INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CHART
WEBSITE LEGAL ISSUES
INTERNET COPYRIGHTS
ECOMMERCE TRANSACTIONS
INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARKS
THE INTERNET & TRADEMARKS
CHINA & PACIFIC NW BUSINESSES

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY QUESTIONNAIRE 

Based in Redmond, Washington (the "Silicon Valley" of the Pacific Northwest) Pacific NorthWest Law Group has developed a special high-tech emphasis in our practice. All businesses have some form of intellectual property (also called "IP"). A company's intellectual property assets like the company name, logo, marketing materials and customer lists are often among the most valuable business assets. Ironically, these valuable assets are typically under protected. The question to ask is: Why put a lock on the doors to your physical office or plant but not on your core intellectual property?

Our services in the technology protection and leveraging area can be characterized by the following:

• Evaluating intellectual property potential in emerging technology and managing the acquisition of patent, copyright or trademark protection for these valuable intellectual assets
• Protecting trade secret technology through employee, confidentiality and non-compete agreements
• Negotiating the acquisition of new technology rights from university, federal laboratory, non-profit research center or private industry sources
• Licensing protected or trade secret technologies to commercializing entities
• Structuring Secrecy, Option, First-Refusal, License, Research Collaboration and Joint Venture agreements
• Creating software development contracts
• Providing counsel on Internet, software and other high-technology law areas
• Web site audits
• High-tech contacts of all kinds, including web hosting agreements, user agreements and the like
• Securing debt financing collateralized by intangible assets
• Ecommerce
• Licensing, research and joint ventures
• Funding and strategic partnering
• High-tech asset evaluation protection

Additionally, our technology protection practice group has expertise in the following areas:

Technology. Our technology expertise can handle transactions on all levels of complexity for companies in various technologies ranging from sports products and aquaculture systems to computer information systems and industrial products. The focus of this area of practice includes software development and protection contracts, and secured debt financing collateralized by intangible assets.

Intellectual Property. Patent, trademark, and copyright identification, planning and protection are key contributions Pacific NorthWest Law Group makes to growing and established companies in the United States and abroad. We manage all types of intellectual property evaluation and protection, including patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret rights, both in the United States and throughout the world. We also develop internal policies, agreements and forms to assure a company's rights in intellectual property developed by its employees, contractors or partners.

Software Development. Companies frequently must turn to third parties for development of software programs and packages critical to the company's commercial success. We structure such agreements to assure retention of critical rights by the respective parties, and assure that deliverables, timetables and acceptance criteria are clearly defined.

Licensing In or Out. Technology is frequently commercialized by an entity other than its creator. Licensing in a technology can give a company quick access to new market niches, and this has been the basis for many successful technology start-ups. Licensing out provides revenue to the technology's creator, which can be a research lab or a company with technology outside its own focused niche.

Research and Collaboration. We help cutting-edge companies collaborate with others to develop or improve technologies through joint research effort. The respective rights of the collaborators vis-à-vis new developments are protected through well-crafted research and/or collaboration agreements.

Technology Startups and Siting. We specialize in establishing appropriate organizational structures for high-tech startups; these forms include incorporation ('S' or 'C' corporation), partnership agreements, single proprietorships, and limited liability companies (LLCs).

Computer Hardware/Software Acquisition and Support. Well-functioning computer and software systems are essential to the modern organization; agreements for acquiring, troubleshooting and maintaining these systems need to be carefully crafted. Pacific Northwest Law Group helps ensure that the organization gets the technology and service it requires through these agreements.

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