Fill Out The Form To Be Connected Instantly to the Patent Infringement Attorney Needed In Your Case!
Ready to talk to someone about an intellectual property matter in Edgewood? The form above connects you directly, no need to read everything below first.
Your Edgewood Intellectual Property Attorney
A patent, a trademark, a copyright, and a trade secret are four different things with four different sets of rules. For an Edgewood business, artist, or inventor, the first step is knowing which one is actually involved, and this page walks through how to tell. Below you will find the key deadlines at a glance, what each type of protection covers, the steps that come before a lawsuit, which federal court hears a case from Harford County, and how Maryland law fits alongside federal law. These rules apply across Maryland, and an attorney familiar with the District of Maryland can explain what to expect there.
Deadlines and Courts: The Short Version
- Who can be liable for patent infringement? Anyone who, without authority, makes, uses, offers to sell, or sells a patented invention in the United States, or imports it (35 U.S.C. 271(a)).
- Trademark claims can go to federal or state court (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)), and Maryland’s own registration is a separate filing with the Maryland Secretary of State.
- 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)).
- Trade secrets get a federal civil action when the secret relates to a product or service used in, or intended for use in, interstate or foreign commerce (18 U.S.C. 1836(b)(1)), filed in federal district court (18 U.S.C. 1836(c)).
- Federal district: for Harford County, the District of Maryland under 28 U.S.C. 100, holding court in places including Baltimore, Cumberland, and Denton.
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets Compared
Patents cover new and useful processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter (35 U.S.C. 101). Protection lasts until 20 years after the date on which the application was filed in the United States (35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)), so the filing date matters more than the date the patent issues.
Names, logos, and slogans that tell customers who is behind a product are trademarks, defined in 15 U.S.C. 1127 as any word, name, symbol, or device used to identify and distinguish a person’s goods and to indicate their source. A service mark does the same job for services.
Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression (17 U.S.C. 102(a)), such as literary, musical, dramatic, and pictorial works, motion pictures, sound recordings, and architectural works. It never extends to an idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery (17 U.S.C. 102(b)).
Trade secret protection depends on two things: the owner took reasonable measures to keep the information secret, and the information has independent economic value because it is not generally known or readily ascertainable (18 U.S.C. 1839(3)). Formulas, methods, processes, programs, and codes can all qualify.
Time Limits That Matter in Patent, Copyright, and Trade Secret Cases
Under 17 U.S.C. 507(b), a civil copyright action must be commenced within three years after the claim accrued, and under 17 U.S.C. 411(a) the copyright claim for a United States work must be registered, or registration refused, before that action is instituted.
Discovery drives the trade secret clock. A civil action under 18 U.S.C. 1836(b) may not be commenced later than three years after the misappropriation is, or by reasonable diligence should be, discovered (18 U.S.C. 1836(d)).
For patent damages, the look-back is six years from the complaint (35 U.S.C. 286), which is separate from the 20-year patent term measured from the filing date (35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)).
Claims under Maryland law carry their own limitation periods and their own rules for when the clock starts, which are different questions from the federal deadlines in this section. Have the dates checked before relying on any of them.
Protecting your work in Edgewood? Get matched with an attorney now.
Steps That Strengthen a Claim Before It Is Needed
Federal trademark registration is available both to owners of a mark already used in commerce (15 U.S.C. 1051(a)(1)) and to a person with a bona fide intention, in good faith, to use a mark in commerce (15 U.S.C. 1051(b)(1)), through an application and a verified statement filed with the Patent and Trademark Office.
Federal registration is not the only route. Maryland’s trademark registration provisions, Md. Code, Business Regulation 1-401 and following sections, provide for a state filing with the Maryland Secretary of State that operates separately from the federal register.
A copyright owner cannot file an infringement action on a United States work before registration has been made (17 U.S.C. 411(a)), although a refusal of registration can also open the door to suit if the Register of Copyrights is notified and served with the complaint.
The filing date is what starts the patent clock (35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)), so the timing of an application matters. An attorney can advise whether the invention fits the categories in 35 U.S.C. 101.
Which Court Handles a Claim From Edgewood
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.
Maryland constitutes one federal judicial district, the District of Maryland (28 U.S.C. 100), so a federal case from Edgewood is filed there. The court holds court in places including Baltimore, Cumberland, and Denton.
What Maryland Law Can Add to Federal Protection
A misappropriated trade secret can support a federal claim under 18 U.S.C. 1836(b) when it is connected to interstate or foreign commerce, and it may also support a claim under the Maryland Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Md. Code, Com. Law 11-1201 to 11-1209). The state and federal claims are separate.
A state trademark registration in Maryland is a different filing from federal registration (15 U.S.C. 1051). It is made with the Maryland Secretary of State under Md. Code, Business Regulation 1-401 and following sections.
