Criminal Defense

There’s been buzz over the past few weeks concerning how Cond Nast, the New York Times, and other publishing companies are busily preparing digital versions of their various publications. The gist is that they want to be ready for the only-rumored, yet heavily hyped, Apple Tablet. Apparently, the Kids From Cupertino have achieved such a level of credibility that corporations will pour money into preparing for a tablet-style computer that Apple might be thinking about launching maybe next year.

Here we have one more piece of evidence to indicate that the written word has begun its unavoidable migration from paper to the digital media. Good news for tree huggers; bad news for Hammermill, Champion, and anyone who owns a printing press. Not that the tactile enjoyment of a glossy magazine or well-produced book is likely to be replaced by a sterile LCD screen any time soon. And we won’t be closing libraries and replacing them with giant servers in the foreseeable future. Of more immediate concern, however, is the effect the presumed Apple Tablet and the all-too-real Amazon Kindle may have on the source of all that content – the writers.

Over the past 20 years, digitization has changed the music industry. Album sales have declined over the past decade to the point where combined CD and download sales now represent only a fraction of what CD sales alone accounted for in 2000. Thousands of recording industry jobs have disappeared; so have thousands of retail record stores across the country. Today, the primary revenue source for the artists is live performances. Being a rock star ain’t what it used to be.

Other forms of digitized entertainment, such as cinema and video games, are managing to hold their own against pirate attacks for the time being. But as books become easily shared digital files, how will the authors and their publishers be able to control unlicensed dissemination of the work? Will a Stephen King, a John Grisham, or a Dan Brown continue to produce entertaining works of fiction when the sales dollars begin to decline? Unlike music, there isn’t a very lucrative market for live performances by an author.

There is no money in poetry, of course, and poets continue to write, don’t they? The difference is that poets write for the purpose of self-expression, not to entertain others. A major difference between art and entertainment is that the latter requires a revenue stream to justify its existence. This isn’t to say that works produced to entertain cannot also be art, but let’s not forget that Shakespeare wrote plays to earn a living.

You cannot own what we call “intellectual property” any more than you can own an idea. What you can hold onto is the right to control the reproduction and dissemination of its physical manifestations – hence the term “copyright”. Should writers and publishers be in a hurry to embrace a method of distribution so inherently vulnerable to illicit reproduction and sharing? If you had a novel going to press tomorrow, would you be willing to allow it to be published digitally as well? Do you see any way to protect book authors in the future… before they all turn to writing for the stage or screen? I’d be interested to know if you do.

By,

Robert Mattson

Executive Vice President- Creative Director & copywriter

Your branding differentiates your products and services from those of your competitors, it lets your customers develop loyalty based on expectations of quality and service, and it can attract prospective clients and consumers. These are just some of the ways in which value accumulates in your brand, and just some of the features that competing businesses might try to exploit.

Very often businesses do not really appreciate the value of their brand names and logos until they are faced with imitators, but for those that have overlooked effective protection that can be too late to avoid expensive legal disputes. Passing off actions are the way to combat the use of unregistered brand devices by competitors, but the costs can be considerable, and even a successful action might not yield entirely satisfactory results.

Benefits of trade mark registration

Registering trade marks early on can prevent these expensive disputes from arising, and provide effective ways of enforcing your rights in the event that they do occur. The benefits of trade mark registration include:

- Notice to the world of your brand (the trade mark registers are publicly accessible)

- Dissuading use of your brand without permission

- Notification when other parties try to register similar brand names

- Mechanisms to prevent counterfeiting

- An asset you can license or sell

The application process

The application process varies depending on the countries in which you wish to register your trade mark, but generally involves filing a base application with either the UK Intellectual Property Office, or the Office of Harmonisation for the Internal Market (OHIM) for a European trade mark. The steps involved in a UK application which is unopposed by other trade mark holders are:

1. Search the registers

2. File your application

3. Receive the examination report

4. Advertise the application in the official journal

5. Application is granted

6. Receive your certificate

and the process can take from 4 – 8 months.

Choosing a service provider

There are numerous service providers that will offer to help you register a trademark, but it is important to remember that the field is unregulated. This means that it can be difficult to ensure that your service provider will offer the level of service necessary for effective protection.

