I prepared this material for a presentation this week at the Northwest Regional Conference for…
Covering Your Assets: Protecting Your Law Firm’s Intellectual Property
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Do potential clients seem to know of you and your firm before you even have that initial consultation? How often does it happen that the same potential clients have already thoroughly scoured your website before you get to meet with them or talk on the phone? As law firm names slowly drift away from being a series of obscure last names to words that have meaning or have distinctiveness to consumers, it has become more and more important to protect the name of a law firm as any other business would. Just think, what if that same potential client ended up on some other law firm’s website because the name of the other firm was confusingly similar to yours. Perhaps the potential client didn’t show up to the initial consultation because they were put off by the website or found bad reviews for them online, thinking it was you.
Law firms, much like any other business have more “secret sauce” than they let themselves believe. Even if it is just 2 or 3 attorneys or staff working together, if there is a written process or system you’ve honed in on over a year or so – you’ve got trade secret information! Customer/Client lists, marketing plans, engagement letters, templates, etc. these are things that make your business run smooth, would be immediately valuable to your competition and as long as they are protected within your firm, remain valuable trade secrets. Interestingly enough, if you have developed a business plan and process that is novel, you may even seek patent protection over that business method.
This webinar will focus on:
- Primer on IP: Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights and Trade Secrets.
- IP Spotting: Identifying and Prioritizing IP Opportunities in Your Firm.
- Taking your own Advice: Seek Counsel for Transactional IP Matters.
About out speaker.
J.D. Houvener is the founder of Bold IP. He is a Registered USPTO Patent Attorney who has a strong interest in helping entrepreneurs and businesses thrive. J.D. leverages his technical background in engineering and experience in the aerospace industry to provide businesses a unique perspective to their patent needs. J.D. works with clients that are serious about investing in their intellectual assets and provides counsel on how to capitalize their patent in the market.
His background in business and experience as an engineer and patent attorney empowers him to clearly communicate to a broad range of clients about their immediate and long-term needs for patenting in order to protect assets, leverage opportunities, and limit liabilities.
J.D.’s passion for business and technology started well before he began his legal career. J.D. worked as a design and systems engineer at Boeing for nearly 10 years. J.D. brings this experience earned at the cutting edge of technology to his clients by recognizing the complexities and subtleties of the problems being solved today.
J.D. is a member of the King County Bar Association and the Washington State Bar Association, where he is an active member in the Intellectual Property Law sections. Outside the office, J.D. offers pro-bono legal services to the Washington CASH organization in South Seattle, who helps those with little to no means with their business startup ideas.
From the small mill-town of Camas, Washington, J.D. hasn’t always lived in the big city. He enjoys spending time with his family and friends, traveling, running, and playing his favorite sports football and basketball.
Video of the webinar.
Cover you Assets for vimeo from Greg McLawsen on Vimeo.
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