Chicken in Black (and Orange-Red)

Trademarks can be anything that tells me as a customer that this product or services that I am trying to buy today came from the same source as the last time I bought it.  Or put another way, when my nephew has something on his wish list, what can I use to make sure that … Read more

Wondering about Fan Fiction

Fan fiction is material created by fans of a piece of work rather than the owners or creators.  Movies, television shows and books all have fans that have spun off their own stories, drawings, movies and more.  The fans take characters created by another on new adventures, some within canonical fictional universe, some decidedly not.  … Read more

Tale of Two Tables

The owner of copyright has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work; to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or … Read more

Which way to Trademark City?

After asking friends, family, and strangers sitting next to you at the bar what they think of it, you have finally decided on a name for your newest product.  Now you want to protect it with a federal trademark, but how do you do that? First, I assume that you have already searched the mark … Read more

Hey, that’s what I said!

I have already written about aspects of copyright law, but exactly is copyright protection?  Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression.  One way to think of it is it protects creative works that you can somehow see or hear again and again.  Works of authorship include the following categories: … Read more

To Swoosh or Not To Swoosh

Often when looking to register a trademark, we have to discuss registering a word mark versus a logo.  Clients often default to registering words in a very specific font.  However, that locks the mark into that font.  Whereas, if we register it as a word mark, then a change in font doesn’t destroy the registration. … Read more

Shh, I Have A Secret

Ongoing disputes between Fitbit and Jawbone claimsthat Fitbit hired Jawbone employees, who in turn took Jawbone trade secrets and brought them to be used at Fitbit.  Last week, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge ruled that Fitbit did not steal any of Jawbone’s trade secrets.  Earlier, I wrote about protecting a trade secret, but what … Read more

Mr. Darcy meets The Incredible Hulk

In copyright law, several entities may own different rights in the same piece of material.  One way this might happen is one someone builds upon the work of another and creates a derivative work.  The original work’s author may still own the rights to the original work, but the newer author now has rights on … Read more