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Trademarks, Brand Architecture & Trade Dress
Clearance opinions, USPTO Section 1(a) and Section 1(b) trademark prosecution, Office Action responses, TTAB opposition defense, and brand licensing.
Intellectual Property Counsel for Trademarks, Copyrights & Patents.
Comprehensive federal and Michigan intellectual property representation covering USPTO trademark registration, copyright and software protection, patent strategy, commercial licensing, and courtroom enforcement.
Trademarks, Copyrights, Patents & Trade Secrets ยท Lead Counsel: Reese Serra (P74482), Matt Wozniak, JD / CPA, Brian D. Harrison
Practice FocusIntellectual Property Law
Lead AttorneysReese Serra (P74482) & Matt Wozniak, JD / CPA & Brian D. Harrison
Controlling Law15 U.S.C. 1051 ยท 17 U.S.C. 101 ยท 35 U.S.C. 101
Headquarters125 E. 3rd St, Suite 100, Rochester, MI
How do trademarks, copyrights, and patents work together to protect a business?
Federal trademarks under the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.) protect brand identifiers, company names, logos, taglines, and distinctive trade dress that signify commercial source and goodwill. Federal copyrights (17 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) protect original creative expression, marketing photography, architectural plans, and proprietary software source code from unauthorized copying and distribution.
Federal patents under Title 35 (35 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) grant time-limited exclusive rights over functional mechanical, electrical, software-implemented, or chemical inventions and ornamental product designs. Together with statutory trade secret protections under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and Michigan UTSA, coordinated IP counsel turns operational innovation into transferable enterprise equity.
Core legal counsel for intellectual property law.
Drafting precision, JD/CPA tax coordination, corporate entity alignment, and courtroom enforcement from our downtown Rochester team.
Explore Trademarks & Brand Protection →
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Copyrights, Software Code & Creative Media
U.S. Copyright Office registrations preserving statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 412, SaaS source-code chain of title, work-made-for-hire agreements, and DMCA enforcement.
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Patents, Inventions & Technology Transfer
Dedicated counsel backed by significant experience with provisional, utility, and design patents, Freedom-to-Operate opinions, USPTO prosecution, and licensing.
Trademarks, Service Marks & Trade Dress (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.)
A company's name, product line identifiers, and logo systems often carry more transferable value than physical inventory or leased space. Clearing a mark only against a state corporate database leaves a business exposed to senior federal registrants and common-law users across the country.
Our team structures brand protection from pre-launch knockout and comprehensive clearance searches through Principal and Supplemental Register prosecution before the USPTO, managing both Section 1(a) in-use filings and Section 1(b) intent-to-use applications, substantive Office Actions, Madrid Protocol international filings, and ongoing Section 8, 9, and 15 incontestability maintenance.
- Comprehensive trademark clearance reviews covering federal USPTO records, state registries, domain portfolios, and common-law commercial usage.
- Office Action advocacy responding to Section 2(d) likelihood-of-confusion and Section 2(e) descriptiveness refusals with technical legal argument and marketplace evidence.
- Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) opposition, cancellation, coexistence agreements, and watch-service enforcement.
Copyrights, Software Architecture & Media Assets (17 U.S.C. 101 et seq.)
Although copyright attaches automatically when an original work is fixed in tangible or digital form, timely registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is essential under 17 U.S.C. 411 and 412 before filing federal suit or recovering statutory damages and attorney's fees.
We work closely with technology startups, SaaS platforms, creative agencies, production houses, and manufacturers to establish airtight chain of title across employees, independent contractors, and third-party vendors, eliminating ownership gaps that routinely derail venture financings and M&A closings.
- Prompt U.S. Copyright Office filings for software codebases, websites, training manuals, technical drawings, catalogs, film, music, and architectural works.
- Present-assignment Confidential Information and Inventions Agreements (CIIA) and contractor work-made-for-hire remediation before diligence.
- Commercial software licensing, end-user agreements, joint creative production agreements, and DMCA takedown or infringement resolution.
Patents, Industrial Inventions & Trade Secrets (35 U.S.C. 101 & 18 U.S.C. 1836)
For manufacturing, automotive, medical device, hardware, and proprietary software businesses, protecting functional technical advantages requires coordinating public patent disclosures carefully with confidential trade secrets.
Backed by significant patent experience, our firm evaluates which technical innovations merit utility or design patent filings with the USPTO and which manufacturing processes, pricing algorithms, formulas, or customer systems are stronger when maintained as restricted trade secrets under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act and the Michigan Uniform Trade Secrets Act (MCL 445.1901 et seq.).
- Utility patent, design patent, and Freedom-to-Operate coordination aligned with product roadmaps and commercial launch windows.
- Multi-layered NDA architecture, employee onboarding and offboarding IP protocols, and access controls required to preserve statutory trade secret status.
- Buy-side and sell-side IP due diligence auditing patent title, security interests, open-source license exposure, and royalty streams in corporate transactions.
