In August, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals declared that non-solicitation provisions are restraints of trade and must be narrowly tailored as such as part of the case The Manitowoc Company v. Lanning. OK. So….what does that mean? First, it means that if the parties want to spend even more money, they can ask the Wisconsin … Read more
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
Often when people are trying to find a trademark for their good or service, they want a mark that hearkens back to whatever it is that they are selling. They want their customer to “know” what it is the customer is buying. But as we have discussed earlier, descriptiveness can be bad. So what is … Read more
I have a friend who has completed multiple Ironman competitions (7 of them, I believe). For those not aware, an Ironman competition is a triathlon organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon 26.2-mile run, done in that order and without stopping. It is … Read more
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
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
Capital letters are special things. They mark the beginnings of sentences. They show proper nouns are distinct from other nouns. They help differentiate a title from a sentence and an acronym from a word. All sorts of magic! In contracts, they have an additional job: They show that a term is defined somewhere within that … Read more
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
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
One provision often found at the end of a contract discusses jurisdiction, venue, and choice of law. It is one of those paragraphs that you probably skipped over and maybe even called boilerplate. But, guess what, it could matter a whole lot if the parties get involved in a lawsuit. First, let’s talk about jurisdiction. … Read more