Whether to plead federal claims, state claims, or both turns on the facts, and an initial conversation with an attorney is the way to sort that out.
The Claims Behind Most Intellectual Property Disputes
Patent Infringement
Infringement occurs when someone, without authority, makes, uses, offers to sell, or sells any patented invention within the United States, or imports a patented invention into the United States, during the term of the patent (35 U.S.C. 271(a)).
Both patent owners and people accused of infringing should collect the patent number, product samples, and dates early.
Confusing Similarity and Brand Protection
Infringement of a registered mark means using in commerce a reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation of the mark in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of goods or services where the use is likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception (15 U.S.C. 1114(1)(a)).
Trademark claims may be filed in federal court or in state court (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)).
Copyright Claims
For writing, images, music, or film, copyright protects the original expression fixed in a tangible medium (17 U.S.C. 102(a)) but never the underlying idea (17 U.S.C. 102(b)).
A civil action must be commenced within three years after the claim accrued (17 U.S.C. 507(b)).
Trade Secret Claims
The federal claim in 18 U.S.C. 1836(b)(1) is limited to trade secrets connected to interstate or foreign commerce, and the information must satisfy 18 U.S.C. 1839(3) to count as a trade secret at all.
Documents showing who had access, and what confidentiality steps existed, are among the first things to preserve.
What a Court Can Award or Order
The patent statute provides for damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, not less than a reasonable royalty (35 U.S.C. 284), and for injunctions to prevent the violation of a patent right (35 U.S.C. 283).
The trademark remedies are set out in 15 U.S.C. 1116(a), which gives courts the power to grant injunctions, and 15 U.S.C. 1117(a), which lets a plaintiff recover defendant’s profits, damages, and costs once a violation is established.
Copyright damages can be measured by the owner’s actual damages and the infringer’s attributable profits (17 U.S.C. 504(b)), or by statutory damages between $750 and $30,000 per work as the court considers just (17 U.S.C. 504(c)(1)).
Delay in registering can cost more than time. Infringement that starts before the effective date of registration generally cannot support statutory damages or attorney’s fees, with the exception in 17 U.S.C. 412 for registration within three months after first publication.
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 Harford County.
What to Gather Before You Talk to an Attorney
Start with the basics: what you created or invented, who was involved, and when each step happened. Dates matter because the deadlines described above run from events such as accrual of a claim, discovery of a misappropriation, or the filing of an application.
If the issue is a patent, gather technical drawings, descriptions, and any application numbers. If it is a trademark, gather the mark, examples of use, and registration information.
Bring the original work and dated drafts for a copyright issue, and a description of the information, access records, and confidentiality measures for a trade secret issue.
A Note on Edgewood and the Federal Court
If you are protecting or defending intellectual property in Edgewood, a case that belongs in federal court is filed in the District of Maryland. An attorney who works in that court regularly can explain how its schedule and practices affect the deadlines above.
Hurt in an accident rather than dealing with a patent, trademark, or copyright issue? Read our Edgewood personal injury page. People in this part of the state also look to our pages for Aberdeen, Essex, and Parkville. The Maryland intellectual property overview covers every city we serve across the state.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as patent infringement?
Without authority, making, using, offering to sell, or selling a patented invention in the United States, or importing one into the United States, during the term of the patent (35 U.S.C. 271(a)).
What is the difference between federal and Maryland trademark registration?
Federal registration is on the principal register through the Patent and Trademark Office (15 U.S.C. 1051). Maryland registration is a separate filing made with the Maryland Secretary of State under Md. Code, Business Regulation 1-401 and following sections, and it does not replace the federal one.
How long does a copyright last?
For a work created on or after January 1, 1978, the life of the author and 70 years after the author’s death (17 U.S.C. 302(a)), with different rules for joint works, anonymous and pseudonymous works, and works made for hire.
What is a trade secret?
Information the owner has taken reasonable measures to keep secret and that derives independent economic value from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable through proper means by, another person (18 U.S.C. 1839(3)).
Where does the federal court for Edgewood hold court?
The District of Maryland holds court in places including Baltimore, Cumberland, and Denton (28 U.S.C. 100).
Can a trademark claim be brought under Maryland law?
Possibly. Maryland 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.
How long do I have to bring a copyright claim?
Three years after the claim accrued (17 U.S.C. 507(b)), and registration must come before suit on a United States work (17 U.S.C. 411(a)).
How do I keep information as a trade secret?
Take reasonable measures to keep it secret, because that is one of the two elements of the definition (18 U.S.C. 1839(3)), and consult an attorney about what measures are reasonable for your business.
Take the Next Step in Your Edgewood Intellectual Property Matter
If you are unsure where to start, the form above is the simplest first step. It connects you with an attorney who can explain your options in Edgewood and what the next few weeks may involve.
