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Your Florissant Intellectual Property Attorney
If you are trying to protect an invention, a brand, or a creative work in Florissant, or you have been accused of infringing someone else’s, you probably want plain answers about deadlines, courts, and what each kind of protection covers. Federal statutes set most of them, so many answers can be checked. You will find the quick answers first, then the definitions, deadlines, registration, the courts, state law, and the basic elements of infringement claims, with the statute behind each point. An attorney who handles intellectual property matters can tell you which of these rules apply to your situation.
Your Key Federal and Missouri Rules in One Place
- 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).
- Even an unregistered mark can be protected against false designation of origin, through a civil action by anyone who believes they are likely to be damaged (15 U.S.C. 1125(a)(1)).
- Copyright covers expression, not ideas: original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium (17 U.S.C. 102(a)), but never an idea, procedure, process, system, or method of operation (17 U.S.C. 102(b)).
- Federal trade secret claims must be brought within 3 years after the misappropriation is discovered or should have been discovered with reasonable diligence (18 U.S.C. 1836(d)).
- A federal case from Florissant goes to the Eastern District of Missouri (28 U.S.C. 105), which sits in Saint Louis, Hannibal, and Cape Girardeau.
What Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets Protect
If you have made something new and useful, such as a device, a process, a manufactured article, or a composition, a patent is the tool the statute provides (35 U.S.C. 101). The grant runs from issuance to 20 years after the application was filed (35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)).
A trademark identifies and distinguishes goods and their source. The statute defines it as any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used by a person, or which a person has a bona fide intention to use in commerce and applies to register, to identify and distinguish that person’s goods from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source (15 U.S.C. 1127). A service mark does the same for 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)).
A trade secret is 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)). The statute covers financial, business, scientific, and technical information such as patterns, plans, formulas, designs, methods, processes, programs, and codes.
Why Timing Matters in Intellectual Property Disputes
For copyright infringement, the statute sets three years from when the claim accrued (17 U.S.C. 507(b)), and registration or a refusal of registration must come before suit on a United States work (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)).
Patents: there is no recovery for infringement committed more than six years before the filing of the complaint or counterclaim for infringement (35 U.S.C. 286). Waiting can therefore shrink the damages available even when the patent itself is still in force.
A Missouri state-law claim brings its own deadline and its own accrual rule. Both come from Missouri statutes and court decisions and should be reviewed by an attorney at the start of the matter.
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Registration Steps for Trademarks and Copyrights
A business planning a brand can file for federal registration based on actual use in commerce (15 U.S.C. 1051(a)(1)) or based on a bona fide intention to use it (15 U.S.C. 1051(b)(1)).
In addition to the federal register, a business in Missouri can file for a state trademark registration with the Missouri Secretary of State (see RSMo 417.005 to 417.066). The state filing is a separate process from the federal application.
Copyright exists without a filing, but a lawsuit about a United States work requires preregistration or registration first (17 U.S.C. 411(a)). The standard term for a work created on or after January 1, 1978 is the life of the author and 70 years after the author’s death (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.
Federal District Courts and Where They Sit
Patent, plant variety protection, and copyright claims belong exclusively in federal court: the district courts have original jurisdiction of any civil action arising under an Act of Congress relating to patents, plant variety protection, copyrights, and trademarks, and no state court may hear the patent, plant variety protection, and copyright claims (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)). Trademark claims may also be brought in state court.
By statute the state has two federal districts, known as the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri (28 U.S.C. 105). A federal case from Florissant is filed in the Eastern District of Missouri, where court is held at Saint Louis, Hannibal, and Cape Girardeau.
How Missouri Law Fits In
Owners of confidential information in Florissant can look to two sources: the Missouri Uniform Trade Secrets Act (RSMo 417.450 to 417.467) and the federal action in 18 U.S.C. 1836(b), which requires a connection to interstate or foreign commerce and has its own three-year deadline (18 U.S.C. 1836(d)).
Trademark protection has a state layer as well. A state trademark registration in Missouri is filed with the Missouri Secretary of State under RSMo 417.005 to 417.066, and it is separate from federal registration on the principal register (15 U.S.C. 1051).
