Albuquerque Intellectual Property Attorneys

Protecting the Intellectual Property Rights of Individuals and Businesses in New Mexico

When you create something, you deserve to decide what is done with it. The law gives creators and owners the exclusive right to choose how they use their intellectual property and take enforcement actions when someone violates that right. To fully protect their rights and interests, however, creators and owners must take proactive steps to register their intellectual property.

If you regularly create original works or lead a business that owns intellectual property, Potts Law Firm can provide the sophisticated representation needed to protect your interests and enforce your rights. Our Albuquerque intellectual property lawyers have over 250 years of combined legal experience and regularly help clients register copyrights, trademarks, and patents. We also assist clients with enforcement actions, including litigation concerning the misappropriation of trade secrets. With over $1 billion recovered for our clients, our firm’s track history of securing favorable outcomes speaks for itself.

If you have questions about protecting your intellectual property, schedule a free initial consultation by calling (505) 305-1283 or contacting us online. We offer same-day appointments and provide services in English and Spanish.

Types of Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is an umbrella term that covers several types of “products of the mind,” meaning they are intangible elements. One thing all types of intellectual property have in common is their creation requires mental effort.

Intellectual property law treats each type of intellectual property differently, so it is important to understand the distinctions. Some intellectual property rights are conferred automatically upon the creation of a piece of intellectual property, but you will often need to register new creations to enjoy more comprehensive protections.

Our Albuquerque intellectual property attorneys can assist you with cases involving:

• Copyrights. Any tangible expression of an original artistic work, such as a painting, novel, film, architectural design, musical composition, or piece of computer software is copyrightable. Some copyright protections are triggered upon the creation of the tangible expression of a work. To access full copyright protections, you must register the work. Copyright protections typically expire 70 years after the death of its creator unless it was created as a work for hire, meaning an employee created it for an employer. Copyright protections for works for hire generally expire 95 years after the date of first publication.
• Trademarks. A slogan, phrase, word, logo, symbol, or any other “mark” that is used in commerce to distinguish a company, a product, or a service can be trademarked. Trademarks are granted on a “first to use” basis, meaning whoever uses it in commerce first gets the right to use it in that geographic area. To get full trademark protection, you must register a mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Trademarks do not expire so long as you take procedural steps to renew them and continue to use them in commerce.
• Patents. Any useful, novel, and non-obvious invention can potentially be patented. Machines, chemicals, processes, manufactured plants, and appearances of a specific product are all patentable. Patent protections are not automatic. To protect a patentable work, you must register with the USPTO before someone else registers a fundamentally similar or identical invention. The patent’s type will determine when it expires, but utility patents (which cover machines, chemicals, and processes) generally expire 20 years after the date the application was filed with the USPTO.
• Trade Secrets. A trade secret refers to information that is commercially valuable only because it is secret. Specifically, it must be only known to people within your organization and anyone you deliberately choose to share the information with. You can take legal action against people or organizations that misappropriate trade secrets if you take concerted action to protect the secrecy of the proprietary information. This is typically accomplished through the implementation of information security measures and restrictive covenants.

If your intellectual property rights are being violated, do not wait to get legal advice. Call (505) 305-1283 or contact us online to discuss your options today.