Here, let me throw that away for you

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

Don’t Cut, Paste then Pay

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

Spotlight on Suppz.com

As you drive though the green, rolling hills in the farmland in southwestern Wisconsin, you pass through small towns that proudly tout their local high school’s last state championship. In these towns, you find a lot of small businesses from ranging cafes to farm implement stores. If you enter Fennimore on Highway, if you look … Read more

Chinks In the Wall

I often get asked, “Now that I am an LLC or corporation, I am completely, 100% protected from personal liability, right?”  Well, um, how do I put this delicately?  Uh, no.  No, you are not.  “Wait, what!?”  It is because the company isn’t an impenetrable shield.  It is more like a really high wall that … Read more

Shield your Goodwill with Strong Trademarks

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

Slow Money Smolders in the Community’s Pocket

We are involved in a lot of organizations that discuss, encourage and teach about investing in companies.  Today, we’ll be attending the Wisconsin Innovation Network Lunch in Madison where Greg Piefer, the founder and chief executive officer of SHINE Medical Technologies, will discuss SHINE’s journey from a campus medical physics laboratory to federal approval of … Read more

Forms Draw a Blank on Copyright Protection

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

The Battle of Fort Copyright

An original design of a building can be protected by copyright as long as it is produced in a “tangible medium.”  A tangible medium is something that can be seen and reproduced, including a constructed building or architectural plans, models, or drawings. Protection extends to the overall form as well as the arrangement and composition … Read more