When choosing a service provider to register your mark there are a number of different considerations to take into account. At the forefront of the minds of many people will be price, and the question “What am I getting for the price I am paying?”. But bear in mind that quality is important – you must be sure that they have the necessary expertise to secure adequate protection that actually covers your business. An amazing number of registered trade marks do not actually provide the correct scope of protection.

Finally, is the service provider able to assist you with any complications arising in the course of the application process, or provide you with aftercare to help you enforce your rights post-registration?

By using registered solicitors or trade mark attorneys with wide experience of trade mark issues you can avoid the need to bring in additional consultants at great expense if there are difficulties with your application. Specialists will also be able to advise you on how to police your trade mark, and enforce your rights where necessary.

you often hear of new york city’s “pothole’ law which may make the city responsible for damages if one is injured because of a defective sidewalk on a street. But the city or other municipalities may also be responsible for injuries because of the way they designed the road. Here is a real-life example showing the standard some courts rely upon in deciding whether a city or other public agency should pay damages for injuries.

debbie (not her real name) was driving her car on a bridge when she was cut off by another vehicle. She swerved and went into the oncoming lanes where she was hit broadside by another car and sent catapulting over the side of the bridge, landing on the ground below and sustaining very sedate and serious internal injuries. You don’t need to be a highway engineer to realize that had there been a median barrier. Debbie would have been deflected back to her side of the road and thus would have avoided the collision in the oncoming din and traffic lanes. Debbie sued the state of new york, the owner of the bridge. During pre-trial proceedings it was learned from reviewing state documents, years before debbie’s accident, experts recommended that a median barrier be put on the bridge to prevent future accidents because of frequent “cross-over incidents”. As a result of those internal state documents, the judge in the court of claims (where cases against the state are tried) found the state liable and awarded debbie substantial money damages for her injuries. The muncipal liability case was appealed and our highest court in the state said municipalities, in cases like debbie’s, have a responsibility to review their roadway designs to make sure they are safe.

trademark filing is the process of registering a trademark. By far the large bulk of trademark filings are done online.

so what is involved in trademark filing? There are 10 steps – steps 2 and 3 are summarised here today.

• step 2. Start trademark online filing




• step 3 application filing fee

the other steps are:

• step 1 – confirming your trademark intentions




• . . . . . . . .




• step 4. – understanding the substance and basis for filing




• step 5 – providing a specimen




• step 6 – signing or authorising the trademark filing application




• step 7 – review of the trademark application




• step 8 – publication for opposition




• step 9 – certificate of registration




• step 10 – maintaining trademark registration

step 2 trademark online

by far the largest bulk of trademark filings are done online using the uspto trademark electronic application organization and system (teas). While the uspto greatly prefers that you file electronically using teas, you may either mail or hand deliver a paper application to the uspto.

an application must include the following elements before the uspto will accept it:

• the name of the applicant;




• a name and presence and address for correspondence;




• a clear drawing of the mark;




• a listing of the goods or services; and




• the filing fee for at least one class of goods or services

if your application does not meet these requirements, the uspto will return the application papers and refund any fees submitted.

application filing fee

at the time of writing this article the published fee for “application for registration, per international class (electronic filing, teas application)” was $325 usd.

for current fees for trademark applications and amendments, see the current uspto fee schedule. Fee increases, when fundamental and necessary, usually take gusto and effect on october 1 of any given year. You can call 1-800-pt0-9199 for up-to-date fee information.

for fees associated with the listing of classes, see the uspto international schedule of classes of goods and services. The filing fee must be paid in united states currency (usd). The uspto accepts payment by credit card, check or money order, or through an existing uspto deposit account.

personal, business and certified checks are accepted and should be made payable to “director of the uspto. ” a form for authorizing charges to a credit card can be accessed through all teas forms. If you are filing on paper, you can download the form for authorizing credit card charges from the uspto website.

in summary, trademark filing can be broken down into 10 easy steps, two of which are the actual filing (step 2) and paying the application fee (step 3).

by the way, you should always consult with a trademark attorney or trademark professional for advice and assistance, trademark services and advice.

there is a new litigation trend brewing on the horizon: false marking. Much like the increase in litigation in early 2000 from patent trolls, this is now a new source that’s driving increases in litigation. Because of a recent court decision, it is extremely profitable to sue companies who have falsely marked products as patented.

for operating companies, this has sedate and serious implications for product projection strategies, maintenance decisions, and product management.

