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,
In today’s super competitive marketplace, clients sometimes find it difficult to choose a trademark that does not encroach on someone’s established trademark turf. The client usually looks at a new trademark from an ownership viewpoint, choosing a brand that it believes will deliver it to the Promised Land. If there is another who preceded the client and has rights that
Every day we are confronted with new acronyms, or more specifically internet abbreviations since many don’t exactly fall under the traditional definition of acronyms, like: LOL (Laughing Out Loud); OMW (On My Way); TIL (Today I Learned); IMO (In My Opinion). Bear with us as we dedicate a column to one such abbreviation and its connection to intellectual property (IP).
After a U.S patent application is filed, whether it is a provisional patent application or a nonprovisional patent application, the patent attorney is often confronted with the proverbial question: “Am I protected?” This simple question produces an enormous amount of apprehension. How do we explain to the client, after the client has spent considerable money and time in filing the
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,
In today’s super competitive marketplace, clients sometimes find it difficult to choose a trademark that does not encroach on someone’s established trademark turf. The client usually looks at a new trademark from an ownership viewpoint, choosing a brand that it believes will deliver it to the Promised Land. If there is another who preceded the client and has rights that
Every day we are confronted with new acronyms, or more specifically internet abbreviations since many don’t exactly fall under the traditional definition of acronyms, like: LOL (Laughing Out Loud); OMW (On My Way); TIL (Today I Learned); IMO (In My Opinion). Bear with us as we dedicate a column to one such abbreviation and its connection to intellectual property (IP).
After a U.S patent application is filed, whether it is a provisional patent application or a nonprovisional patent application, the patent attorney is often confronted with the proverbial question: “Am I protected?” This simple question produces an enormous amount of apprehension. How do we explain to the client, after the client has spent considerable money and time in filing the
