Intellectual Property

Patents & Intellectual Property Law in Kansas City

Great ideas are extremely valuable in the world’s economy today. To capture their value, however, they must be quickly identified and protected as intellectual property, both in the United States and possibly elsewhere in the world. A patent, or intellectual-property, attorney can help inventors and creators throughout the world protect their intellectual property.
Patent Attorney Aaron Cook in Kansas City offers in-person service to the greater Kansas City area, including Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, Liberty, Raytown, and Independence, Missouri as well as other locations.

What Can Be Patented, Trademarked, or Copyrighted?

Many great new ideas can be protected as one type of intellectual property or another. Your intellectual property attorney can help you assess the invention against other inventions already existing in the field. The patent attorney in Kansas City can also assess which type of protection(s) is best for the invention–whether it be patents, copyrights, trademarks, or trade secrets.

Patentable inventions can be physical or abstract things, including mechanical objects, formulas, methods, designs, etc. There are different types of patents, including utility patents that cover how an invention works, and design patents that cover how an invention looks.

If a new idea is a brand or something similar, then a trademark can protect the name, logo, and slogan as intellectual property. In the case of creative work like a piece of writing, music, art, or software code, a copyright is probably the best way to protect it.

Business or trade secrets may require a different approach to keep them from competitors. Patent attorney, Aaron Cook often advises clients to use special contracts and covenants with business partners and employees in order to protect trade secrets and to maintain their value.