Partner Shannon Bates Published in Manufacturing Engineering Magazine

Harper & Bates LLP partner Shannon Bates was recently published in Manufacturing Engineering, a magazine serving U.S. engineers and other manufacturing professionals. The article, “A Legal, Cultural Framework for Protecting Innovation, IP,” discusses the importance of developing a framework for safeguarding IP assets through patent or trade secret protections, as well as how patents and trade secrets differ from one another in scope and application. Patents only protect inventions while trade secrets can protect any important information.

Bates explains patents are often considered the leading form of intellectual property protection, but notes, “trade secret protection may be a viable alternative when the company does not want to disclose details of an invention,” which is required when filing a patent application. Bates also summarizes the requirements for protecting information as a trade secret, and concludes with practical ways to “cultivate a culture of information protection” to mitigate the risk of trade secret misappropriation from within the organization.

To read the full Manufacturing Engineering article, please click here.

Shannon Bates is an intellectual property attorney who works with companies and individuals to protect and enforce their inventions, brands, creative works and other forms of intellectual property. Shannon works with clients to provide strategic intellectual property portfolio management.