Thankfully, clients are always asking us questions. For example, a client might ask, “Can I copyright this video?” or “. . . this photograph?” or “. . . this hat design?” We hear about disputes over music copyrights and copyrighting songs in entertainment news all the time. As IP lawyers, we understand what our clients are asking (and even occasionally,
Your client wants to make money by selling a product or rendering some service – or maybe some new century combination of both now commonly referred to as SAAS (“software as a service”). In any event, your client will want the relevant consuming public to be able to readily spot its product or service in our crowded, noisy 21st century
From the beginning, U.S. presidents have been intimately involved in the protection of intellectual property. George Washington was a strong proponent of patent protection, asking Congress in the first ever State of the Union address to exercise its powers granted in the brand-new U.S. Constitution to enact laws protecting inventions (and the first U.S. Congress did enact a patent act).
The currently riotous political climate in the USA tends to overwhelm our awareness about political controversies in other countries. There is only so much news the American public can take in, which limits the space and airtime devoted to political issues in other countries. However, everyone has heard about Brexit – Britain’s exit from the European Union. Actually, it is
Human beings are amazing! Collectively, we are clever and excel at many things. We have harnessed fire, invented the wheel, eradicated noxious diseases, created the internet (and smart phones so we are never without it), and put a man on the moon! We are good at lots of stuff, but there is one thing that none of us is very
Most people think that patents, trademarks and copyrights are intellectual property, but these are not intellectual property. Intellectual property is a form of property, but it is something that you cannot really see or touch because it is intangible property. Tangible property, like a house or a car, is something that you can touch and see, but intellectual property is
Many businesses ask if they need a federal trademark to protect the name of their company, or their brand name, or a logo. While usually it is better to have the extra protection that a federally registered trademark provides, there are reasons why businesses choose not to file for federal protection. The following are three questions that businesses have asked,
We are two very fortunate fellas. We’ve both been married to our fabulous wives since the ‘70s, way before Senator Al Gore created the internet (he didn’t, really). Our dating lives and marriages also precede the advent of online dating services like Match.com (launched in 1995) and took place before online dating apps were on the smartphone in your pocket.
Copyright law existed way before the internet. In fact, an international copyright treaty called the Berne Convention has governed copyright law amongst nations since 1886 (except the United States, which did not ratify this treaty until 1988). The underlying precept of copyright law is that making an unauthorized copy of a copyrighted work is infringement. Before the internet this rule
Engage in any intellectual property conversation long enough, and you’ll eventually hear somebody mention prior art. What’s that mean? Are we talking about works of Picasso, Rembrandt, and Rodin? Nope. Prior art is a term of art that relates only to patent law. There is no concept of prior art in trademark, trade secret, or copyright law. It’s just a
Thankfully, clients are always asking us questions. For example, a client might ask, “Can I copyright this video?” or “. . . this photograph?” or “. . . this hat design?” We hear about disputes over music copyrights and copyrighting songs in entertainment news all the time. As IP lawyers, we understand what our clients are asking (and even occasionally,
Your client wants to make money by selling a product or rendering some service – or maybe some new century combination of both now commonly referred to as SAAS (“software as a service”). In any event, your client will want the relevant consuming public to be able to readily spot its product or service in our crowded, noisy 21st century
From the beginning, U.S. presidents have been intimately involved in the protection of intellectual property. George Washington was a strong proponent of patent protection, asking Congress in the first ever State of the Union address to exercise its powers granted in the brand-new U.S. Constitution to enact laws protecting inventions (and the first U.S. Congress did enact a patent act).
The currently riotous political climate in the USA tends to overwhelm our awareness about political controversies in other countries. There is only so much news the American public can take in, which limits the space and airtime devoted to political issues in other countries. However, everyone has heard about Brexit – Britain’s exit from the European Union. Actually, it is
Human beings are amazing! Collectively, we are clever and excel at many things. We have harnessed fire, invented the wheel, eradicated noxious diseases, created the internet (and smart phones so we are never without it), and put a man on the moon! We are good at lots of stuff, but there is one thing that none of us is very
Most people think that patents, trademarks and copyrights are intellectual property, but these are not intellectual property. Intellectual property is a form of property, but it is something that you cannot really see or touch because it is intangible property. Tangible property, like a house or a car, is something that you can touch and see, but intellectual property is
Many businesses ask if they need a federal trademark to protect the name of their company, or their brand name, or a logo. While usually it is better to have the extra protection that a federally registered trademark provides, there are reasons why businesses choose not to file for federal protection. The following are three questions that businesses have asked,
We are two very fortunate fellas. We’ve both been married to our fabulous wives since the ‘70s, way before Senator Al Gore created the internet (he didn’t, really). Our dating lives and marriages also precede the advent of online dating services like Match.com (launched in 1995) and took place before online dating apps were on the smartphone in your pocket.
Copyright law existed way before the internet. In fact, an international copyright treaty called the Berne Convention has governed copyright law amongst nations since 1886 (except the United States, which did not ratify this treaty until 1988). The underlying precept of copyright law is that making an unauthorized copy of a copyrighted work is infringement. Before the internet this rule
Engage in any intellectual property conversation long enough, and you’ll eventually hear somebody mention prior art. What’s that mean? Are we talking about works of Picasso, Rembrandt, and Rodin? Nope. Prior art is a term of art that relates only to patent law. There is no concept of prior art in trademark, trade secret, or copyright law. It’s just a
