Hoffberg & Associates is a boutique intellectual property law firm, located in Westchester
County NY, and services a global clientele. We specialize in high complexity strategies to
initiate, grow, and deploy business models predicated on intellectual assets.
Mr. Steven M. Hoffberg, principal of Hoffberg & Associates, is a seasoned patent attorney,
as well as an accomplished inventor.
Intellectual Property Law involves legal rights that arise from the action of the mind. These
rights arise under statues or common law, and generally include patents, trademarks,
copyrights, trade secrets, and restrictive covenants (agreements between parties). Under
current paradigms, AI generated inventions and works are ineligible for protection,
however, AI is protectable under patent law, and AI software is protectable under copyright
law.
Utility patents protect useful conceptions, while design patents encompass ornamental
(non-functional) aspects of useful articles, which are in each case novel and non-obvious,
and meet other statutory, administrative, and judically-created constraints. The process
begins with a patent application, during which the patent examiner reviews the application
to ensure compliance with requirements.
Trademarks protect symbols of goodwill. Trademark rights arise naturally, and even
unregistered marks are protectable. However, federal (or state) registration provides
enhanced benefits.
Copyrights protect the work of authors and artists against copying, and are automatically
protected. Federal registration is required before enforcement, and provides enhanced
rights.
Trade secrets exist as commercially valuable information that is not generally known to the
public, and are maintained in secrecy. A trade secret may be protected in face of disclosure
by an agreement (a non-disclosure agreement) between the disclosor and recipient to
maintain the confidentiality. Restrictive covenants permit parties to define relationships
that define rights and responsibilities with respect to information and activities, and
include non-compete, non-circumvent, and similar covenants.
Hoffberg & Associates counsel clients with respect to most areas of intellectual property
law.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Submitting a case for evaluation does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Our logo is a dragon, a mythical beast that soars on high, swoops down, and burns the
sorry ass of an infringer.