Miami Intellectual Property Litigation Attorney
Every company has intellectual property in need of protection. For some, their IP consists of trade secrets and proprietary information they can keep secure through confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements and by actively enforcing their property rights. Others have products, services or a brand to protect through strategies such as trademarks and copyrights.
Registering a trademark or copyright is only the first step in protecting IP. Trademark owners and copyright holders must continue to use their marks and always be on the lookout for potential infringement. Our Miami intellectual property litigation attorney moves swiftly to stop or prevent infringement and recover compensation for any damage done. For help protecting your valuable intellectual property, call Alhalel Law.
Efficient and Effective IP Protection
Securing copyrights and trademarks is essential to protecting your IP portfolio, but just as important is actively monitoring the market to turn up any competitors unfairly using your copyrighted work or trading on your name at your expense. At the first sign of infringement, Alhalel Law will take action to stop and remedy the infringing action as appropriate. An experienced intellectual property lawyer will analyze the entirety of the situation to identify which approach is most likely to be effective and appropriate to the situation. Legal action can include:
- A phone call or e-mail to put the party on notice and request they end the infringement
- A formal cease and desist letter demanding they stop their infringing activity
- Going to court for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order to put an immediate stop to the infringement with an enforceable court order (preliminary injunctions and TROs require a showing of likelihood of success in litigation before the court will grant this relief)
- A lawsuit for money damages along with a permanent injunction. Damages can include actual business losses, the disgorgement of profits wrought by the infringement, or statutory damages in some cases. U.S. copyright law allows statutory damages as high as $30,000 regardless of whether the copyright holder suffered any actual damages. Statutory damages for willful infringement can be as much as $150,000.
Alhalel Law is committed to looking out for your interests and aggressively representing you in litigation as necessary to protect your valuable intellectual property.
Copyright Litigation
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects all kinds of original works of authorship, including computer programs, blog posts, movies, sound recordings, books, paintings, photographs, and much more. Copyrights can be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, but registration is not what creates the copyright; the act of creation does. A copyright exists the moment the work is “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.”
Nevertheless, registration provides invaluable benefits when it comes to copyright infringement claims by establishing an official date for the copyright. Alhalel Law represents copyright holders in copyright infringement claims representing plaintiffs enforcing their copyright against infringers as well as defendants accused of infringing on the works of others. Our office litigates claims involving the fair use doctrine, expired copyrights, licensing issues, the first sale doctrine, and other issues which often form the basis for complex copyright litigation.
Trademark Litigation
Florida and federal law prohibit using a registered trademark without the owner’s consent in any way that is likely to cause confusion, mistake or deception. Trademark owners have a host of remedies available to them under applicable law, including obtaining an injunction to stop or restrain infringement, recovering profits derived by the infringer from the infringing use, recovering actual damages suffered, and requiring the infringer to destroy all imitations or counterfeits in the infringer’s control.
To sue for disgorgement of profits, the trademark owner can use the defendant’s sales as a basis to determine what those profits should be. It is then up to the alleged infringer to prove any deductions or other costs that should be factored in. The judge in a trademark infringement case can change the award up or down if the court deems the amount arrived to be either unjust or inadequate.
In the case of recovering money damages, the trademark owner must prove actual damages, typically in the form of business losses. The judge is empowered to triple the amount, known as treble damages. The court might also require the trademark owner to prove that the infringer intended to confuse or deceive before awarding money damages or disgorgement of profits. Finally, the court can also order that the prevailing party’s attorney’s fees and costs be paid by the losing party.
Florida law also recognizes an action for trademark dilution when the owner of a famous mark in the state finds its value diluted (or likely to be diluted) by another’s use of a similar trademark or trade name. Florida law sets out eight different factors for the judge to analyze in determining whether to grant an injunction or monetary relief for trademark dilution. We can analyze these factors with you to determine whether you have a strong case for trademark dilution.
Protect What Matters Most – Call Alhalel Law for Intellectual Property Litigation in Miami
Your copyrights, trademarks, and your brand might be the most valuable aspects of your business, worthy of the highest protection. For help with intellectual property litigation in Miami, contact Alhalel Law at 305-563-9060 for practical advice and immediate assistance in formulating a strategy to meet your needs and goals.
