On January 2, 2024, Arkansas Judge Gary Arnold signed an Order invalidating the contracts of attorneys Tony Pirani, Pirani Law PA, Steve Kherkher, Kherkher Garcia, LLP, and Nunez Law Firm (based in Mexico). They were acting on behalf of the Estate of Flor Maribel Recinos Valle in a wrongful death action pursuant to an “Attorney Employment Contract” involving “Nunez Law Firm,” which was deemed improperly “procured” or “solicited.”

HLF’s client Jason M. Hatfield, P.A. was determined to have a valid lien, that Hatfield gave proper notice of such lien, and that Hatfield is entitled to the full amount of his contract pursuant to Ark. Code. Ann. § 16-22-304. Further, Judge Arnold found that Hatfield was not terminated for cause, and by separate Order Hatfield received immediate distribution of $1.5 million that was held in the Court’s Registry. The Client received payment from the Clerk the same day, on January 2, 2024.

Hatfield has also sued the above law firms in federal court using a federal law known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. (RICO) The Amended Complaint is set forth here.

Congratulations! Your registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office was approved and you are now the proud owner of a registered trademark. Is that the end of the story?

Unfortunately, it is not. Among other requirements such as policing your mark, the USPTO requires renewals to be filed between the 5th and 6th year of registration and again between the 9th and 10th year of registration to keep your trademark valid and enforceable.

The first registration period, the one occurring between the 5th and 6th year of registration, is when you have to file a Section 8 Declaration of Use (or “excusable non-use,” but you’re going to be using it, right?). As the name implies, this filing tells the USPTO that the trademark is actually being used in commerce to signify the origin and quality of your goods or services. Basically, the USPTO wants to know you are still using your trademark and what you are using it for, or that you have a legally-recognized reason for not currently using it but still intend to use it. At this time you may also be eligible to file a Section 15 Declaration of Incontestability. Your trademark has to have been registered on the Principal Register and meet some other requirements, but once a trademark becomes incontestable, certain aspects of it can no longer be challenged (including the validity of the trademark itself).

You have one year to make these required filings (that’s the part about “between the 5th and 6th year”) without paying a penalty. If you haven’t made your required filing by the end of this period, the USPTO will grant you a 6 month grace period — but you’ll pay a penalty to use the grace period. After that, the USPTO will consider your mark abandoned and cancel it.

The second registration period occurs between the 9th and 10th years of your registration. It actually occurs every 9th and 10th year thereafter (meaning between the 19th and 20th year, and again between the 29th and 30th year, etc.). During these 10-year renewal periods, the USPTO requires you to file a joint Section 8 and 9 filing. The Section 8 filing is the same one you were required to file during the window between your 5th and 6th year we talked about earlier. The Section 9 filing is simply an application for renewal, which has to be done every ten years. Once again, the USPTO will offer you a 6-month grace period if you miss the filing window, and once again they will charge you penalty fees if you need to use the grace period. And if you haven’t made the required filings by the end of the grace period (and paid the penalty fees in addition to the normal fees), the USPTO will consider your mark abandoned and cancel it.

Henry Law Firm can help you meet your requirements whether we originally helped you obtain your trademark registration or not. Please call or email if you would like to speak with an experienced intellectual property professional.

Henry Law Firm is Your Trademark Authority™

The Henry Law Firm provides copyright registration services throughout Northwest Arkansas. Based in Fayetteville, our firm assists clients with copyright matters throughout NWA, including Rogers, Springdale, Bentonville, and Fort Smith.

We represent creatives, including photographers, authors, architects, magazine publishers, musicians, song writers, software developers, and designers to help them protect the products of their creativity.

Copyright law protects the rights to copy the work, distribute the work, publicly display the work, publicly perform the work, and make derivatives of the work. These rights are fully separate, meaning that just because you give someone permission to display your work does not necessarily mean you give them the right to copy or distribute it.

As the holder of these rights, you can prevent someone from infringing your rights or choose to license any or all of your rights on an exclusive or limited basis. We can help you with those decisions and licensing agreements as well.

Whether you need assistance registering your copyrights, assistance enforcing your registered copyrights, or assistance monetizing your registered copyrights, Henry Law Firm can help.

The Henry Law Firm provides trademark services throughout Northwest Arkansas. Based in Fayetteville, our firm assists clients with trademark matters throughout NWA, including Rogers, Springdale, Bentonville, and Fort Smith.

Whether you need assistance analyzing a trademark you are considering, assistance with registering your trademark, or assistance with maintaining and enforcing your registered trademarks, Henry Law Firm can help.

COVID Testing lawsuit

In this federal civil lawsuit, our client sued to have a jury declare a COVID-19 testing laboratory failed to properly administer COVID testing in a professional and competent manner. The lawsuit was captioned InHouse Physicians, S.C. v. P Two Three Laboratories, LLC, a/k/a P23 Labs, LLC and Tiffany Montgomery, 4:20CV-1472-KGB and filed in the Eastern District of Arkansas, located in Little Rock.

The Arkansas lawsuit involved facts surrounding the use and approval of scientific testing protocols, data accessioning, and the timing of providing test results to people receiving the testing kit. In one example, as set forth in the lawsuit at paragraph 74, the laboratory impossibly declared a testing subject to be positive for COVID four (4) hours before the person even shipped his sample to the testing facility.

The Complaint included a claim for breach of contract and fraud, among other claims. Henry Law Firm successfully advanced the case and the parties were able to find resolution using a confidential settlement agreement.

Take this hypothetical: you want to open a bakery selling bagels. Your community already has several bakeries, but you think other people would prefer your recipe for bagels. You invest in equipment, lease a building, and train kitchen staff. The twist for your bagel is that you use a small amount of bay leaves to provide a light herbal aroma. Because of this unique characteristic, you brand your product “Baygels,” and it becomes an instant hit. You also take great care you use when making your Baygels branded bagel.

People love your Baygels branded bagels! Your store is a success, but the other bakeries take notice. To try to win back their customers, they start to sell “Baygels” too, except they don’t use your recipe. Their quality is inconsistent because they don’t use quality ingredients. One day, a customer leaves you a bad review for something they purchased from a competitor.

This is the situation that trademarks address.

A trademark is a way for people to reliably identify the source of goods or services. The overall idea is that there is a cost to the consumer associated with searching out quality goods and services and vetting their suppliers. There is another cost borne by producers associated with developing a good product or service and a good reputation with customers, also known as “good will.” A trademark is a way to enable consumer confidence in the source and quality of the goods or services without having to verify it each time.

When you register your trademark with a state or federal government, you are protecting your brand and you are ensuring for customers a consistent origin and quality of goods or services. In short, your customers can be certain they are getting the good or service they intended to buy, time and again.

Henry Law can help you navigate the trademark registration process from evaluating your potential brand, to registration and maintenance of your registration, and even help you prosecute infringers.

Henry Law Firm is Your Trademark Authority™