Remember Intellectual Property Assets In Estate Planning

In succession planning, it is easy to forget that intangible intellectual property assets, such as trademarks, copyrights, patents, and publicity rights, require specific attention. Otherwise, when a decedent's intellectual property is implicitly mentioned in a will or trust, but is not expressly bequeathed or transferred, an ownership dispute may erupt.

A case-in-point was a trademark opposition relating to the well-known music icon Jack Henderson Clement, known as "Cowboy Jack." Over 50 years ago, Cowboy Jack purchased his home at 3405 Belmont Boulevard, Nashville, Tennessee ("the House") where he built a recording studio. In the 1970s, he began calling it THE COWBOY ARMS HOTEL AND RECORDING SPA ("the COWBOY ARMS mark"). The studio became a popular meeting ground for musicians, and the COWBOY ARMS mark was used until he died in 2013.