There has been a lot of news lately about governments and individuals stealing intellectual property (IP) from U.S. companies and taking that IP outside the U.S. In those news reports, very little is usually said about the law and why such activities are illegal. The United States government has numerous laws and regulations governing the export of sensitive information, including
Fifty years ago, the practice of patent law was a sleepy cloistered legal field. Patent attorneys were all nerds (engineers or scientists who had somehow made their way to law school). The general legal population had no interest in mixing with patent lawyers. Private practice patent lawyers worked in “patent law firms” – surrounded only by other patent lawyers. Changes
Trademark rights are acquired in the United States through (1) use of the trademark or (2) by filling a trademark application in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and obtaining a registration. Businesses sometimes opt not to register their trademarks at the USPTO. A mark that is in use but not federally registered creates “common law” trademark rights, but
We are old enough to remember when television only came into your home through an antenna, and there were only a handful of TV broadcast stations you could even watch. We. Are. So. Old. Then along came cable TV, with its eventual offering of hundreds of television channels, on-demand video viewing and digital recording capabilities. Now, we are in the
“Everything that can be invented has been invented.” All patent attorneys know this curious statement, and that it was supposedly uttered in 1899 by Charles H. Duell. It probably would have gone unnoticed except for the fact that when he said it, this alleged soothsayer was the Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office. Most (but not all) patent attorneys also
In the last 10 years podcasts have become an integral part of our content consuming culture. No subject is off limits, but the true crime podcast genre may have been the gateway podcast for many. A good true crime podcast is like a train wreck – we can’t look away – or in this case, we can’t stop listening. Later,
Since its origin the use of the internet has been (until now) mostly an interaction between people. From initially exchanging documents between scientists, to email communications among people, and then social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, the internet has provided creative communications avenues for digital interaction. Amazon began as an online bookstore but now Amazon sells anything
Ten Years! It’s a long time. Ten years is the entire initial term for a trademark registration and half the life of a granted utility patent. For a marriage, 10 years can be a milestone. According to one internet source (www.CreditDonkey.com), about 70% of U.S. married couples make it to their 10th anniversary (we were sort of surprised by this, thinking
Every experienced patent attorney has had a client who wanted – ASAP – to file a provisional patent application. Sometimes there is a good reason to quickly file a provisional application. Often, however, the desire for a rushed filing is based on an emotionally excited inventor who believes the invention will generate a pile of money. The real function of
Everyone loves cookies! To some, cookies are a big deal because of judged baking competitions (like at county fairs). To others, cookies are a major big deal, as in financially huge! From several stands, “Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar” makes and sells over 3 million chocolate chip cookies a day, during the 12-day run of the Minnesota State Fair. Of course,
There has been a lot of news lately about governments and individuals stealing intellectual property (IP) from U.S. companies and taking that IP outside the U.S. In those news reports, very little is usually said about the law and why such activities are illegal. The United States government has numerous laws and regulations governing the export of sensitive information, including
Fifty years ago, the practice of patent law was a sleepy cloistered legal field. Patent attorneys were all nerds (engineers or scientists who had somehow made their way to law school). The general legal population had no interest in mixing with patent lawyers. Private practice patent lawyers worked in “patent law firms” – surrounded only by other patent lawyers. Changes
Trademark rights are acquired in the United States through (1) use of the trademark or (2) by filling a trademark application in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and obtaining a registration. Businesses sometimes opt not to register their trademarks at the USPTO. A mark that is in use but not federally registered creates “common law” trademark rights, but
We are old enough to remember when television only came into your home through an antenna, and there were only a handful of TV broadcast stations you could even watch. We. Are. So. Old. Then along came cable TV, with its eventual offering of hundreds of television channels, on-demand video viewing and digital recording capabilities. Now, we are in the
“Everything that can be invented has been invented.” All patent attorneys know this curious statement, and that it was supposedly uttered in 1899 by Charles H. Duell. It probably would have gone unnoticed except for the fact that when he said it, this alleged soothsayer was the Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office. Most (but not all) patent attorneys also
In the last 10 years podcasts have become an integral part of our content consuming culture. No subject is off limits, but the true crime podcast genre may have been the gateway podcast for many. A good true crime podcast is like a train wreck – we can’t look away – or in this case, we can’t stop listening. Later,
Since its origin the use of the internet has been (until now) mostly an interaction between people. From initially exchanging documents between scientists, to email communications among people, and then social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, the internet has provided creative communications avenues for digital interaction. Amazon began as an online bookstore but now Amazon sells anything
Ten Years! It’s a long time. Ten years is the entire initial term for a trademark registration and half the life of a granted utility patent. For a marriage, 10 years can be a milestone. According to one internet source (www.CreditDonkey.com), about 70% of U.S. married couples make it to their 10th anniversary (we were sort of surprised by this, thinking
Every experienced patent attorney has had a client who wanted – ASAP – to file a provisional patent application. Sometimes there is a good reason to quickly file a provisional application. Often, however, the desire for a rushed filing is based on an emotionally excited inventor who believes the invention will generate a pile of money. The real function of
Everyone loves cookies! To some, cookies are a big deal because of judged baking competitions (like at county fairs). To others, cookies are a major big deal, as in financially huge! From several stands, “Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar” makes and sells over 3 million chocolate chip cookies a day, during the 12-day run of the Minnesota State Fair. Of course,
