West Virginia intellectual property law (IP) is put in place to help you as an inventor or innovator protect the creative designs you conceptualize. It is also in place to help you carry those designs from start to finish and come out on the other side of the process with an end product.

West Virginia intellectual property law covers such topics as: intellectual property, unfair competition litigation, trade secrets, copyrights, e-commerce and Internet transactions, fiduciary duty, patent prosecution, intellectual property litigation, licensing, protection and trademarks.

In order to make the most out of your study of the intellectual property laws in West Virginia:

1. Become familiar with general intellectual property laws.

2. Find an intellectual property attorney West Virginia has to offer.

3. Discuss your idea with one intellectual property attorney in West Virginia, but be prepared with samples, mockups, diagrams or anything to give the consultant something to help him or her visualize what you are needing help with in the field of West Virginia intellectual property law. Also be ready to answer questions, lots of questions.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Cover the basics before diving into WV IP law

Start with a basic knowledge of patents before specifically researching intellectual property laws in West Virginia.

I recommend: Look at the Inventors Resources from the United States Patent and Trademark Office to help you determine if you are heading in the right direction. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is another great patent information website.

Consider a nationwide patent firm over a West Virginia intellectual property law practice

There are many national firms that can help you with your intellectual property laws in West Virginia needs. They are large and experienced, and they generally have run tens of thousands of patent searches for their many clients.

I recommend: Read Consulting is a national firm that specializes in product liability, failure analysis, patent disputes and intellectual property. They even conduct reverse engineering. Invention Home can not only help inventors move their product to market, but they also specialize in putting companies in touch with inventors. Litman Law has run over 30,000 patent searches.

Find a local West Virginia intellectual property law firm through a state specific search engine

Forget generic search engines like Google and Yahoo. Instead, you can look up your search on West Virginia IP law by using a state-specific part of a national website.

I recommend: Intellectual Property Law Firms.com can help you find West Virginia IP law firms. It is a nationwide directory of patent, trademark, copyright lawyers, and it also holds news and information on the topic. FindLaw is another online resource for an intellectual property law consultant in WV, as is Justia. FindLaw is great for the public as well as those in the industry. At Justia, you can find not only legal information, but lawyer blogs as well. Lawyers.com gives us a multiple page listing of intellectual property lawyers in West Virginia.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Do market research before meeting with a WV intellectual property law firm to see if your invention would even be profitable.
• •  Consider your own patent search before conferring with the intellectual property attorneys in WV. It could save you time and money in the long run if you discover that your idea has already been documented and patented.