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Your Albany Intellectual Property Attorney
If you are trying to protect an invention, a brand, or a creative work in Albany, 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. Keep reading for the deadlines, the registration steps for trademarks and copyrights, the court structure for Benton and Linn counties, 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.
Intellectual Property Rules at a Glance
- 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)).
- 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)).
- 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)).
- 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 (18 U.S.C. 1839(3)).
- The federal court for Albany is the District of Oregon, with court held at Coquille, Eugene or Springfield, Klamath Falls, Medford, Pendleton, and Portland (28 U.S.C. 117).
Four Kinds of Intellectual Property and What Each Covers
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.
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)).
Deadlines for Intellectual Property Claims
Three years is the copyright limit in 17 U.S.C. 507(b), measured from when the claim accrued. Registration comes first under 17 U.S.C. 411(a), so the clock and the registration process can overlap.
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)).
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)).
Do not assume that a state-law claim follows the federal deadlines. Oregon’s limitation periods and the point when a claim accrues are matters of Oregon statutes and case law, and an attorney can check the dates for your particular claim.
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Registering and Protecting Your Rights
The Lanham Act sets two routes to the principal register: use in commerce (15 U.S.C. 1051(a)(1)) and a bona fide intention to use (15 U.S.C. 1051(b)(1)). Each requires an application, a verified statement, and the prescribed fee.
In addition to the federal register, a business in Oregon can file for a state trademark registration with the Oregon Secretary of State (see ORS chapter 647). The state filing is a separate process from the federal application.
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.
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.
The Federal Court for Benton and Linn counties
Federal law fixes the forum for most intellectual property claims: exclusive federal jurisdiction over patents and copyrights (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)), original federal jurisdiction over Defend Trade Secrets Act claims (18 U.S.C. 1836(c)), and concurrent state jurisdiction over trademarks.
The federal court for Albany is the District of Oregon, which covers all of Oregon (28 U.S.C. 117) and holds court in Coquille, Eugene or Springfield, Klamath Falls, Medford, Pendleton, and Portland. Because Albany lies in more than one county, it is worth confirming which county the matter falls in.
State-Law Rules for Trademarks and Trade Secrets
Oregon has a trade secret statute of its own, the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (ORS 646.461 to 646.475). A trade secret dispute from Albany can involve that statute, and the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act adds a civil action in federal court for a trade secret related to a product or service used in interstate or foreign commerce (18 U.S.C. 1836(b)(1), (c)).
Trademark protection has a state layer as well. A state trademark registration in Oregon is filed with the Oregon Secretary of State under ORS chapter 647, and it is separate from federal registration on the principal register (15 U.S.C. 1051).
Which claims to bring, and in which court, is a strategy question for an attorney who can read the documents.
The Claims Behind Most Intellectual Property Disputes
Claims That a Patent Is Being Infringed
Whether conduct is infringement is measured against 35 U.S.C. 271(a), which reaches anyone who, without authority, makes, uses, offers to sell, or sells a patented invention in the United States or imports it during the patent’s term.
A patent case is filed in federal district court (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)).
Trademark and Unfair Competition Claims
For a registered mark, the core question is whether the defendant’s use of a reproduction, copy, counterfeit, or colorable imitation is likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception in connection with goods or services (15 U.S.C. 1114(1)(a)).
A state registration in Oregon (ORS chapter 647) is different from federal registration on the principal register (15 U.S.C. 1051).
Copying of Creative Work
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).
Federal district courts have original jurisdiction over copyright claims (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)).
Trade Secret Claims
The Defend Trade Secrets Act lets the owner of a misappropriated trade secret sue when the secret relates to a product or service in interstate or foreign commerce (18 U.S.C. 1836(b)(1)). Whether the information qualifies depends on the definition in 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)).
What a Successful Claim Can Recover
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).
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.
The copyright statute offers two routes to money relief: actual damages and profits (17 U.S.C. 504(b)) or statutory damages of not less than $750 or more than $30,000 for infringements of any one work (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).
In federal trade secret cases the court can enjoin actual or threatened misappropriation, award damages for loss and unjust enrichment or a reasonable royalty, and, for willful and malicious misappropriation, exemplary damages up to 2 times the damages awarded (18 U.S.C. 1836(b)(3)).
Facing an infringement dispute in Albany? Find out where your matter stands.
Preparing for a First Conversation
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.
Patent matters go faster with drawings, lab notes, patent or application numbers, and a list of who has seen the invention. Trademark matters go faster with the mark itself, samples of its use, and any registration documents.
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.
Albany: Courts, Counties, and Getting Started
A matter from Albany belongs to Benton and Linn counties and, when it is a federal case, to the District of Oregon. Local practice, such as how quickly cases are scheduled and how disputes are handled, shapes how the general rules on this page play out.
If your matter is an injury claim instead of an intellectual property dispute, see our Albany personal injury page. We connect people in Corvallis, Salem, and Dallas with local attorneys as well. Our Oregon intellectual property resource collects the state-level rules and links to each city page.
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)).
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)).
Can I copyright an idea?
No. Copyright never extends to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery (17 U.S.C. 102(b)). It protects the original expression of an idea.
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)).
How many federal districts does Oregon have?
Oregon has one federal judicial district: the District of Oregon (28 U.S.C. 117).
Can a trademark claim be brought under Oregon law?
Possibly. Oregon 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.
Why does timing matter in an intellectual property dispute?
Because federal statutes set fixed limits, such as three years for copyright (17 U.S.C. 507(b)) and for federal trade secret claims (18 U.S.C. 1836(d)), and six years of look-back for patent damages (35 U.S.C. 286), waiting can cost rights and money.
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.
Connect With an Albany Intellectual Property Attorney
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