Blake Simpson Fricks and Robert Rehm Speak at Lunch and Learn Session Sponsored by NC LEAP

Raleigh, NC (May 23, 2011) -- Smith Anderson attorneys Blake Fricks and Robert Rehm, members of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice, spoke on how rights in intellectual property impact small business owners at a lunch and learn session sponsored by NC LEAP at the Raleigh Business and Technology Center (RBTC). Attendees included participants in RBTC’s Pacesetters Virtual Business Incubator Program, which is designed to expand the community of financially viable entrepreneurs by providing guidance and assistance in the areas of business management, strategic planning, financial forecasting, and business leadership.

Fricks focused her comments on rights that arise from the use of trademarks and service marks, the benefits derived from federal registration of such marks, and the important role that such marks play in generating goodwill for a business. Rehm explained how copyright and trade secret rights come about, discussed the principles underlying transfers of such rights, and identified certain activities and situations that can result in the loss of such rights.