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Home/Practice Areas/Business & Civil Litigation/Intellectual property
Most small businesses own more than they have protected, and protect less than they assume.
Business & Civil Litigation
Names, logos and slogans that identify the source of goods or services. Rights arise from use and are strengthened enormously by registration.
Read more →Original creative work fixed in a tangible form — text, photographs, designs, software, video. Protection is automatic; enforcement effectively requires registration.
Read more →Customer lists, formulas, pricing and methods that have value because they are not known — protected under Texas and federal law if you actually keep them secret.
Inventions and processes, handled through registered patent counsel. We work alongside patent attorneys on the enforcement and contract side.
USPTO trademark applications and the responses to office actions that follow them. Copyright registrations for the work a business actually produces — artwork and illustrations, books, scripts and written content, music and sound recordings, photography, video and social media content. And the renewal and maintenance filings that keep a registration in force, which are the ones businesses forget until a registration has already lapsed.
Not every infringement warrants a lawsuit. Often the effective sequence is a demand letter, a platform takedown, a domain complaint, or a coexistence or licensing agreement that turns a conflict into a relationship. Where a competitor is genuinely trading on your name or has taken your material outright, litigation and injunctive relief are available and we pursue them.
The most common Texas IP dispute is not a copycat competitor — it is an employee leaving with the customer list. Texas and federal trade secret statutes provide real remedies including injunctions, but they favour businesses that took reasonable steps to protect the information: confidentiality agreements, access controls, exit procedures, and enforceable restrictive covenants written to Texas standards.
Usually a trademark for the name, copyright for the material you produce, and trade secret protection for what gives you an edge.
Only with a written assignment. Paying an invoice does not transfer copyright from an independent contractor.
Information with value because it is not known — customer lists, pricing, methods — protected if you actually take steps to keep it secret.
That is the most common IP dispute we see, and the remedies are real. They favour businesses that used confidentiality agreements and access controls.
Whether it is infringement depends on registration, geography, the goods or services and the likelihood of confusion. A search and a demand letter are the usual first steps.
Do not ignore it and do not simply delete the image. There are real defences, and the amount demanded is frequently negotiable.
No. Entity registration only means no other Texas entity has that exact name on file. It confers no trademark rights.
Patents are prosecuted by registered patent counsel. We work alongside them on the contract and enforcement side.
No. Demand letters, platform takedowns, domain complaints and licensing agreements resolve most matters at a fraction of the cost.
Rights can be weakened by failing to enforce them, which is why a monitoring habit matters more than an occasional burst of activity.
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