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Your Aiea Intellectual Property Attorney
Finding out that someone is using your invention, your name, or your creative work without permission is unsettling. This page explains the federal and Hawaii rules that most often decide how an intellectual property matter from Aiea unfolds. Keep reading for the deadlines, the registration steps for trademarks and copyrights, the court structure for Honolulu County, the trade secret rules, and the elements behind the most common infringement claims, citing the statute each time. Deadlines in intellectual property cases run on fixed dates, so learning them early usually helps more than trying to catch up later.
Deadlines and Courts: The Short Version
- Patents belong in federal court. Federal district courts have original jurisdiction over patent claims (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)), and damages cannot reach back more than six years before the complaint (35 U.S.C. 286).
- Infringing a registered mark means using a reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation in a way likely to cause confusion (15 U.S.C. 1114(1)(a)).
- Three years to bring a copyright claim (17 U.S.C. 507(b)), and federal district courts have original jurisdiction over copyright claims (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)).
- The trade secret clock runs from discovery: three years from when the misappropriation was, or with reasonable diligence should have been, discovered (18 U.S.C. 1836(d)).
- Federal district: for Honolulu County, the District of Hawaii under 28 U.S.C. 91, holding court in Honolulu.
Four Kinds of Intellectual Property and What Each Covers
Inventions are the domain of patent law. The categories the statute names are processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter (35 U.S.C. 101), and the patent term ends 20 years from the filing date of the application (35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)).
If the issue is a business name, logo, or slogan, the question is trademark, which the Lanham Act defines as a word, name, symbol, or device that identifies and distinguishes goods and indicates their source (15 U.S.C. 1127), with service marks covering services.
Writing, music, images, film, software text, and similar creative work are the subject of copyright, which subsists in original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium (17 U.S.C. 102(a)). The statute is equally clear about what is excluded: ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, and discoveries (17 U.S.C. 102(b)).
Unlike a patent, a trade secret is kept private. The federal definition requires reasonable secrecy measures and independent economic value from not being generally known or readily ascertainable through proper means (18 U.S.C. 1839(3)).
Time Limits That Matter in Patent, Copyright, and Trade Secret Cases
The copyright deadline is three years after the claim accrued (17 U.S.C. 507(b)). An owner who has not registered should treat registration as part of the first steps, since no infringement action on a United States work can be instituted before it (17 U.S.C. 411(a)).
For a federal trade secret claim, the three years run from discovery of the misappropriation, or from when it should have been discovered by reasonable diligence, and a continuing misappropriation is treated as a single claim (18 U.S.C. 1836(d)).
Six years is the number to know in patent cases: infringement more than six years before the complaint cannot be recovered on (35 U.S.C. 286).
The federal deadlines above do not decide state-law claims. Hawaii sets its own limitation periods and accrual rules, and an attorney can tell you which apply to a trade secret or unfair competition claim brought under state law.
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Registering and Protecting Your Rights
For a trademark, the owner of a mark used in commerce may request registration on the principal register by paying the prescribed fee and filing an application and a verified statement with the Patent and Trademark Office (15 U.S.C. 1051(a)(1)). A person with a bona fide intention to use a mark in commerce may also apply (15 U.S.C. 1051(b)(1)).
State registration is a different filing from a federal application. In Hawaii it is made with the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division under HRS chapter 482, and an attorney can tell you whether a state filing, a federal filing, or both suit your plans.
Owners of creative work should know that registration is a precondition to suing on a United States work (17 U.S.C. 411(a)), and that the duration for most later works is the life of the author plus 70 years (17 U.S.C. 302(a)).
For an invention, the patent term of 20 years runs from the date the application was filed (35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)), so the timing of an application is worth discussing with a patent attorney.
Which Court Handles a Claim From Aiea
In practice, patent and copyright disputes are filed in federal district court (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)), federal trade secret claims start there as well (18 U.S.C. 1836(c)), and a trademark dispute can be filed in federal or state court.
Under 28 U.S.C. 91, Hawaii is one federal judicial district, and Honolulu County is part of it. The District of Hawaii holds court in Honolulu.
How Hawaii Law Fits In
The federal civil action for trade secrets (18 U.S.C. 1836(b)(1)) is filed in federal district court (18 U.S.C. 1836(c)), and a dispute from Aiea may also raise a claim under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (HRS chapter 482B). Which claims fit depends on the facts.
Federal trademark law under 15 U.S.C. 1114 and 1125 sits alongside Hawaii’s registration system, which runs through the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division under HRS chapter 482. The two operate separately.
A lawyer can compare the federal and state routes for your situation and explain the tradeoffs.
The Basics of Each Type of Claim
Patent Infringement
The basic patent infringement rule is in 35 U.S.C. 271(a): without authority, making, using, offering to sell, or selling a patented invention in the United States, or importing one, during the patent term.
Because the six-year damages limit in 35 U.S.C. 286 runs back from the complaint, delay can reduce what is recoverable.
Confusing Similarity and Brand Protection
Even without registration, the Lanham Act allows a civil action against anyone who uses in commerce a word, term, name, symbol, or device likely to cause confusion or deceive about affiliation, connection, or origin (15 U.S.C. 1125(a)(1)), brought by a person who believes he or she is or is likely to be damaged.
