Intellectual Property Law

Posted by admin on April 11, 2009 under Property | Be the First to Comment

Copyright laws have been in the news frequently in recent years due to the use of music through the internet. Copyrights can be obtained for software, books, photographs, music, names and designs; they prevent anyone for using those original creations for profit or promotion without permission from the creator. Music copyrighted after 1978, for example, is protected during the life of the composer and continues for seventy years after his or her death. The copyright makes it illegal for anyone to sell the music without permission of the author or to copy it without compensation. File sharing of music continues to be an ongoing battle because of copyright laws protecting the authors of that music. Likewise, someone who buys a piece of gaming or business software and gives a copy of it to someone else has violated copyright laws.

Patents entitle an inventor to the exclusive rights of use of his or her invention of an original and useful product. Most patents are good for 14 years and sometimes an extension will be granted; in the case of a drug patent, the length of time required by the FDA for approval significantly affects the market life of the product. In such cases, an extension may be given to afford a full 14 years of exclusive use from the date of FDA approval. This helps to offset lost marketing time due to research and development. Other inventions can be protected by patents and damages recovered if the patent is violated, intentionally or otherwise. A patent doesn’t grant the right of exclusivity so much as it prevents others from using it without properly compensating the inventor.

Trademarks are another IP protection tool. A trademark protects a sign that is used to distinguish products in the marketplace. Half a block in a standard neighborhood will probably turn up tens of trademarks on everyday products such as cars, toys, tools and even manhole covers. Likewise, a Servicemark indicates the source of a service; carpet-cleaning vans, commercial trucks, the watermark on stationery and paper are all servicemarks.

Intellectual Property law is a rewarding and challenging career. By protecting the property of others, attorneys not only help their clients but also insure economic growth that benefits everyone.

Bankruptcy Law

Posted by admin on under Financial | Be the First to Comment

Business owners who can no longer afford to pay back their creditors will often look to file for bankruptcy protection as a way to settle their debt and avoid costly legal action. When you file for bankruptcy, your creditors may be prevented from collecting on debts until the process is completed.

How much creditors can collect depends on how your business is structured.

If your business is a sole proprietorship, your personal assets may be used to pay off business debts, depending on which form of bankruptcy is chosen. Corporations, limited liability companies, and some forms of partnerships protect personal assets from being used to pay off business debts. Not all bankruptcies are voluntary. Creditors can also petition for a business to declare bankruptcy.
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Contract Law

Posted by admin on under Contracts | Be the First to Comment

Attorneys are frequently involved in hammering out the terms of a contract, safeguarding their clients’ interests and assuring them as much advantage as possible when the contract is executed.  The attorneys for both parties look for loopholes that would allow the other party to end or violate the contract to the detriment of his or her client while providing every option possible if the client should want to terminate or change the contract.  Good legal counsel can save an individual or a corporation from being taken advantage of by the other party while also saving them many times the price of their fee.

However, contracts can be legally broken when the right circumstances are met.  Misrepresentation, which involve falsifying facts to induce a party to enter into a contract, is one criterion for voiding a contract, as is of fraud.  There are two types of fraud, fraud in factum and fraud in inducement.  The former determines if a party was actually aware that they were entering a contract.  If not, there was no meeting of minds and the contract is considered to have never existed.  The latter refers to leading a party to sign a contract through misrepresentation of facts that, were they aware of the truth, they would never consider such an agreement.
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