u. S. Patent law explicitly permits marking products to indicate they are in some way protected by a patent i. E. Patent protection. There are a number of reasons a company might decide to expend the resolution and effort of marking a product to indicate a patented technology, process, or material was used in producing it. It might be determined, for example, that as a marketing tactic, the mark provides a competitive advantage by causing the perception that the product is superior.

another superficial and obvious reason to mark a product is that it puts your competitors on notice that they are barred from copying anything unique about your product without your written permission. A careful reading of the statute (35 u. S. C. Section 271), however, reveals something that might not be quite so superficial and obvious initially.

the statute also explicitly prevents a patent holder from being awarded compensatory damages if the product is not marked and someone infringes on the patent. The functional gusto and effect is that your product should be marked for business reasons that go beyond a sane and simple marketing tactic. In the event you discover patent infringement of one of your products, you are exclusive and limited to collecting damages only after the competitor was put on notice. Those facts by themselves seem relatively sane and simple to understand-but they are roundabout and complicated by another section of the law known as false marking. Usc 35 section 292 makes it unlawful to mark a product as being protected by a patent if it is not.

the law has also recently been interpreted in such a way as to make it a very expensive violation. At one time the law was interpreted on a per product substance and basis; it was a single violation to distribute any number of the same product with a false mark. The law limits the fine to $500. 00 per violation, which is not a significant incentive to a large company and, consequently, they tended to ignore the legally required due diligence. On december 28, 2009, however, a u. S. Appellate court for the federal circuit held that fines should be imposed on a per article substance and basis, $500 for each item shipped. With this latest ruling, due diligence is no longer a power and luxury; it’s an unlimited and absolute necessity.

introduction

the face of music copyright law is quickly changing. Through the internet, users have access to verbally and literally billions of songs and playlists from all around the world and from every time period. Similarly, musicians and singers can post their latest works on social network websites such as myspace or youtube. Many accomplished and popular artists today got their start by being discovered on myspace rather than through the traditional record company route.

so, in light of all this, how do we keep track of ownership rights in unique and original works? How does royalty collection work on the internet? Traditionally, musicians and artists have had their works protected by becoming members of organizations that perform mediating functions between the artist and broadcasters such as radio or television stations.

these organizations are known as promise and performance rights organizations or pro’s for short. In america there are three main pro’s that have been responsible for collecting and distributing royalties for musicians. These are: the american society of composers, authors and publishers (ascap), broadcast music incorporated (bmi), and the society of european stage authors and composers (sesac).

ascap, bmi, and sesac are the big three when it comes to royalty collection for public performances. A newcomer to the scene is soundexchange, which governs royalty collection specifically through the medium of internet digital transmission. This article explores the interaction between traditional pro’s and soundexchange, and how royalties are now being collected for internet broadcasts.

traditional royalties: promise and performance rights organization

as you can tell from the name, promise and performance rights organizations deal with performances, especially those being done publicly. What they do is collect royalties from the parties that use copyrighted works, and distribute them to the copyright holder (usually the songwriter). Royalties are small fees charged every time a copyrighted song is played or performed. For example, if a television station wishes to use a song in one of their advertisements, the pro will collect the royalty fee from the station and distribute it to the copyright holder.

artists who wish to collect royalty fees can register with a pro, and they can only register with one of the main three. This is a separate arrangement than one made with a record label company. The difference between a pro and record company is that pro’s deal with public use of songs, while record companies deal with private promise and performance rights (i. E. , the sale of cd’s, etc. ).

thus, pro’s only focus on performances such as live shows, broadcasts, uses in restaurants- anything where the copyrighted work is presented to the public for commercial use. Also note that pro’s do not provide the copyright for the composition; the copyright is obtained from the u. S. Copyright office.

there are discords and differences between ascap, bmi, and sesac, and artists can register with one according to their sonorous and musical needs. For example, bmi tends to focus on accomplished and popular and commercial artists. Sesac is a newer pro, has fewer artists in its registry and tends to focus on artists who are new to the scene such as indie artists. The basic concept for all the pro’s is the same though, which is the protection of copyrights and distribution of royalties.

