Brett J. Trout


Brett is a patent attorney and frequent national speaker on internet and intellectual property law. He will teach a course about intellectual property law and cyberlaw at Solo Practice University®.

Brett is the former President of the Iowa Intellectual Property Association and former Chair of the Iowa State Bar Association Technology Committee. He is author of the world’s first patent law blog, as well of the first online continuing legal education approved in the state of Iowa. He was also a featured speaker at the 2007 BlogWorld Expo. In 2006, Weblog Awards voted his blog, BlawgIT, the sixth best law blog in the world. Brett is author of several books on Internet Law including his most recent, Cyberlaw: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business.

Brett began practicing Intellectual Property Law in 1992, becoming a registered patent attorney in 1993. Since that time, he has drafted over one hundred patent applications. After working for the state’s largest law firms, Brett started his own practice in 2001. Brett J. Trout, P.C. focuses on complex Intellectual Property and Information Technology protection, licensing and litigation. He and his firm are both AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Brett is one of the founding members of the Iowa Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts project. He is a strong advocate of lawyer transparency, and is active in several online social networks. For more information, simply google “Brett Trout”.


Syllabus – Intellectual Property

1- Intellectual Property is the Biggest Asset of the Biggest Companies
2- Intellectual Property Defined
3- Patents

a. What is a patent?
b. Why obtain a patent?
c. Internet patents
d. The process of obtaining a patent
e. Patent litigation
f. Alternatives to patent protection

4- Trademarks

a. What is a trademark?
b. Domain names compared
c. Correct trademark usage
d. Types of trademark protection
e. Why register a trademark?
f. Registering a trademark.
g. Defending a trademark
h. Alternatives to trademark registration

5- Copyright

a. What is copyright
b. Historical perspective
c. Fair Use
d. Internet copyright conventions
e. Registering copyright
f. Defending copyright
g. Copyleft and alternatives

6- Trade Secrets

a. Trade Secret Defined
b. Types of Trade Secrets
c. Reverse Engineering
d. Advantages
e. Transferring
f. Defending Trade Secrets

7- Avoiding Intellectual Property Infringement
8- Building a Portfolio
9- Intellectual Property Protection Pros and Cons


Syllabus – Cyberlaw

1- Lack of Formal Policies

a. Terms of Use
b. Security
c. Privacy

2- Ignoring Red Flags

a. Industry
b. Due Diligence
c. Employees

3- Online Defamation
4- Litigious Competition
5- Breaking the Law
6- Bad Contracts
7- Intellectual Property Infringement

a. Fair Use
b. Trademark Infringement
c. Trade Secrets

8- Winging It Without a Lawyer
9- Losing Intellectual Property

a. Intellectual Property Audit
b. Registration

10- Ignoring Online Reputation