In a sector renowned for its collaboration, the protection of nonphysical property associated with brewing is becoming increasingly relevant and necessary. What if you started a brewery and your intellectual property could literally walk out the front door? Or, what would you do if you later decided to seek a merger or sale of your brewery but have not properly secured your Intellectual Property? No suitor would have an interest.
IP Protection in Craft Beer, is 5-weeks, fully online and taught by Matthew McLaughlin, an attorney who has built his practice around assisting, advising, and representing breweries and distilleries. Together, we’ll examine a range of legal issues involving copyrights, trademarks, and employment law to secure IP. Whether or not you decide to work with an attorney, building this knowledge is necessary to help you avoid making common mistakes and understand how to guide your attorney’s efforts should the need for counsel arise.
Offered: Curriculum
Week 1: Overview of IP principles in the context of breweries: copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets
Week 2: Clearing and registering marks
Week 3: The Registration Process and Responding to Office Actions
Week 4: Trademark portfolio management and policing
Week 5: Best employment law practices to protect IP
“Brand development is much more than coming up with a creative pun for an IPA. Brands can become extremely valuable over time, so protecting them has become increasingly more important. Likewise, breweries need to avoid infringing on the intellectual property of others as such can lead to easily avoidable expenses.”- Matthew McLaughlin, Founder, McLaughlin PC
Start Date: TBA
Price: $950
Duration: 5 weeks
Learning Format: Online
Weekly Time Commitment: 5 hours