Whether you’re a startup venture or a seasoned company, carefully maintaining your brand, keeping patents safe, and otherwise protecting intellectual property (IP) is essential. Often, companies think that investing in IP safety is just not as important as other business operations, but IP issues can quickly escalate and put your business in danger. No matter which of the types of intellectual property disputes you may be facing, the next step is to hire a business lawyer with the right experience to help you fight for your interests.
At Weisblatt Law Firm, our skilled team of intellectual property lawyers has decades of experience working with copyright, patent, and trademark infringement cases in Texas. We can bring the guidance you need to secure IP rights. If the dispute escalates, we also offer litigation services.
Don’t wait to protect your business’s future. Contact Weisblatt Law Firm for a consultation by calling us at (713) 666-1981 today.
Types of Intellectual Property Disputes
Our intellectual property lawyers can help with a number of IP dispute types, from copyright to trademark infringement.
Copyright Infringement
Copyright infringement occurs if someone uses your creative work, like words or images, without getting your permission. You don’t have to register your creations with the U.S. Copyright Office — the moment you create something, copyright laws apply to it. So if someone has used your property without your consent, you can hold them responsible for it.
To do this, you will need a copyright lawyer who can demonstrate that you created the property IP in question.
Patent Infringement
If you have patented IP and someone is selling, making, using, or offering to sell something that is identical to it, they may have committed patent infringement. This is often difficult to prove because it involves showing that you have a valid patent. The defendant will usually challenge its validity, and you need to have a lawyer with experience to put up an aggressive fight.
Trademark Infringement
If you have a logo, symbol, or phrase that is connected with your business, it’s a trademark. Anyone who uses that trademark to sell similar services or products can confuse consumers, and you have a right to file a claim against them.
Financial Impact of IP Disputes
How These Disputes Can Hurt Your Business
Any kind of IP dispute can impact your business’s finances. If someone is selling services or products identical to yours or using your same logo, they could be making revenue that should be yours. Essentially, they’re stealing from your business. Quality issues can also arise with copycat products that are made cheaply, giving your brand a negative reputation. That could cost you future sales.
To defend yourself against trademark, copyright, or patent infringement, you’ll need to hire legal representation, which is an added financial loss that can significantly affect your company. An IP infringement can also mean having to rebrand and mitigate the damage that the defendant caused. All of this can drain the resources that you would have otherwise put toward new products or services.
Our lawyers have helped businesses of many sizes protect their IP rights, from startups to international corporations.
Operational Impact of IP Disputes
IP disputes in Texas are very complex because they require gathering significant amounts of evidence and spending ample time negotiating with the other parties. It can bring your business’s operations to a grinding halt. For example, you may not be able to keep selling your products or services while using your logo until the issue is resolved, and you may not even be able to create your products if the dispute involves a patent.
Proactive Strategies to Protect Your IP
To protect your IP, there are some vital strategies that you can consider.
Register and Renew All IP Rights
Although a lot of what you create is immediately protected without needing to register it with the government, you can secure additional protection by doing so. Make sure you regularly renew patents, trademarks, and copyrights so that there are no lapses in protection.
Conduct Regular IP Audits
IP audits help you identify whether you have any intellectual properties that need protection. You can set up a team to do this for you regularly.
Educate Employees
Let your employees know just how important IP is for the business and what infringement means. It’s helpful to have training sessions and create clear policies surrounding IP protection and usage. Ensure that employees know their role in protecting the business’s IP.
Work With IP Lawyers
You need to have a lawyer ready to step in if there are any threats to your IP. Lawyers can help prevent issues from arising by offering advice on strengthening your IP protection strategies.
Monitor and Enforce IP Rights
It’s also important to monitor your industry. If you notice infringements of any type, act quickly. You can rely on cease-and-desist letters or take further actions, including litigation.
Consulting an IP Business Lawyer
If you have a business, you need to consult with an IP business lawyer for guidance on how to keep your IP safe. Our lawyers at Weisblatt Law Firm can assist you during the registration process so that you can focus on your business and not on filing trademark or patent forms. We can also handle any disputes that do arise.
If there are any infringements, we can send cease-and-desist letters or intensify our actions by filing lawsuits. Because of the complexities of IP law, it’s best not to attempt any of these steps without experienced representation. There’s just too much at stake.
Protect Your Intellectual Property With Help From Weisblatt Law Firm
Offering Experience and Dedication
Your IP is a vital part of your Texas business. It has taken time and effort to build your brand and client base — you don’t need someone to benefit from revenue that should be yours. With the right team of IP business attorneys, you can receive the protection you deserve.
At Weisblatt Law Firm, we can fiercely defend your intellectual property so that your business can keep growing. At every step, we can safeguard your rights and advocate for your best interests.
Trust Weisblatt Law Firm to protect your company’s IP. Schedule a free phone consultation by calling our team at (713) 666-1981.
Attorney Andrew Weisblatt
Mr. Weisblatt has practiced continuously since becoming licensed in 1992 and has represented businesses ranging in size from one person start-up ventures to multi-national corporations employing hundreds of people in multiple countries. From 2005 through 2009 Mr. Weisblatt was in-house counsel and chief operating officer of a multi-national corporation in the steel products industry. That in-house position provided valuable insight into how businesses work and what they actually need from their lawyers – both in-house and outside counsel. Attorney Bio
