BHANDLAW understands the legal and practical issues associated with your valuable trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.   As markets have expanded both here in the United States and abroad to include more media platforms and channels, our law firm’s practice has guided our business and creative clients through the legalities of these emerging areas.

Trademark Law in Phoenix

Recognizing and protecting your brand is one of the most important things you can do to defend your business from competitors and third-parties looking to confuse or divert your existing and potential customers for their own gain.  Years of goodwill which your brand has established with the consuming public may be at risk to bad actors who may be trying to pass off their inferior goods or services as yours, or perhaps “diluting” your brand name entirely by the use of your trademark with unassociated and unauthorized goods or services.

As the core of our IP practice, our Phoenix Arizona law firm has worked with business owners to understand, classify, describe, and eventually register their valuable trademarks and service marks in order to protect their unique commercial identity and hard-earned reputation.

BHANDLAW’s trademark practice assists entrepreneurs, founder teams, and companies of all types and sizes identify, select, register, maintain, and defend their valuable trademark rights, including:

• Initial clearance searches and providing opinions of existing, proposed, or potentially conflicting trade and service marks
• Prosecuting applications to register your trademark or service mark before the  United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• Evaluating and formally responding to USPTO Office Actions on your behalf
• Advising on and developing best practices on the proper use of your trademark, including preparation of display and usage guidelines for your business and licensing partners so as to deter and prevent genericide
• Initial and periodic renewal of your trademark registration
• Trademark licensing arrangements
• Trademark assignment or transfer pursuant to partnership, sale or acquisition of the company’s assets, or similar transaction
• Enforcement and defense of your trademark, including representation in opposition and cancellation proceedings, preparation of cease and desist letters, and helping you engage trademark monitoring services
• Internet domain transfer agreements
• Representation in Uniform Domain-name dispute Resolution Process (UDRP) arbitration complaints and responses

Copyright Law in Phoenix

Whether you have the next great American novel, an original song gaining traction on YouTube, or maybe consists of less-artistic (though no less protectable) expression such as a research report, software code, or technical drawings, our Phoenix Arizona-based copyright law practice has advised authors, artists, filmmakers, designers, entrepreneurs, and businesses of nearly all types on the legal status of expressive works subject to copyright, the legal options for protecting such works, as well as representation of copyright authors and owners in commercialization of their copyright through licensing arrangements, sale, or transfer of some or all of their copyrights to third parties.

In addition to Federal registration and renewal of your copyright, BHANDLAW can represent you in the review, negotiation, or drafting of the following:

• Copyright licensing and assignment
• Author-literary agent agreements
• Book/publication agreements
• Actor and talent agreements
• Production, producer, and location agreements
• On-camera and depiction releases
• Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) for authors and screenwriters
• Talent option and purchase agreements
• Collaborator/songwriter agreements
• Booking contracts and agreements
• Artist/recording agreements
• Broadcast and performance agreements
• Royalty sharing agreements
• Communications Decency Act complaints and responses Section 203
• Preparation of DMCA “takedown” notices to online service providers on your behalf
• DMCA Designated Agent services

Trade Secret & Unfair Competition Law in Phoenix

A trade secret is information used by your business that gives it a competitive economic advantage over your competitors (who may not have that information or know how use it).  Manufacturing processes, chemical compound formulas, patterns for machines or devices, and even customer lists are just a few examples of what might constitute a trade secret.  Some of the most valuable and well-known properties in the World (for example, the formula for Coca-Cola) actually continue to be protectable as trade secrets.

However, unlike your company’s trademarks, patents, or copyrights, its valuable trade secrets are not capable of registration with the U.S. government.  Instead, it is up to you as the owner of the trade secret to take measures to make sure  trade secret protection attaches under existing law.

Trade secret protection does not exist for any defined period of time.  As a result, if your trade secret is appropriately guarded and maintained, trade secrets rights can exist indefinitely and certainly longer than that afforded under Federal law for a patent or copyright, thus making trade secret protection in many ways superior to that of patent and copyright.

Our Phoenix intellectual property law firm understands not only Arizona trade secret law, but also its law of unfair competition, as well as Federal unfair competition remedies under The Lanham Act.  Among some of the trade secret services our firm can provide to your business are:

• Auditing and advising your company on best practices under the Arizona Uniform Trade Secrets Act
• Review and/or preparation of your business’ confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with your partners, vendors, and key employees (“NDAs”)
• Review and/or drafting of non-competition agreements with your existing or proposed partners, vendors, and related third-parties
• Anti-solicitation and non-tampering agreements
• Confidential information agreements with company founders and key personnel
• Proprietary information or invention assignments agreements with company founders and key employees
• Advising on the preparation of your company’s employee handbooks and manuals to include information protected and  while-employed and post-employment obligations
• Counseling your company on licensing or transfer of its trade secret assets

Ben Bhandhusavee is the Founder of BHANDLAW, PLLC, a technology and e-commerce law practice advising founders and management teams on select e-commerce and intellectual property matters, as well as corporate and technology transactions. The firm serves corporate and individual clients throughout Arizona, the United States, and internationally. For more information, feel free to reach out using the contact form on the right or call us at (602) 222-5542 to schedule a meeting. You can also connect with Ben on LinkedIn or Avvo.