A lawyer can compare the federal and state routes for your situation and explain the tradeoffs.
What Kinds of Intellectual Property Cases Come Up?
Using an Invention Without Permission
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.
The patent term is 20 years from the filing date (35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)), so a case about an expired patent is limited to past infringement.
Disputes Over Names, Logos, and Brands
Brand disputes often involve both a registered mark and one that has never been registered. Registered marks are protected against likely confusion under 15 U.S.C. 1114(1)(a), and 15 U.S.C. 1125(a)(1) covers false designation of origin more broadly.
A person who believes he or she is or is likely to be damaged can bring the civil action under 15 U.S.C. 1125(a)(1).
Copyright Claims
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).
Keeping dated copies of drafts and finished work helps show what was created and when.
Protecting Confidential Business Information
In a trade secret dispute, both sides examine the same two things: the steps the owner took to keep the information secret and the value that comes from its not being generally known or readily ascertainable (18 U.S.C. 1839(3)).
A continuing misappropriation is treated as a single claim for the federal deadline (18 U.S.C. 1836(d)).
Remedies in Intellectual Property Cases
Relief in a patent case can include damages of at least a reasonable royalty with interest and costs, and enhancement up to three times in the court’s discretion (35 U.S.C. 284), and an injunction on reasonable terms under the principles of equity (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)).
Under 17 U.S.C. 504, the choice is between actual damages with additional profits and statutory damages, which the court sets between $750 and $30,000 for any one work.
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.
Trade secrets: under the federal statute a court may grant an injunction to prevent actual or threatened misappropriation, award damages for actual loss and for unjust enrichment, or impose liability for a reasonable royalty, and if the misappropriation was willful and malicious, award exemplary damages of not more than 2 times the damages awarded, and attorney’s fees in stated circumstances (18 U.S.C. 1836(b)(3)).
Facing an infringement dispute in Florissant? Find out where your matter stands.
What an Attorney Will Want to See
An attorney will usually begin with dates: creation, first disclosure, first use in commerce, first publication, and discovery of the problem. Gathering them ahead of time saves a first meeting for the questions that matter.
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.
For copyright, gather the work, drafts with dates, and examples of copying. For a trade secret, gather what the information is, who could see it, and what confidentiality agreements or security measures applied.
A Note on Florissant and the Federal Court
The rules on this page are national or statewide, but the practical details are local. For a Florissant claim that means St. Louis County and the Eastern District of Missouri. Asking an attorney how long cases usually take there helps put the deadlines in context.
If the matter involves a crash, a fall, or another injury, our Florissant personal injury attorney page is the better fit. We connect people in Hazelwood, Ferguson, and Bridgeton with local attorneys as well. Every Missouri city we cover is listed on our Missouri intellectual property attorney page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can be patented?
A new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter may be patented, subject to the conditions and requirements of the patent statute (35 U.S.C. 101).
Can a trademark case be filed in state court?
Yes. The federal district courts have original jurisdiction over trademark claims, and trademark claims may also be brought in state court (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)).
Do I have to register a copyright before I sue?
For a United States work, yes. No civil action for infringement of the copyright may be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made (17 U.S.C. 411(a)), with a provision for cases where registration was refused.
How long do I have to bring a trade secret claim under federal law?
Three years after the misappropriation is discovered or, by the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have been discovered, and a continuing misappropriation counts as a single claim (18 U.S.C. 1836(d)).
Which court handles patent and copyright cases from Florissant?
Both belong exclusively in federal district court (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)), which for Florissant means the Eastern District of Missouri.
Can a trademark claim be brought under Missouri law?
Possibly. Missouri 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.
Do deadlines differ for different kinds of intellectual property?
Yes. Copyright and federal trade secret claims each have a three-year period, measured differently (17 U.S.C. 507(b); 18 U.S.C. 1836(d)), and patent damages are limited to six years before the complaint (35 U.S.C. 286).
What should I do if someone copies my work?
Note the dates, keep copies, and speak with an attorney early, since deadlines such as three years for copyright (17 U.S.C. 507(b)) and six years of look-back for patent damages (35 U.S.C. 286) run from the events.
Get Started With an Attorney in Florissant
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.
