Intellectual Property Law

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Intellectual Property Law

SBL, practices in all areas of intellectual property law, including patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright law. Each attorney has years of engineering/science and legal experience, work is not distributed to associates or less experienced attorneys, and concentrates their practice in working with individuals, start-ups and small to medium size corporations to develop intellectual property programs that ensure their innovative ideas are properly and affordably protected. Each program is tailored to the specific needs of the individual client and includes understanding the goals of the individual/business, the client’s commercialization plan, current IP and market strength of competitors, cost-benefit analysis and resources available.

Once a proper program has been developed, specific strategies for the protection, acquisition, auditing, licensing and enforcement of intellectual property rights with emphasis on patent, trademark, copyright, unfair competition, and trade secret matters can be implemented.

SBL attorneys also work with clients to address issues that arise when a client develops, licenses, acquires, or sells technology and products. Specifically, our attorneys advise clients and prepare agreements regarding intellectual property, licensing, technology transfer, consulting services, joint ventures, and strategic alliances. Our attorneys work with in-house counsel and business units to structure, draft, and negotiate agreements to meet the client’s needs and goals including agreements that involve the development, commercialization and exploitation of technology.

Further, SBL has established working relationships with consultants and business organizations in various industries (including engineering, manufacturing, software development, marketing, advertising, sales, web-site development, music/video, and medical) that can help an individual/business to implement their business and commercialization plan.

What everybody misses here is that we are doing the same thing my father did. He licensed and litigated and protected his property, and we have to follow the same tradition, because the way the law reads, if you don’t protect it, you lose it. – Dexter S. King

About Lawyer

Mark Smith - Member/Partner

Mr. Smith is the founding member of SBL and started the practice in 1995. He brings to SBL his diverse intellectual property, business law, engineering, aerospace and private practice experience. He concentrates his practice in the areas of high technology law including the acquisition, auditing, licensing and enforcement of intellectual property rights, with particular emphasis on patent, trademark, and trade secret matters; business strategies; and the formation of high technology ventures. Mr. Smith has experience in civil litigation in both state and federal courts, including patent, trade secret and unfair competition litigation as well as federal litigation involving “cutting-edge” issues involving trademark use and the Internet . He also has experience in business litigation, mergers and acquisitions, including corporate acquisitions, corporate compliance matters, and general corporate law matters.