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Power of Attorney, Trademark and Patent Concerns in Foreign Markets

Regardless of the type of intellectual property (IP) you're bringing into the international marketplace, it is a good idea to hire an attorney for trademark, patent or copyright advice.  As anyone could tell you in California, trademark / IP attorneys can assist with setting up an IP in the US and anywhere else. 

Even outside the states (or even states other than California) a trademark / IP attorney is sometimes given free reign to manage affairs to best take advantage of legal opportunities that can dissipate if your attorney, trademark / patent experience not withstanding, is required to wait for you to approve decisions before promising them.  This can put your company at a disadvantage. 

Of course, the hard part is finding a trustworthy attorney.  Trademark, patent and copyright law is such that many of the best minds in law are attracted to its nuances.  This also means that many a US or California trademark / IP attorney is rather more interested in increasing the number of billable hours

This can be avoided by hiring an attorney.  Trademark, patent and copyright cases are best tried on a contingency basis, though this only applies to responding to IP threats rather than protecting against them, home or abroad.  Whether using an IP firm to defend artistic copyrights in California,  or trademark attorneys in the industrial north east, IPs registered in the United States are subject to the whims of countries not recognized in the usual IP treaties. 

The outright theft of an IP, rather than the somewhat more difficult to prosecute “soft” infringements such as trademark dilution, still requires professional analysis by an attorney.  A trademark, patent or copyrighted work, should be registered in the home state, as are hundreds of technology patents each year in California.  A trademark attorney in a country such as China, acting as your foreign agent, can spot objects and copy that illegally infringes upon your corporation's claims.

In practice, at least in California, trademark attorneys report the relative strength of a claim to be largely determine the likelihood of pursuing claims in most complicated foreign markets.  Of course, allowing your attorney trademark or patent related freedom to keep an eye out for your interests and make initial contacts in your name is essential.  The mere threat of legal action is enough to scare most people off. 

The various problems an IP owner encounters in foreign countries varies greatly, and it's best to have someone “on the ground.”  When seeking a skilled attorney, trademark or patent experience in relevant markets is key.