A state registration in Hawaii (HRS chapter 482) is different from federal registration on the principal register (15 U.S.C. 1051).
Disputes Over Writing, Images, Music, and Film
In a copyright case, the first questions are whether the work is protected at all under 17 U.S.C. 102(a) and whether what was copied was protected expression rather than an idea or method excluded by 17 U.S.C. 102(b).
The duration of a copyright for a work created on or after January 1, 1978 is generally the life of the author plus 70 years (17 U.S.C. 302(a)).
Protecting Confidential Business Information
A federal trade secret claim requires a trade secret related to a product or service used in, or intended for use in, interstate or foreign commerce (18 U.S.C. 1836(b)(1)), and the information must meet the definition of a trade secret in 18 U.S.C. 1839(3): reasonable secrecy measures and independent economic value.
The Uniform Trade Secrets Act (HRS chapter 482B) may provide state-law claims alongside the federal action, with their own deadlines.
Remedies in Intellectual Property Cases
Patent: a court that finds for the claimant shall award damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention, together with interest and costs, and the court may increase the damages up to three times the amount found or assessed (35 U.S.C. 284). Courts may also grant injunctions in accordance with the principles of equity to prevent the violation of a patent right (35 U.S.C. 283).
For trademark violations, the Lanham Act allows injunctions on terms the court considers reasonable (15 U.S.C. 1116(a)) and allows recovery, subject to equity, of the defendant’s profits, the plaintiff’s damages, and the costs of the action (15 U.S.C. 1117(a)).
A copyright owner can choose between actual damages plus the infringer’s profits attributable to the infringement, and statutory damages (17 U.S.C. 504(a), (b)), and statutory damages range from $750 to $30,000 per work as the court considers just (17 U.S.C. 504(c)(1)).
Registering early matters for remedies as well as for suing: statutory damages and attorney’s fees are barred for infringement that began before registration, except when a published work is registered within three months after first publication (17 U.S.C. 412).
Relief under 18 U.S.C. 1836(b)(3) includes an injunction, compensatory damages or a reasonable royalty, exemplary damages of up to 2 times for willful and malicious misappropriation, and reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party when the statute’s conditions are met.
Was your work copied or your brand used without permission? Talk to an attorney in Honolulu County.
What an Attorney Will Want to See
Bring a simple chronology. When was the work created, when was it first shared or sold, and when did you first notice the copying or use? Many of the deadlines on this page run from those events.
Useful patent records include sketches, notebooks, prototypes, and application numbers. Useful trademark records include the logo or name, packaging or signage showing use, and state or federal registration papers.
Copyright matters call for the original work, dated versions, registration papers, and side-by-side examples of the copying. Trade secret matters call for a description of the information, a list of who had access, and the confidentiality measures that existed.
Intellectual Property Matters in Aiea and Honolulu County
Aiea matters that reach federal court are heard in the District of Hawaii. Knowing which court you will be in matters because deadlines such as the three-year copyright and trade secret limits run regardless of the court.
You can browse every Hawaii city we cover in our Hawaii intellectual property attorney directory. Intellectual property matters in the surrounding area are covered on our pages for Pearl City, Waipahu, and Honolulu. For a personal injury rather than an intellectual property question, our Aiea personal injury page explains the Hawaii rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a patent last?
A patent lasts 20 years from the date the application was filed in the United States (35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)), so the filing date, not the issue date, sets the end of the term.
What is the difference between federal and Hawaii trademark registration?
Federal registration is on the principal register through the Patent and Trademark Office (15 U.S.C. 1051). Hawaii registration is a separate filing made with the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division under HRS chapter 482, and it does not replace the federal one.
What kinds of work does copyright cover?
Original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression (17 U.S.C. 102(a)), including literary, musical, dramatic, and pictorial works, motion pictures, sound recordings, and architectural works.
Does Hawaii have a trade secret statute?
Yes. It is the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (HRS chapter 482B). The federal Defend Trade Secrets Act provides a separate civil action (18 U.S.C. 1836), and an attorney can tell you which claims fit the facts.
Do I have to file in federal court?
For patents and copyrights, yes: the federal jurisdiction is exclusive (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)). Trademark claims may also be brought in state court, and a federal trade secret action is filed in federal district court (18 U.S.C. 1836(c)).
Can a trademark claim be brought under Hawaii law?
Possibly. Hawaii law may provide trademark claims of its own alongside the federal ones, and which apply depends on the mark and the facts. An attorney can explain the options.
What are the main deadlines in intellectual property cases?
Copyright: three years from accrual (17 U.S.C. 507(b)). Federal trade secrets: three years from discovery (18 U.S.C. 1836(d)). Patent damages: no recovery for infringement more than six years before the complaint (35 U.S.C. 286).
Can I protect a logo or slogan?
A word, name, symbol, or device used to identify and distinguish goods or services and indicate their source can be a trademark or service mark (15 U.S.C. 1127).
Get Started With an Attorney in Aiea
You do not have to work out the dates and rules alone. Fill out the form, and you will be connected with an attorney who can review your situation, the deadlines, and what a claim or filing may involve.
