can rely on our firm to guide you through the legal process of ensuring accountability and recovering the compensation you deserve from the infringing party.

When your intellectual property pertains to a business operation in the New Orleans metro area, you can also rely on The Bradley Law Firm to provide comprehensive legal guidance for various aspects of running your business.

When it comes to legally registering your intellectual property, the process can be incredibly confusing and tedious. It is also very expensive if you need to complete registration processes multiple times because of errors or omissions. By hiring a Metairie intellectual property attorney to help you, you avoid this risk and can streamline your interactions with the USPTO. Ultimately, a Metairie intellectual property lawyer can not only help register your intellectual property but do so much faster than you could have managed on your own.

From budgeting and risk mitigation to contract creation and resolving contract disputes with other parties, Attorney Bradley and his team are ready to provide the comprehensive legal services you need in Jefferson Parish.

Understanding Intellectual Property Infringement

Registering your intellectual property correctly is just one aspect of protecting your property. You must also be prepared to act if another party violates your intellectual property rights in any way. Intellectual property infringement occurs whenever another party uses or attempts to use your intellectual property without your permission and consent.

Many people who develop intellectual property find ways to commercialize their works. For example, if you write a novel and a publisher agrees to print your book, you will need to develop a contract with the publisher. This contract will stipulate how they may use your creative work, how they need to attribute you in all printed copies of the work, and a payment agreement between you and the publisher that outlines how much each party receives from every sale of the book.

Intellectual property infringement can happen in various ways. For example, if you establish a registered trademark for commercial products and another entity starts using your trademarked property for their own profit, you will have grounds for an infringement suit. You could not only demand that the other party immediately cease use of your product but also repayment of any lost profits you experienced as well as compensation for the profits the other party illegally obtained by using your protected intellectual property without your permission.

What to Expect From Your Metairie Intellectual Property Attorney

Intellectual property law can be confusing for the average person, and it’s natural for any creator to want the most robust legal protections possible for their work. Whether you need to register your intellectual property or resolve an infringement issue pertaining to your existing protected property, a Metairie intellectual property attorney is the ideal resource to consult.

The Bradley Law Firm has years of professional experience handling all types of intellectual property cases for our clients in the Jefferson Parish area and throughout the New Orleans metro area. We can help determine what types of intellectual property protections are available for your property and help you secure them. We can not only help you obtain these legal protections but also enforce them. If another party infringes on your intellectual property rights in any way, our team can carefully review the details of the situation and help you understand your most viable options for legal recourse.

If another party has infringed on your intellectual property rights in any way, you may be entitled to more compensation than you may initially expect. The Bradley Law Firm approaches all such cases we accept with the goal of helping our client recover as much as legally possible for their damages and securing the legal protections they need to prevent further misuse of their intellectual property in the future. Whatever your case entails, you can trust our team to provide responsive legal guidance through all the proceedings ahead of you. Contact The Bradley Law Firm today to schedule a consultation with our team and learn more about the legal services we provide.