Iowa Patents Legal Questions

The governmental fees are about $1,500. The attorney fees will vary quite a bit depending upon the complexity of the invention and the skill of the attorney. While the lowest cost patent attorney will likely get you a bad patent, the highest cost patent attorney will not necessarily get you the best patent. For a simple invention, you can figure on paying a total of about $9K-$10K over the next three years. You might pay more or less depending upon how many similar devices the Patent Office finds are already out there. If you get quoted less than that by a patent attorney, I would question whether you are being quoted all of the anticipated fees and/or the skill and experience of the patent attorney.... Read More

It would be unethical to provide specific legal advice over the internet, but I can provide you with general trademark law information, which may or may not apply to your specific situation and/or jurisdiction. With trademarks, it is extremely important to determine who used the trademark first in a particular area. A federal trademark registration, as opposed to a state registration, gives you constructive use throughout the country. Without a federal registration, you have to look and see where and when you can establish actual trademark use. If the other side has priority of use in a market in which you had not previously established either constructive or actual use, they may have trademark rights superior to yours in that geographic area. It may be the case where you both have concurrent exclusive trademark rights in your own area. If there is indeed evidence of actual confusion between the trademarks among the public, it may be that one of you has expanded into the other's area and the entity owning the rights in that area can ask a court to kick the other one out. There are many factors that come into play that determine the ownership and geographic market associated with trademarks. Any one of these factors could swing the upper hand in favor of you or your competitor. You would have to speak with an attorney to find out how the foregoing applies to the specific facts of your case. Another thing to consider is the name itself. Something like "Home Cleaning Service" is too generic to merit exclusive trademark protection. Basically, any word or phrase a competitor would generally use to describe the services is not capable of becoming a trademark. This could certainly come into play if the name of your company is generic or descriptive. The addition of the word "Services" is generally not a significant factor either way in determining the issue of trademark rights and infringement. Be advised, that the longer you wait to protect your trademark, the more your rights are subject to being lost or attenuated. If there are still markets neither one of your has penetrated, the first one into that market may gain exclusive control there. Also, the longer you wait, the more likely any rights or damages you may otherwise have been entitled to are subject to loss or diminishment because of your inaction. I wish I could be of more help, but without knowing more of the facts, no trademark attorney would be able to give you a definitive answer to your question.... Read More