Intellectual Property Law

Your creative effort can have tremendous value.  That creativity may come from technical development, scientific research, collaboration, or artistic talent.  Intellectual property law exists to protect your creative output so that you maintain control and profit from it.

Creation is only the beginning. There are numerous options and steps involved in protecting and profiting from your intellectual property. Zak Shusterman is qualified to prosecute patent and trademark applications as well as copyright registrations. Beyond registrations, services include advising clients on all stages of the intellectual property life cycle – from conception through protection and commercialization.

Your IP strategy is a critical part of your operations. The strategy comes into play both when deciding how to use your IP and making sure that you don’t infringe someone else’s IP.  Zak can help you craft your IP strategy using his experience in a broad range of industries and scenarios. He has worked on various IP transactions including co-development, licensing, and distribution arrangements.

It is also important not to overlook intellectual property rights affected by your business agreements. Zak can advise on any intellectual property considerations triggered in your commercial contracts, such as collaboration agreements, sales and service contracts, employment agreements, and consultant relationships.

Recent matters have included :

• • negotiating and drafting first round investment for a web start-up; developing customer agreements for a copyright monitoring start-up

• • publication agreements for online and printed works; use of academic materials in a theatrical production;

• • advising a producer on use of trademarks in film; handling a film sponsorship agreement for a board game developer

• • cross-licensing agreements; proprietary information / confidentiality / non-disclosure agreements

• • overcoming USPTO objections to trademark and patent applications