General Practice Area Questions
What is a Trademark?
Answer: A trademark is a word, name, symbol, device, or other designation used, or intended to be used, to identify and distinguish one person’s goods from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of those goods, even if that source is unknown. Specifically, the Lanham Act defines a trademark as any designation that a person “us[e]s” or “inten[d]s to use” “to identify and distinguish his or her goods, including a unique product, from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods, even if that source is unknown.” 15 U.S.C. § 1127. Consistent with this statutory definition, the United States Supreme Court has explained that “[i]t is the source-distinguishing ability of a mark” that enables it to serve the fundamental purposes of trademark law. Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Prods. Co., 514 U.S. 159, 164 (1995). Although the Lanham Act distinguishes between a trademark, which identifies and distinguishes goods, and a service mark, which identifies and distinguishes services, see 15 U.S.C. §§ 1053, 1127, the term “trademark” is commonly used as a collective term for both trademarks and service marks unless the distinction is material.
What is a Copyright?
Answer: A copyright is the exclusive legal protection afforded to original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression. The Copyright Act provides that “[c]opyright protection subsists . . . in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.” 17 U.S.C. § 102(a). Consistent with this statutory definition, the United States Supreme Court has explained that “[t]he sine qua non of copyright is originality,” meaning that a protected work must be independently created by the author and possess at least a minimal degree of creativity. Feist Publ’ns, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., 499 U.S. 340, 345–46 (1991). Copyright protects an author’s original expression, rather than the underlying facts, ideas, procedures, systems, or methods embodied in the work. See 17 U.S.C. §§ 102(a), (b); Feist Publ’ns, 499 U.S. at 344–45.
What is a Patent?
Answer: A patent is a property right granted by the United States that gives an inventor the exclusive right, for a limited time, to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing an invention that satisfies the requirements for patentability. The Patent Act provides that “[w]hoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor,” subject to the conditions and requirements of the Act. 35 U.S.C. § 101. The rights conferred by a patent are defined by 35 U.S.C. § 154(a)(1), which grants the patentee “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States.” Consistent with these statutory provisions, the United States Supreme Court has explained that “[t]he patent laws promote this progress by offering inventors exclusive rights for a limited period as an incentive for their inventiveness and research efforts.” KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 427 (2007). Thus, a patent protects qualifying inventions by granting the inventor a time-limited right to exclude others in exchange for public disclosure of the invention.
What is Business Law?
Answer: Business law is the body of law that governs the formation, organization, operation, transactions, and dissolution of business entities, as well as the legal rights and obligations arising from commercial activities. It encompasses, among other areas, contracts, agency, business organizations, mergers and acquisitions, secured transactions, employment matters, intellectual property, and commercial litigation. Although there is no single statutory definition of “business law,” each state has enacted comprehensive statutes governing business entities and commercial transactions. See, e.g., N.C. Gen. Stat. chs. 25, 55, 55A, 57D; S.C. Code Ann. Titles 33 and 36; Tenn. Code Ann. Titles 47 and 48; Va. Code Ann. Titles 8.9A and 13.1. The United States Supreme Court has likewise recognized the importance of business law in facilitating economic activity, noting that “[t]he principle of freedom of contract is deeply rooted in our jurisprudence.” United States v. Winstar Corp., 518 U.S. 839, 872 (1996). Accordingly, business law provides the legal framework within which individuals and entities conduct commercial affairs, allocate risks, protect property rights, and resolve disputes.
Consultation Process:
How does your consultation work?
Answer: We charge a $200 consultation fee, which is paid at the time of booking to reserve your appointment. This fee covers the consultation itself and is not applied toward legal services performed after the meeting.
During the consultation, we evaluate your situation to determine whether you have a legal issue, identify the legal and practical considerations involved, and discuss the best strategy moving forward. Many prospective clients come to us believing they need a specific legal service, only to discover that the underlying issue requires a different approach.
How long does the consultation last?
Answer: On average, our consultations last around 30 minutes, but do not generally exceed an hour.
Who will I be Meeting With?
Answer: You will be meeting with a licensed attorney.
What is Needed?
Answer: Please bring any documents that you believe relate to your matter. We will review them to better understand your situation. A 30 minute consultation is not enough time to perform a complete legal review of an agreement or provide a formal legal opinion.
Many legal issues depend on facts that are not obvious from the document alone. Related agreements, communications, and other events may change the legal analysis. We often learn new facts after the consultation that change our understanding of the issue.
This happens more often than you might expect. A prospective client may tell us that a document relates to one issue. After being retained, we discover the document concerns something entirely different. In other cases, an important agreement or communication was not initially identified.
Our goal during the consultation is to identify the legal issues and offer the best path forward. If a detailed contract review is necessary, we can will want to be retained to work on it for after the consult. This approach helps ensure that any legal advice is based on the complete facts rather than incomplete information.
What are the meeting options for the consultation?
Answer: We provide various options to best suit your needs. We provide phone consultations, which are the most accommodating if you are on time crunch, aren’t close to one of our offices, busy on the road, or even just prefer to communicate over the phone. We also provide Google Meet as well. This option still provides some of the flexibility of a phone consult, however you would be able to meet our team over a video conference. Lastly, we also provide in-person meetings in our Spartanburg, SC, Rock Hill, SC, Asheville, NC and Jonesborough, TN offices. While we are more than happy to accommodate this preferred method of consultation, due to scheduling and court dates we may not always be able to get you in as soon as we would with a phone or google meet consultation.