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All of us perfectly sane individuals would as much as possible do our best to be careful while on the road. We see to it that we know traffic rules in detail and that we strictly follow them. Otherwise, we’d easily get into trouble.

Before hitting the road, responsible car owners do a round of double checks to ensure that their vehicle is in good condition and won’t put the lives of all the passengers as well as that of other motorists in danger. If you identify yourself as a part of that group, you might want to check this article, too.

What if something’s not right? Wise car owners won’t take the risk. They’ll have the issues professionally checked and repaired or they’ll fix the issues themselves if those are just minor. While it’s not done yet, they’d rather join a carpool with other family members, friends or colleagues or if not, they’ll take public transportation like trains, buses and cabs.

Ideally, that should be the case. But in reality, there are so many stubborn drivers out there who drive under the influence of alcohol or worse, drugs. There are also some who don’t do regular maintenance checks or those who intentionally violate the speed limit just because they’re thrill-seeking reckless people. Now, these different situations can all inevitably lead to accidents on the road.

That said, even if you do your utmost to be careful, you might still be involved in those kinds of unforeseen events because of another driver’s fault and because you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. If this happens to you what should you do or how can you prepare for that untoward incident in case it happens to you in San Diego, your home city?

Find a Good Personal Injury Lawyer

The above-mentioned question is a good thing to think about. After all, it’s better to be prepared before anything else actually happens than be caught off guard. One step to do that is to find a good San Diego accident lawyer—someone who specializes in personal injury laws. You might be thinking though whether you really need one or you can just handle the incident on your own.

Of course, the initial thought would be that the latter is more economical since you know for sure that the fees incurred in hiring a lawyer are no-joke. Even so, the benefits of hiring one are hard to pass up. Is there anything that explains the accuracy of that statement? Yes, there is.

For example, every car owner is required to have an insurance policy that covers things like accident claims. At times, it is not easy to process such claims. It could take a while, or the insurance company could even deny it. And who are the ones responsible for such crucial decisions? The lawyers who work for the insurance company play a major part.

That would mean that you need to prove your case to those seasoned lawyers who have been practicing their career for years already. Whereas, we, ordinary people cannot even understand what those Latin jargons in the constitution meant. Therefore, it’s not a good idea to face them alone.

You need to consult a personal injury lawyer who will guide through the process from start to finish of your case. He’ll help you understand your rights and responsibilities if you’re involved in an accident, explain how to process insurance claims as well as police reports, and make sure that you get the sum that you deserve, not just a chunk of it or worse, none at all. Read this useful guide, too: https://www.thebalance.com/i-had-a-car-accident-now-what-2645472

How to Choose the Right Accident Lawyer?

Choosing a lawyer is a tough decision in whatever situation you’re in. Of course, you’d wish to work with someone who is adept in handling similar cases like yours. For a car accident advice, you need to find a personal injury lawyer. Once you’ve found a few potential candidates, try to get to know their years of experience in this area and how well they’ve performed in handling their clients’ cases. Ultimately, choose one you can comfortably work with.

Hiring a qualified lawyer for a car accident advice is the way to go when you’re caught in this kind of situation. They’ll make sure that your rights, needs and responsibilities as a car owner are met.

If you own a business or a product, you’ll have a sense that you’ll need to register it as a trademark to give you the protection you need under Australian intellectual property law. There’s no need to be daunted by this process, but it is a necessary one for every brand, product, or service provider to undertake.

We recently spoke with Jacqui Pryor, a registered trademark Attorney from Australia who owns Mark My Words Trademarks. Here’s what we shared with us in terms of what you need to know about the process from start to finish.

Determine if you have a trademark or not.

It seems logical, but this is necessary to make sure you’re not wasting your time. Under the Trade Marks Act of Australia, a trademark is precisely defined. It’s determined to be a sign that is used/intended for use to distinguish goods or services. To qualify, it also needs to be used when trading between two parties.

This is a very broad definition, but it can cover words (a single word or group of them), the logo of your company or a graphic. It could even be an associated shade, smell, sound, or packaging. The thing to remember is that if your sign (or mark) uniquely identifies and distinguishes your products or services, it can be trademarked.

Conduct a trademark search

This step will help you establish if there are already marks out there that are similar to yours. You want to make sure that your trademark application is successful. To improve the odds, ensure your mark is as unique as possible. It needs to distinguish itself from your competition within the marketplace. If you think it may cause issues, take it back to design and branding stages and rework it until you are positive it wouldn’t cause confusion with customers, or infringe on the rights of other trademark owners. Remember, the more unique your trademark is the most valuable it is too.

IP Australia has a range of search tools you can use to do a trademark search. But it can be a bit complex and confusing. A trademark expert can be hired to conduct the searches for you. They will perform a cursory search first and follow this with detailed searches of a range of Australian trademark databases. There are other beneficial services they offer, such as undertaking a market search to identify trademark trends that apply to your industry.

Identify your trademark class

A trademark class is used by IP Australia to establish the nature of your products or services. When you file an application, you need to specify what the products or services you offer are according to one of 45  classifications that are recognized internationally. You may choose to nominate a number of these classes in your application to ensure you are protected across multiple industries.

