The Imitation Game: Three Tips to Nail Knock-Off Competitors

PORTLAND, OR--(Marketwired - Apr 19, 2016) -  A product seizure at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is not an everyday occurrence, but intellectual property law firm Kolisch Hartwell is taking a stand on why scenarios like this can be an important lesson for companies about how to protect their intellectual property.

An increasingly competitive industry landscape is making it more and more challenging for companies to protect their market share against any number of imitation products and competitors in their sectors.

Shawn Kolitch and Kolisch Hartwell, the attorney and law firm behind the high-profile seizure and patent enforcement at CES, have three key takeaways to help companies of all sizes protect their products from foreign and domestic imitators.

1. The sharper the spear, the deeper the wound: Narrowly tailored intellectual property rights can frequently be obtained more quickly and less expensively than broader patent protection, and arguably have greater value for enforcement against imitation products. For any company that sells products, and especially for startups, it may be beneficial to get intellectual property protection directed at knockoffs as well as broader, more aspirational protection, because the narrower protection can be more successful for immediate enforcement, while broad protection takes longer to obtain and is more complicated to enforce. Some examples of narrowly tailored protection include design patents, trademark or copyright registrations, and narrowly focused utility patents.

2. Timing is everything: When confronted with an imitation product (foreign or domestic), initiating an enforcement action can be challenging due to jurisdictional issues. Kolisch Hartwell has seen this time-and-time-again and armed itself and its clients with a process to generate the best results. How? When an imitation brand is present at a public event such as a trade show like CES, service of process and a seizure effort can be accomplished in one fell swoop. In addition, the negative publicity for the imitator can be a strong deterrent to them and others who wish to capitalize on your proprietary products and processes.

3. Don't hire a physician to do the work of a surgeon: Engaging specialized counsel is in a company's best interest when looking to protect its intellectual property. Often, specialized attorneys at boutique IP law firms are more knowledgeable, agile and flexible with the timelines that come with short-notice scenarios such as trade show enforcement. Specialized firms based in smaller cities can also be more cost-effective than larger, big city firms with more overhead. In short, finding a boutique firm with the proven expertise to accomplish your goals can save your company a lot of time and money.

With a sole focus on intellectual property, Kolisch Hartwell has been assisting clients in obtaining and enforcing patents, trademark registrations, copyright registrations, and trade secrets since 1952. Kolisch Hartwell also provides counseling in areas such as freedom to operate, validity analysis, intellectual property portfolio resource allocation, licensing rights, and dispute resolution. Kolisch Hartwell helps clients develop and manage their global IP portfolios, with an emphasis on providing strategic guidance and staying engaged with global IP trends.

To learn more about Kolisch Hartwell or connect with one of its expert team of lawyers, visit www.khpatent.com. 

About Kolisch Hartwell
Kolisch Hartwell is an intellectual property law firm with more than six decades of experience in providing expert patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret legal services. Based in Portland, Oregon and Palo Alto, California, Kolisch Hartwell provides accessible, cost-effective, highly personal customer service to a broad range of clientele throughout the United States and around the world. The Kolisch Hartwell team of attorneys is widely knowledgeable, with PhDs in multiple scientific disciplines and deep and successful litigation experience in federal courts across the United States. For more information on Kolisch Hartwell, go to www.khpatent.com.