Protecting AI-Influenced Work: Why Copyright and Patents Can Fall Short, and Why Trade Secrets Often Matter More

More and more, I hear some version of the same question from business owners: “We made something valuable with the help of AI. Can we protect it?” Sometimes the “something” is obvious, like marketing copy, a logo, a photo, a product description, a training guide, or software code. Sometimes it is less obvious but more … Read more

Border to Border

Remember back with Carter’s Big Mac post, I said we’d explore more things? Here is one of those posts! The enforcement of laws depends on who made the law. If a city counsel created the ordinance, then it applies to that city – and no others. Same with counties, states, and countries. Sometimes an organization … Read more

The End of an Era: Sega of America, Inc. v. Fox Interactive (aka Crazy Taxi vs. Simpsons Road Rage)

Happy Tax Day everyone! (I’m writing this on Monday!) Also, happy Crazy Taxi patent expiration day! If you’re a millennial like me, you’re probably familiar with the Sega arcade game, “Crazy Taxi.” (arcade release in 1999) And…if you were suffering through high school a few years later, I bet you know of that classic Crazy … Read more

IP from Sea to Shining Sea

Your ideas may know no boundaries, but the protection of them does.  Intellectual property laws only protect the subject within the boundaries of the entity that created the protection.  There are three types of entities that provide intellectual protection:  States (or provinces), nations and regional intellectual property organizations. Nations each have their own intellectual property … Read more