Selected Matters & Capabilities
Brand Clearance & USPTO Trademark Filings
Clearance opinions, Nice classification strategy, Specimens of Use, Statement of Use extensions, and nationwide federal trademark portfolio management.
Copyright Registration & Software Chain of Title
U.S. Copyright Office filings, source-code deposit redaction, contractor present-assignment agreements, and clean-room IP audits.
Utility & Design Patent Portfolio Strategy
Provisional priority filings, non-provisional utility claims, industrial design protection, and international PCT planning handled alongside experienced patent counsel.
Commercial Licensing, SaaS & Joint Development
Negotiating exclusive/non-exclusive IP licenses, franchise brand standards, OEM supply IP terms, and Joint Development Agreements.
Trade Secret Protection & NDA Architecture
Enforceable confidentiality covenants, proprietary data handling governance, and DTSA/MUTSA protection for non-public industrial know-how.
TTAB & Federal IP Infringement Litigation
Cease-and-desist campaigns, preliminary injunctions, federal district court trial representation, and negotiated coexistence or royalty settlements.
Controlling Federal & Michigan IP statutes & authorities.
Every trademark application, copyright assignment, patent strategy, and trade secret protocol is engineered around controlling federal titles and Michigan statutory standards.
IP Statutory Authority 01
The Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.): Governing federal trademark registration, Principal vs. Supplemental Register rights, likelihood of confusion, dilution, and civil remedies.
IP Statutory Authority 02
The Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. 101 et seq.): Governing subject matter of copyright, work-made-for-hire ownership under Section 101, timely registration under Section 412, and statutory damages up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement.
IP Statutory Authority 03
The Patent Act & America Invents Act (35 U.S.C. 101 et seq.): Establishing first-inventor-to-file priority, utility and design patentability standards, disclosure duties, and infringement remedies.
IP Statutory Authority 04
The Defend Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. 1836): Providing a federal private civil cause of action, ex parte seizure authority in extraordinary circumstances, and exemplary damages for willful misappropriation.
IP Statutory Authority 05
Michigan Uniform Trade Secrets Act / MUTSA (MCL 445.1901 to 445.1910): Defining reasonable secrecy measures, injunctive relief, and damages for misappropriation of commercial know-how in Michigan.
IP Statutory Authority 06
Michigan Trademark & Service Mark Act (MCL 429.31 to 429.46): Governing state-level registration of marks used intrastate across Michigan.
Principal counsel at the table.
Work directly with senior Michigan attorneys who unite private-client estate architecture, CPA tax fluency, commercial real estate closings, and trial advocacy.
Founding Attorney & Managing Member ยท Bar P74482Reese SerraSenior Litigation & Trial CounselBrian D. HarrisonAttorney & Certified Public Accountant (JD / CPA)Matt Wozniak
Bringing a New Technical Invention or Product Design to Market?
Review our dedicated Patent Law & Prosecution practice covering provisional and non-provisional utility patents, design patents, Freedom-to-Operate clearances, and experienced USPTO prosecution.
Frequently asked questions: Intellectual Property Law
Clear answers to the statutory, tax, and practical questions Michigan families and business owners ask most often.
How do I decide whether an innovation needs a patent, a trademark, a copyright, or trade secret protection?
Each IP regime protects a different business layer. Trademarks protect names, logos, and brand identity; copyrights protect creative text, graphics, video, and software code; patents protect functional machines, processes, software methods, or ornamental industrial designs; and trade secrets protect undisclosed formulas, manufacturing methods, or pricing data kept strictly confidential.
Can an LLC register a trademark before the product actually launches in commerce?
Yes. Under Section 1(b) of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1051(b)), an applicant with a bona fide intent to use a mark in commerce can file an Intent-to-Use application to lock in a nationwide constructive priority date before launch, then submit a Statement of Use once sales begin.
If I paid an outside agency or developer to build software or a brand logo, does my company own the copyright?
Not automatically. Without a written, signed agreement expressly assigning intellectual property or satisfying statutory work-made-for-hire rules under 17 U.S.C. 101, independent contractors generally retain underlying copyright ownership and the client holds only an implied license.
Why does copyright registration timing matter so much for software and creative businesses?
Under 17 U.S.C. 412, if a copyright is registered prior to infringement or within three months of first publication, the owner becomes eligible to pursue statutory damages and recover attorney's fees in federal court without having to prove exact lost-profit figures.
What intellectual property issues show up most frequently during M&A buyer due diligence?
Acquirers routinely examine missing founder/contractor invention assignments, lapsed USPTO maintenance filings, unrecorded patent or trademark assignments, open-source GPL license contamination in proprietary code, and unresolved third-party cease-and-desist correspondence.
Does The Private Firm handle both transactional IP filings and IP infringement disputes?
Yes. Our corporate, JD/CPA, and trial teams coordinate seamlessly across USPTO clearance/registration, licensing/M&A structuring, TTAB proceedings, and federal litigation in Michigan and nationwide.