Many business owners have become astute about the critical need to protect their intellectual property with patents and trademark registrations. However, copyrights tend to get overlooked. Copyrights are a fundamental aspect of intellectual property protection. Relatively speaking, registrations are easy and inexpensive to obtain, yet they provide strong protections. Working with an intellectual property attorney may be the best way to ensure that your company is taking full advantage of the protections that are afforded by copyrights. What Is a Copyright? Basically, a copyright protects an or ..read more

In the vast digital landscape, where information transcends borders at breakneck speed, comprehending copyright is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Whether you’re a budding artist yearning to share your creations or a curious consumer navigating the online world, grasping the nuances of copyright infringement empowers you to make informed choices. So, let’s embark on a journey to demystify this legal concept and explore its implications: Demystifying Copyright Infringement: Imagine copyright as an invisible shield protecting the creative expression of authors, musicians, filmmakers, and co ..read more

Several forms of intellectual property protection are available. Patents, trademarks and copyrights are among the best known. However, there’s a fourth type of known as trade secrets. Unlike other forms of protection, trade secrets don’t get registered or published. Doing so would be against the express purpose of this protection. Do you have proprietary assets that should be protected as a trade secret? Read on to learn more. What Is a Trade Secret? Trade secrets may be almost anything that gives one competitor an advantage over another. It could be a recipe, a chemical formula, a computer al ..read more

Your Trademark Identity Your trademark is the lifeblood of your business. It’s what your business comes to be known by, and it can consist of symbols, words or a word that is used to represent the company’s goods or services. Trademarks can be tricky for new business owners because there are both common law trademarks that utilize the symbol, and then there are federal Trademark Law that utilize the ® symbol. Federal trademarks have been registered legally, though, which means that although your business might have been utilizing a trademark longer with the symbol, another business could com ..read more

Is it possible to disclose too much with Examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark office? The United States Patent and Trademark office is having a “Tech Week” the first week of December (Dec.1-5, 2014). This program is designed to permit scientists, engineers, and technology experts the ability to instruct patent examiners on their field of science and technology. The idea is that this instruction will aid patent examiners in being more informed about the state of technology in the various industries and further help to improve the patent process. Is there risk to inventors from th ..read more

Your Social Media Identity Social media represents a wonderful opportunity for businesses to connect with their customers and to get the word out about specials, promotions and new products. It seems like there are new social media platforms cropping up all the time, and though it probably isn’t necessary to join them all, it certainly makes sense to choose one, two or even three that align comfortably with your company’s image and the product or service that it provides. However, what do you do when you discover that another entity or individual has already registered your preferred company n ..read more

When they are new to the patent process, most people don’t realize that it can take years to get from the application to an issued patent. Many pitfalls are lurking along the way, but some of these can be avoided by ensuring that the invention is ready to enter this arduous process. The journey that begins with an idea and that eventually is transformed into a marketable product is likewise long and difficult. At what point is it prudent to seek patent protection? Should it be done when the invention is more of a concept than a material thing? It’s also vital to consider that not every innovat ..read more

Amazon is one of the top retailers in the world, second only to Walmart. It generates billions of dollars in revenue each year, but only about half of that revenue comes from Amazon itself selling products. The other half of the company’s revenue is generated by Amazon Marketplace sales. Marketplace operates like eBay in that it provides a platform on which buyers and sellers may meet and conduct transactions. Amazon isn’t involved in the process, but they do collect a fee from each sale as their due for hosting the transaction. It’s a smart business model, but it doesn’t come without risk. In ..read more

Star Wars and Intellectual Property What is a trademark? Perhaps just as importantly, do common law trademark rights extend to protect many of the familiar elements in a work of fiction like a novel or a film? These were some of the questions that Lucasfilm and a game manufacturer in the UK called Ren Ventures were in intellectual property litigation to answer in 2017. Lucasfilm was hoping to get similar answers to the ones that courts gave when trademark rights were extended to “kryptonite” from the Superman comics and the “General Lee” car from The Dukes of Hazzard television show. Ren Ventu ..read more

Debunking Intellectual Property Myths When you are a patent attorney, certain questions seem to come up in your practice again and again. Many of these relate to popular misconceptions about the world of patents and what they actually do and don’t do. Below are some of the most common patent myths. This is in no way a comprehensive list, as many other misunderstandings are out there. That’s just one of the reasons why it is sensible for inventors to work with an experienced patent attorney when they are ready to protect their invention. An intellectual property lawyer is there to help you sort ..read more