Most creative works are protected by copyright for a very long time, but not all and not forever. Those works not protected are said to be in the public domain. Once in the public domain, others can use the works without needing to obtain permission from (or pay royalties or license fees to) the owner … Read more
Intellectual property rights all come with their very own symbols. They are signs to others about what type of rights are being claimed. I am sure you have seen them, but not everyone is sure which symbol belongs to which right. So let’s go back to grade school, do a matching game. Didn’t know there … Read more
Intellectual property tends to be a land of first come-first serve. Patents are only awarded to inventions that are new and non-obvious, which means your invention isn’t the logical next step based on what is already out in the world. Trademark protection looks at what marks potential customers have come into contact with in connection … Read more
Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1052(a), is an absolute bar to federal trademark registration of immoral or scandalous matter. The ban on scandalous and immoral trademark registrations is not new. It first came into federal law in the Trade-Mark Act of 1905 and reaffirmed as part of §2(a) of the Act of 1946. … Read more
Somehow, somewhere, applying for a trademark became an invitation for junk mail and spam. It’s annoying, but some are worse than others. Some of the worst are notices that look like they are from the United States Patent and Trademark Office or foreign offices telling applicants they need to spend more money in order to … Read more
A trade secret is something that gives a company a competitive advantage because others in the industry do not know the same thing. It could be a recipe, a formula, a compilation of data, an algorithm, computer code, and more. It is whatever can be used to gain an edge over competitors by being the … Read more
Photo: © 2008 flikr, flikr2639, licensed by Creative Commons You are looking for a nice photograph to take your website from “meh” to “yeah!” After tooling around, you find the perfect one on someone else’s website. It has everything you could hope for in a photo. It is pretty, professional, and just the right amount … Read more
Just like Steve Rogers through his transition to Captain America, trademarks vary in strength. Some are burly superheroes, and some are weaklings hiding behind their bigger friends for protection. What makes a mark strong versus weak? The level of which your mark describes the good or service that you are selling. There is a spectrum … Read more
Copyright protects the original expression of an idea, but not the idea itself as copyright protection extends only to “original works of authorship.” That is why we can have lots of books, films, TV movies, songs, and more regarding the life of Marilyn Monroe of varying quality. The threshold of what is an original expression … Read more
Fish fry season in full swing here in Wisconsin, but let’s be honest, when isn’t it? Our love of Friday Night Fish has even inspired websites like Madison Fish Fry to help hungry folk find their next beer battered entrée. Fish fry products, however, are more than something to stock up for the week’s end. … Read more