Intellectual Property Law

L.C. Begin & Associates, PLLC specializes in protecting its clients' "intellectual property." Intellectual Property is a term used for ideas, innovations, advances, and creations which a business develops as an advantage over its competitors. We specialize in the more familiar techniques of protecting a client's business advantages, such as obtaining patents through the U.S. and foreign patent offices, licensing and enforcing patents, registering and enforcing trademarks, and registering and enforcing copyrights. We also specialize in the less common methods of protecting a client's business advantages, such as trade secret protection, restrictive covenants or covenants not to compete, various agreements such as non-disclosure, confidentiality, or joint venture agreements, and the broad spectrum of unfair competition law. The intellectual property attorneys at L.C. Begin & Associates work with each client to select the best and most cost-efficient method of protection for that client's business advantages.

Client Service

We recognize that our services are ancillary to the business of a client. All funds expended by a client to protect intellectual property must be justified as a business decision, and the type and timing of the protection selected should not interfere with the business of the client. With the ever-growing importance of technology in the marketplace, intellectual property protection in one form or another is nearly always required, but such decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis. We emphasize prompt response to ensure that protective measures are timely made in accordance with each client's unique business needs.

Client Conflicts

L.C. Begin & Associates is extremely careful to avoid conflicts of interest. Because technology is our business, and the lifeblood of our clients, we have pledged to represent only a single client in a specific technology. There is therefore no possibility of even unintentional use of knowledge of one client's confidential technology to benefit a different client. This pledge allows our firm to zealously prosecute patents, and vigorously enforce them. While many firms try to work around or "shield" conflicts, we prefer to avoid conflicts from the start of representation rather than risk harm to any client in the future. Larger firms often find they cannot fully represent their smaller corporate clients because of conflicts with larger clients. In summary, the scope of our representation of any client is carefully considered prior to beginning work on their behalf.

Management and Innovation

As our civilization moves into the 21st century and beyond the computer revolution into the next era, management and innovation have become the two most important ingredients in business. As L.C. Begin & Associates works with its clients to protect the clients' innovations, we are careful to work within each client's management programs. We have implemented many quality initiatives. The firm members attend several seminars each year to stay current on all aspects of the ever-changing practice of intellectual property law, including innovative strategies for client management of intellectual property portfolios.

Patents

The attorneys at L.C. Begin & Associates have combined their diverse technical backgrounds with even more diverse practical experience. Our attorneys are trained in a wide variety of engineering and scientific disciplines, and have prepared and prosecuted patent and trademark applications in areas including chemical engineering and advanced chemistry, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. Applications have been prepared for various areas of automotive engineering, for environmental equipment and systems, for refrigeration systems; for jet engines and components; for various electro-mechanical products and systems; for electrical connectors; for computer software and hardware; and for other inventions. Further, as the scope of patentable subject matter has expanded to include methods of doing business, our experienced patent attorneys have broadened their technical expertise to serve clients whose intellectual property encompasses business methods. In addition, because the firm is increasingly called upon to prepare patent applications in diverse technical fields, we maintain Of-Counsel relationships with practitioners having a wide variety of technical backgrounds.

Enforcement

Our attorneys are experienced in enforcing and licensing intellectual property for our clients, both domestically and abroad. Our experienced patent attorneys have been successfully involved with various phases of litigation including district court and the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in the Patent Office, and with other enforcement mechanisms. Again, there are a variety of alternatives available in enforcing the client's intellectual property rights, and the attorneys at L.C. Begin & Associates work carefully with their clients to determine the most appropriate and cost-effective manner of enforcement. Where settlement is reasonable as a business decision, our attorneys are able to call upon their experience in negotiating and executing settlement and licensing agreements.

Office Technology

The firm of L.C. Begin & Associates maintains subscriptions and access to a wide variety of technology-oriented databases, as well as other legal and intellectual property databases, allowing searches to be made both thoroughly and efficiently. The firm is also called upon regularly to conduct searches focusing on less traditional intellectual property matters, such as those relating to financial, business, and market information. In the ever-changing realm of information technology, L.C. Begin & Associates remains flexible. We continue to update and closely manage our in-house technology, as well as our access and use of internet-based systems. The keen oversight of our management staff allows the firm to pursue the most cost-effective plans for protecting the client's intellectual property, while maintaining the utmost level of quality service. We also maintain a computer-based docketing system to ensure our timely response to all matters.

We have extensive experience in preparing, filing, and prosecuting international, regional, and non-domestic patent applications under the European Patent Convention (EPC), the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO), and in individual countries under the Paris Convention, for example. Accordingly, we have successfully prosecuted many patent applications in Europe including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Sweden; in Asia including Japan, Korea, China, and Singapore; and in North and South America including Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, for example. To this end, our firm has long-standing associations with other law firms in various countries around the world. When necessary, these firms bring their comprehensive experience in any respective country or region thereby providing an effective interface between our firm and the patent offices in other countries. Our clients benefit with the most effective patent coverage possible.

We also have extensive experience in filing and prosecuting foreign trademark applications directly in non-domestic countries under the Paris Convention, or under the Madrid Protocol, for example.

In sum, we identify each client’s unique business needs, and then determine the best strategy for filing abroad. By maintaining an updated understanding of the available foreign filing strategies, we are able to present our clients with the options they need.