I get many different types of questions from my clients regarding various trademark matters. Some scenarios involve trademarks that have been in their portfolio for a while and are no longer in use, while other trademarks are brand new and ready for their moment in the spotlight. Sometimes clients wonder what to do with a … Read more
Remote work has boomed over the past three years. Starting in March of 2020 and until at least July 31, 2023, the USCIS has allowed virtual, remote I-9 verification instead of the required in person verifications because of COVID. On August 18, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed the possibility of making virtual, … Read more
Very often we get questions from clients regarding “authorized” – “issued” – and “outstanding” shares and what the terms mean in the context of corporations and raising money. Below is a quick explanation of the terms; thanks for reading. Authorized Shares means the total (read, total ever that could be) shares a Corporation can create or “cut … Read more
A recent New York Times article discussed hidden costs associated with remote work, as well as some benefits that can be intangible and thus hard to measure. I have been thinking about the ups and downs of remote work for a while— this is logical for me considering I have experienced various remote professional and … Read more
We’ve all done it. We’ve said we are going to do something…later. Then it never gets done. We are going to go to the gym. We are going to call our mom. We are going to write that thank you card, article, novel, etc. But it doesn’t get done. Or it gets done only after … Read more
Friday May 12, 2023 was a big day here at the office. Thanks to the efforts of City Brewing and Wisconsin Brewing Company, the Department of Revenue issued a declaratory ruling that approved contract production (through Alternating Proprietorships, or straight contract) between distilleries (and by extension and our reading of the statute, wineries too). This … Read more
For our readers that have gone through the process of developing a trademark, you are aware of how hard it can be to come up with a word or a series of words that best identify your brand and embody the goods or services you offer. Let’s now stretch that mental picture a little further: … Read more
What happens when two trademarks have the same spelling? Can they coexist? The answer is yes, but with some caveats. The Trademark Act provides for a system of trademark classes to categorize goods and services. Classes 1-34 cover goods, while classes 35-45 cover services. The use of the same trademark is permissible across different classes, … Read more
My staff teases me a lot about certain phrases that I repeat over and over (and over). They should. I would tease me a lot, too. That doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t keep repeating those things, though. A lot of the repeat-isms are things I say to myself even more often than I say to … Read more
Today’s post revisits something discussed several years ago on this blog: fair use. If you are looking for background or further reading, check out Erin’s posts here, here, and here, as well as Collin’s post here. As a quick TL;DR to those previous posts, fair use is a defense to copyright infringement claims for a … Read more