Trademarks: 

 

Trademark clearance and protection

Trademark risk assessment

Prosecution, maintenance and enforcement

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There are several steps involved with obtaining a trademark, and protecting your trademark will be an ongoing process – but don’t worry, G&A Legal will be there every step of the way! We prepare, file and prosecute trademark applications both in the United States and abroad. Once registered, we manage our clients’ trademark portfolio through our trademark watching, renewal and maintenance services.

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From the pre-registration research that ensures your trademark is unique, to making sure your trademark registration will be renewed on time several years down the road, the G&A Legal team utilizes their extensive knowledge of trademark regulations and standards to keep your trademark on track.

G&A Legal offers clients the following trademark services:

 

Ensuring that your trademark is protectable and distinct. G&A Legal will conduct and review searches of federal and state trademark applications and registrations and advise our clients on the potential risks involved with choosing a particular name, product configuration or advertising. Identical and confusingly similar marks may cause a road-block to registration of your mark. Our all-inclusive, in-depth searches prevent the problems before they start by making sure that you are applying for a trademark that is unique.

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Preparing and filing your state, federal and international trademark applications. G&A Legal’s extensive knowledge of state, federal and international trademark regulations and standards secures smooth-sailing for your trademark from application to registration. We work with United States Patent and Trademark Office or appropriate foreign agency directly on our client’s behalf.

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Careful protection and monitoring of your trademark. G&A Legal will monitor your trademarks and provide you with monthly reports analyzing similar marks filed with the United Stores Patent and Trademark Office. The monitoring program keeps a watchful eye on pending trademark applications and provides notice of potentially conflicting marks. If your protected trademark is being infringed upon, we will prepare cease and desist letters on your behalf.

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Providing continuous updates on the registration status of your trademark. Failure to maintain your trademark can result in the loss of your trademark or unnecessarily limiting your rights. G&A Legal is available to assist you with your trademark maintenance.

 

 

Copyrights:

 

copyright protection and enforcement

client counseling

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What is a copyright?

Copyrights protect “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other intellectual works. Copyrights can protect both published and unpublished works.

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Why are copyrights important?

Owners of copyrights have the exclusive right to:

• Reproduce the material in copies or phonorecord (“phonorecord” is a legal term for what we think of as sound recording, like a CD).

• Prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted material. For example, if you copyright an original song, another musician would have to receive permission in order to “sample” the track.

• Perform the work publicly or by digital audio transmission.

• Display the work publicly.

 

In order to protect your original work in the ways described above, registering your copyright is essential.

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Who can claim a copyright?

Copyrights are automatically secured upon creation of an original work described above. However, registering your copyright with the United States Copyright Office offers the highest level of protection for your original work.

 

What benefits are gained from registering a copyright?

A registered copyright is a matter of public record, Potential infringers cannot claim that they did not know the original material was under copyright protection since the information will be publicly available.

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If a copyright holder needs to file a lawsuit against an infringer, it is necessary that the subject material (it created in the U.S.) has a registered copyright with the United States Copyright Office. In other words, if you don’t register your copyrighted material, you can’t sue anyone who infringes on it.

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If the copyright is registered within five years of publication, the registration will provide sufficient evidence in Court of the copyright’s validity.

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If the copyright is registered before it’s infringed upon, the copyright owner can claim statutory damages in a lawsuit. Otherwise, a copyright owner can only be awarded actual damages and profit.

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Registration allows copyrighted material to be protected against the importation of foreign, infringing copies.

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Copyright Services

G&A Legal offers copyright services to companies and individuals who create original works of all kinds. We have assisted in the copyright counsel and registration for an array of clients who create all types of art, from traditional literary compositions to cutting-edge video games.

 

We can assist with copyright registration for:

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Literary works like novels, stories, poems, etc.

Dramatic works like scripts and plays

Music and other sound recordings

Motion pictures

Fine/visual art

Computer programs

Manuscripts

Videogames

Online content

Architectural works

Photography

Choreography

Audiovisual works

These categories are viewed broadly and many original works not specifically mentioned here fit into one (or more) of the categories and can be protected via a registered copyright.

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The G&A Legal team can help you determine copyright ability and devise a strategy to protect your original material through registering your copyright with the United State Copyright Office. G&A Legal has extensive knowledge of federal copyright regulations and standards means, ensuring that your application will be prepared correctly, and processed quickly and efficiently.

 

We work with United States Copyright Office directly on our client’s behalf.

 

Once the copyright has been registered, G&A Legal offers clients continuous monitoring services in which potential copyright infringers are tracked down and infringing activity is halted. Our team is also available to provide you with updates concerning your copyrights registration status, so clients can be sure that their copyright will never fall out of protection and be renewed on time.

 

 

Licensing:

 

deal negotiation and licensing

developing and implementing IP processes and best practices

dispute management

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Brand Protection Services

The G&A Legal team has developed an effective and proven program to assist intellectual property rights owners in protecting their branded products. Our team custom-creates unique and comprehensive protective strategies for each client, in which we can monitor, research, and respond to brand threats as they arise.

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Our team consists of brand protection experts with extensive investigative skills, using the latest technology, we’ve developed a system in which our team can carefully monitor your branded products and directly target infringers.

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G&A Legal has established relationships with web auction and online sales companies including eBay, Yahoo, Amazon, Etsy, Zazzle, Overstock.com, trademe.co.nz, and sell.com. We have also worked with domestic and international customs authorities U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, local and national police, and the FBI to defend our clients’ intellectual property from infringement.

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At G&A Legal, we customize our brand protection programs and services to meet the areas of protection that your unique products needs.

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Options may include:

• Comprehensive daily internet searches which comb every corner of the web for potential infringements.

• Counterfeit product identification and removal. This includes U.S. and international investigation from web auctions and other third-party websites.

• Piracy protection for copyrighted intellectual property, including CDs, DVDS, or web content.

• “Grey market” identification and removal. Grey markets refer to the sale of true, authentic goods through illegal means.

• False Association identification and removal. This targets goods or services which falsely associate themselves with your brand through use of your brand’s name or likeness.

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Brand Equity, Brand Threats, and Brand Protection

Brand equity refers to the value of a product or service’s market reputation. Brand equity is built up over time by the brand owner, who creates quality products and effectively markets them under the brand. When consumers see your product and correlate it with positive attributes, like superior quality, simply by the association with your brand, you’ve achieved a significant level of brand equity.

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Brand threat refers to the potential or actual diminishment of brand equity. While it’s true that a brand owner can diminish his or her own brand equity through failure to produce quality goods or services, the biggest threats to brand equity come from third parties. Third parties attempt to capitalize off the brand equity that someone else worked hard to build up. They may produce counterfeit products, pirate copyrighted material, or sell their own products that are falsely associated with your brand. Brand threats come from many different sources, in many different forms.

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Brand protection refers to actively seeking out and eliminating brand threats. Brand protection guards the value of your brand’s reputation.