Top Beachwood, OH Intellectual Property Lawyers Near You

Are You in Need of an Intellectual Property Lawyer?

Intellectual property is anything created by a person that is an invention, design, or some other form of creative expression. a Beachwood intellectual property lawyer will help people and businesses protect their intellectual property creations as well as guide people to not infringe on others intellectual property.

Different Types of Intellectual Property

While the term intellectual property may seem unfamiliar, the different protections of such property will sound much more recognizable. The most common intellectual property rights protections are copyrights, trademarks and patents.

A skilled Intellectual Property attorney will review what works you need to protect, and the best method of achieving that protection. You may need to trademark your logo or business name, or you may need to copyright a literary, artistic or musical work.

Top Questions to Ask When Hiring an Attorney

• How many years have you been practicing law? How long have you practiced law in the local area?
• How many cases similar to mine have you handled in the past?
• What is the likely outcome for my case?

In legal practice, experience matters. An experienced attorney will likely have handled issues similar to yours many, many times. Therefore, after listening to your situation, the attorney should have a reasonable idea of the time line for a case like yours and the likely resolution.

Tips on Approaching an Initial Attorney Consultation

• Use the consultation as a means of gaining a better understanding of your legal situation.
• Ask the attorney how many cases similar to yours he/she has handled. An attorney’s experience and knowledge can speak to their expertise (or lack of) in addressing your situation.
• Your attorney should be able to articulate roughly how long a case like yours will take to resolve and what sort of procedures to expect.
• Determine how comfortable you are working with the lawyer and/or law firm.

How will an attorney charge me?

A reputable attorney will be very upfront about how he/she will charge you. The three most common fee structures that attorneys use to charge for their services are:

• Bill by the hour
• Contingent fee agreement
• Flat fee agreement

Depending on your specific legal situation, it’s possible that only one type of fee structure is available. For instance, criminal defense attorneys almost always bill by the hour. In a flat fee arrangement, an attorney accepts a one-time payment to help you resolve your issue. With a contingent fee agreement, the client pays little to nothing upfront and the attorney receives a percentage of the money recovered if you win your case.

Common legal terms explained

Affidavit – A sworn written statement made under oath. An affidavit is meant to be a supporting document to the court assisting in the verification of certain facts. An affidavit may or may not require notarization.