Alan Harrison

Alan Harrison is a mechanical and nuclear engineer who served as an officer in the United States Navy Submarine Force before becoming an attorney. He has practiced as an attorney since 2010, and addresses clients' legal matters with diligence and precision. Alan especially enjoys helping small and medium business owners and founders with the legal issues that arise when starting and operating a closely held business. LLC and partnership agreements and disputes are a part of his practice. He also can address intellectual property risks, procurement, and protection.

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Connecticut

Since 2010

USPTO

Since 2006

Principal

Sandollar

2023 - Current

Attorney

Whitmyer IP Group

2023 - 2024

Attorney

Botos Churchill IP Law

2023 - 2023

Attorney

Otterstedt, Ellenbogen & Kammer

2016 - 2023

Attorney

McCormick, Paulding & Huber

2010 - 2016

Patent Agent

McCormick, Paulding & Huber

2007 - 2010

University of Connecticut School of Law

J.D. | Intellectual Property

2005 - 2010

Northeastern University

B.S. | Mechanical Engineering

1994 - 1999

Honors: magna cum laude

Honored Listee

Marquis Who's Who

2023

Excellence for the Future - Contracts

Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction

2005

Top student in law school cohort.

Excellence for the Future - Torts

Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction

2005

Top student in law school cohort.

Connecticut State Bar

Current

Tau Beta Pi Alumni Chapter - Central Connecticut

Board member

Current

Patents: Beyond the Basics – Current Risks and Opportunities (Part 1)

Connecticut Innovations

IP Considerations for Business Transitions, CBA Business Law Section, Elm City Club, New Haven CT

December 5, 2023

Connecticut Bar Association

One point five hour presentation about the significance of intellectual property in business transitions (start up, change of form, and purchase/sale).

Patent Attorney

United States Patent and Trademark Office

2006

Q. Can I register the abandoned "Eternal Darkness" trademark for video games?

June 10, 2025

A: Trademark rights are based on use of the mark. Registration is like icing on the cake - without use, it's silly and pointless. That is why a statement of use must be filed to maintain registration. However, sometimes the SoU is not filed only by mistake, while actual use continues and maintains statutory (not just "common law") rights. So if I wanted to use a trademark I would check whether it was registered and then I would check whether it's being used already.

Q. Can I register a trademark for sports education services before registering my institution?

May 30, 2025

A: The sine qua non of trademark registration is actual use in commerce that Congress may regulate. You cannot register a trademark before you have established a business that actually offers the service for which you want to register the trademark. However, you can APPLY for a trademark registration at any time (less than about 3 years before you intend to actually use the mark). The actual timeline is a little complicated and involves how long is the United States Patent and Trademark Office backlog of unexamined applications.

Q. Can I claim an abandoned trademark for my business?

May 12, 2025

A: Assuming that the trademark is not still in use (which may be different than its official registration status), and assuming that there are no marks in use that are sufficiently similar so as to raise a likelihood of confusion, then you might be ok to take over an "abandoned" mark. But you definitely should have an experienced trademark attorney look at the actual mark and do a risk assessment before you do that.

Trademark and copyright are very different ideas. Trademark protects a business's rights to identify a source of goods or services. Copyright protects an author's or artist's rights to profit in a work they created.