Smith Anderson Lawyers Speak at Seminar for North Carolina Professional Engineers

Smith Anderson partners Mike Weddington and Robert Rehm spoke on how rights in intellectual property impact the engineering profession at a seminar entitled "Legal Issues for North Carolina Professional Engineers." Mr. Weddington's presentation focused 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. Mr. Rehm explained how copyright, patent, 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.