PATENT ATTORNEY PROTECTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE GREATER PITTSBURGH AREA AND NATIONWIDE
Lang Patent Law® was founded in 2007 by William F. Lang IV, a registered patent lawyer with 26 years of experience protecting the inventions, trademarks, and creative works of his clients. Lang Patent Law® has been trusted by a variety of Pittsburgh area and national clients to prosecute their patent applications as well as to protect their other intellectual property. I have obtained commercially meaningful patents for individual inventors, startup companies, small and medium-sized businesses, and large corporations.
Patent Applications
I have prepared and prosecuted hundreds of patent applications in electrical, mechanical, medical, industrial, and software technologies. With degrees in both electrical engineering and industrial engineering, I have the technical background to understand and appreciate the unique advantages of your invention. I will ensure that your patent application communicates these advantages to the US Patent and Trademark Office, and will advocate for the broadest protection to which you are entitled for your invention. My combination of client-focused counseling and high-quality advocacy has resulted in a high allowance rate for patent applications.
Trademarks
If you own a business, you have at least one trademark. That trademark must be carefully selected and cleared to ensure that another trademark is not infringed and should also be registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office. My experience as a trademark lawyer covers various trademark services including trademark clearance searches and opinions, applications for trademark registration, negotiating trademark licensing agreements, enforcing trademark rights, and defending against infringement accusations.
Copyrights
Copyright registration is an important, but often overlooked, aspect of intellectual property protection. Registering the copyright for your software, music, motion picture, or other original creative expression maximizes the remedies available for infringement of your rights. Many ideas include a variety of protectable elements, for which different forms of protection are appropriate. For example, innovative software can potentially be protected through both a patent application and copyright registration, and the different scope of protection as well as the different duration of protection makes both forms of protection advisable. Identifying and protecting these different elements enables you to commercialize your idea while protecting it from theft.
Trade secrets
A wide variety of valuable information can be protected from wrongful taking through trade secret protection. Some well-known companies have successfully protected trade secrets for over 100 years. Successfully maintaining the secrecy and value of trade secrets requires carefully planning the physical, electronic, and contractual protection of those trade secrets, as well as carefully limiting the extent and manner in which the information is made known to those who need to know the trade secrets.
Learn more about protecting trade secrets
Right of Publicity
If you make advertising decisions for a business, you need to be aware of when you can – and cannot – use names, images, and likenesses of celebrities in your advertising. If you are an entertainer, athlete, model, or have invested time and energy to create a commercial value in your name and likeness, you should understand how to capitalize on this value as well as to enforce your rights to it.
Learn more about the right of publicity
Intellectual Property Enforcement and Defense
Although my goal is to keep you out of court, sometimes enforcing your rights or defending against allegations of infringement becomes necessary. Regardless of whether you are the rights holder or you are accused of infringement, you can expect practical, client-focused advice as well as zealous advocacy.
TRUSTED BY MANY in the greater pittsburgh area and NATIONWIDE