A trademark professional can also offer you valuable guidance in this regard. If you choose to hire them to prepare and file your trademark application on your behalf, they will inform IP Australia of the class numbers your products or services fall under. They will also provide a description of your products or services, which is a requirement. This assistance will help ensure your mark is registered quickly and without any issues. If your application is opposed, they will also help you with the processes needed to address this.

Wait out your opposition period or reapply

When your trademark application has been filed, it undergoes an examination period, which can take about four months. After this, you will be supplied with a notice of acceptance or adverse report laying out the grounds for rejection. If there are no issues, you will be given the notification of acceptance for a potential registration.  You must then wait for a three-month opposition period to end, which allows others to oppose your application if they feel your mark infringes on their property rights.

If you are given an adverse report by IP Australia, there is no reason to panic. It doesn’t mean your application has been rejected outright. It is merely giving you the information you need to fix the issues highlighted in the report. It may mean you need to change your mark because it is too similar to one that is already registered. Or, you may be asked to provide proof of your current or intended use of it. Again, a trademark attorney is best equipped to take you through this process to improve your chances of achieving registration.

Pay your registration fee

If your mark application is uncontested during the opposition period, your registration will be completed, and you will become a trademark holder, with the associated rights this affords you. You’ll be required to pay a registration fee, or your trademark attorney can do this on your behalf. With this final step complete, you will be issued with a trademark registration, which ensures trademark protection for a decade.

 

Author Bio:

Jacqui Pryor is a registered trademark attorney based in Australia who provides trademark registration services, searches and other matters regarding trademarking. For more information be sure to visit Mark My Words Trademarks

Getting charged with a felony can be a frightening experience especially if you are new to criminal charges from the state.  If a serious crime is committed a felony case is pursued by a prosecutor to bring justice. Federal felonies are committed at the national level rather than local level but both types of crimes carry similar punishment.

If you have been convicted with a felony, it’s imperative that you understand the gravity of the situation and the necessary steps to take to defend yourself. The most common felonies committed are murder, rape, aggravated assault, theft and arson.

After a felony charge has been filed by the state, four things are bound to happen:

1. The details of the charge will be read to you
2. The court will make certain that you are adequately represented by an attorney.
3. The court will move to set a bond to secure your freedom before the trial commences.
4. Finally the court will have to set a date for a preliminary hearing where your case will be heard before a judge.

The preliminary hearing

The next step to a felony case is the preliminary hearing where the onus is on the state to show that two things occurred:

1. That a felony probably occurred to the victim and
2. You committed it

At this stage because of the minimal requirements the state needs to prove, the case is often bound over to a circuit court for further arraignment in 40 days’ time.

Arraignment in a Circuit Court

If you have been arraigned to a circuit court, there are usually five things that can happen:

1. The details of the trail will be reread to you to make sure you understand the gravity
2.  You will enter a plea of guilty or not guilty
3. As usual the court will make it certain that you are adequately represented by a defense attorney.
4. The court will secure a bond with limiting conditions to secure your freedom before the trial commences. You can employ the services of All-Pro Bail Bonds to make the bail bond process a hassle-free experience.
5. Finally, the court will set a date for your trial

At this point the state will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you committed the felony crime before the grand jury passes its verdict.

What are the penalties for a felony conviction?

For lesser-known crimes most state punishes offending parties with light community service, minimal jail time and fines that aren’t too weighty.  However, a felony conviction carries very serious and weighty punishment than mere misdemeanor.

If a person is found to be guilty of a felony crime, he or she will be looking at serious jail time and large fines. If the crime is committed at a federal level the criminal is looking to serve time at a federal prison as opposed to local state prison.

The death penalty is the most serious punishment in a felony conviction case and it is only given if an individual is convicted of murder. Fortunately, an appeal process is mandatory but very complex and should be handled by a qualified defense attorney.

In some other cases, if you have been convicted of a felony the court may require that you pay restitution to the victim. Restitution often comes in financial compensation to the victim in question.

Probation and parole after a felony conviction

More often than not, the penalty for a felony charge can include probation or parole but certain conditions have to be met.  The conditions looked into are:

1. Past crime history
2. Time spent in jail during trial or awaiting trial

Probation is the suspension of jail time if the criminal has proven to be very cooperative. Some felony cases require that the culprit serve jail time before probation is considered. However, it’s important to understand that probation is not total freedom; certain limitations are often placed to keep the criminal in check. If any of these conditions are broken, the criminal risk been set back to jail.

Parole on the other hand is the conditional release of the convicted criminal before the full jail time has been served. The criminal on parole must follow through with a strict set of rules and has to check in with a parole officer on a regular basis. Like probation, if a convicted criminal breaks any of the strict conditions he or she will be sent back to jail.

Appealing a felony conviction

If a criminal has been convicted of a felony, he has the option to appeal to a higher court if he feels that justice hasn’t been served.  Be advised that appealing a criminal conviction is a very hard thing to do and should only be attempted by a skilled attorney who knows what he is doing. If you have to get a conviction reversed, he will have to prove that mistakes have been made in the criminal justice process during the initial trial.  It’s better to seek legal advice on this matter.