Intellectual Property

Licensing in Trademark, Copyrights, Image Use Rights and Publishing

Odunze & Kang, LLP can assist you or your business in procuring licenses in connection with music rights, trademark rights, publishing rights, image rights and copyrights. From master & synch licenses to sampling licenses to any type of license in the music & entertainment industry, Odunze & Kang, LLP’s attorneys can assist you with all your licensing needs.

Trademarks

Trademarks are source indicators - they show who is behind a product or material. While trademarks are usually names, logos and slogans they can even be store configurations, sounds, product shapes and colors. You will see them marked with the ™ symbol when they are being claimed by the user, and ® once they are federally registered. They are separate from copyright, which protects the expression of the idea, and patents, which protect the idea itself. Nearly every business, product, band, film or television production, website and even some celebrities' names make use of trademarks and need to apply trademark laws to protect and enforce them.

Odunze & Kang LLP can counsel you on what steps you need to take to adequately protect your trademarks, and file your federal and state trademark registrations. We can litigate Patent and Trademark Office actions and appeals if your registration process is a difficult one. We work with trademark protection companies and can manage the protection of your marks once they are in use; this allows you to have peace of mind that your marks are being monitored and enforced nationally or worldwide. We can draft contracts and licenses for your trademarks to be used in any aspect of the entertainment industry or in commerce. We engage in trademark litigation and can either enforce your copyrights in prosecuting infringers who are using your trademarks without permission (or something that is uncomfortably similar), or defending you if you have been accused of trademark infringement. We can remove bad faith cybersquatters from domains that use your trademarks using anti-cybersquatter laws that use trademark rules and ICANN arbitration proceedings.

Along with trademarks, you may need to file or manage copyrighted materials, draft a non-disclosure agreement for your new prospectus. You may need a business entity which is using your trademarks to manage your revenues.

Copyright

Copyright protects original "works" of authorship, which includes written works, music, visual art, sculptures, drawings, photographs, poems, theses, movies, software, television and radio broadcasts, architecture and even choreography. You will see them marked with the © symbol. Copyright protects the expression of the idea, not the underlying idea itself - patents protect ideas while trademarks are primarily concerned with identifying the source of a product. They run through nearly all of the industries of our practice: literature, art, music, film, television and even live performances are based on works that are protected by copyright law.

Odunze & Kang LLP can counsel you on what steps you need to take to adequately protect your works, and if necessary manage your federal copyright registrations. We can draft contracts and licenses for your works to be used in any aspect of the entertainment industry or in commerce. We engage in copyright litigation and can either enforce your copyrights in prosecuting infringers, or defending you if you have been accused of copyright infringement.

Along with the copyrights, you may have a website that needs protection (or you need to remove a cybersquatter from a site that uses your trademarked name), a non-disclosure agreement for your new prospectus, or brands, logos and slogans that need to be trademarked. You may need a business entity to hold your copyrights and manage your revenues.

To schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys, contact us now with our submission form or call (702) 538-7978.

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