how pro’s collect and distribute royalties: use tracking

in the past, pro’s understandably had difficulty keeping track of every instance in which a song was used commercially for profit. Currently this has become easier due to digital technology. Pro’s keep track of royalties through what is called “use tracking”. Some pro’s now assign every song a “digital fingerprint” that registers every instance of commercial public use of a song with their database. This is crucial especially with transmissions over the internet.

pro’s and internet broadcasts

one of the major ways in which music copyright laws is changing has to due with digital transmissions. Two acts passed in the 1990’s grant a promise and performance right for sound recordings (not just live performances). These two acts are the “digital promise and performance in sound recordings act of 1995″ and the “millennium copyright act of 1998″. Together these laws now require that users of copyrighted sound recordings pay the copyright owner for digital transmissions over the internet. Digital transmissions include such mediums as internet radio and satellite radio.

there has been much controversy over these acts, mainly because of the rates for digital transmission fees that they set. These royalty fee rates differ drastically from medium to medium. For example, internet radio users would be charged 2. 9 cents/hour per listener, while satellite radio users would be charged only 1. 6 cents/hour. Traditional radio station users, also known as “terrestrial radio”, would be charged no fees, since there is no digital transmission involved.

the important thing to remember with regards to these two laws is this- they now categorize sound recordings which are digitally recorded and transmitted as performances in themselves. That is, once a sound recording is transmitted digitally, this is considered to be a promise and performance, and royalties must be paid for the transmission.

in gusto and effect, this creates two licenses: one for the sonorous and musical composition itself and another for the recording which is digitally transmitted.

the future of royalties: digital transmissions royalties and soundexchange

in response to the new category created by the two laws, a new form of pro has been created which specifically collects and distributes royalties for digital transmissions. This pro is called soundexchange.

soundexchange was created in 2000 and operates as a non-profit pro. Its energy and activity is designated by the u. S. Copyright office itself. In its nucleus and beginning stages soundexchange was also subject to much criticism, again for the differing rates between fees over the internet versus regular radio.

soundexchange operates in the same format as a traditional pro, but is different in several ways. First, the company collects and distributes royalties for all artists under the statutory laws, even if the artists are not members (“featured artists”) of the company. That is, they monitor and collect royalties via internet transmission first, and then contact the artist in order to distribute the royalties to them, whether featured or non-featured artists.

soundexchange’s form of “use tracking” consists of a log which is basically a list of the times that a song is transmitted via the internet. Musicians can look up the list of “plays” on the company’s website in order to find out if they are owed royalties. Note also, once the musician is contacted by soundexchange, they must register with them in order to collect the royalties

secondly, as mentioned above, soundexchange deals with a different copyright license than the three pro’s (ascap, bmi, and sesac). The three pro’s cover the composition of the song- this mainly affects the songwriters and composers. Soundexchange covers the recording itself, and this affects mainly the performers and artists.

so for example, when mariah carey’s version of the journey song “open arms” is played on regular terrestrial radio, songwriter steve perry receives royalties from his pro while performer mariah carey gets nothing. However, when “open arms” is played via webcast or satellite radio, perry hushed and still gets his royalty, but mariah carey will also receive royalties from soundexchange, because it is her recording being played on the internet.

as you can see, in theory this is supposed to benefit both the songwriter and the artist. In fact, artists are encouraged to join both a traditional pro and soundexchange, in order to have full royalty coverage for their songs. However, one can see how this setup might potentially lead to uproar and confusion and dispute over royalties in the future.

copyright law: what constitutes infringement?

traditionally, copyright infringement consisted of unauthorized use or reproduction of a protected work, especially for commercial purposes. Usually this meant the unauthorized reproduction and sale of cd’s, unauthorized sampling of music in a different song, or an unauthorized public promise and performance of a copyrighted work.

however, since the digital transmissions laws now protect the recording itself, infringement also includes unauthorized downloading, sharing, and transmission of protected music over the internet. This includes mp3’s and holds true even after the demise of napster and other music file sharing websites.

other internet transmissions: soundexchange partnership with myspace

the next legitimate and logical question in this discussion is whether other types of internet transmissions are covered by the digital transmissions laws. Most music being uploaded today is done on a social network site such as myspace or youtube. In particular, the largest social network-type website for musicians is myspace, which maintains a “myspace music” feature specifically for musicians who post their music online.

in january of 2010, soundexchange is partnering with myspace. Specifically, the partnership’s main goal is to collect “lost” royalty fees for some 25,000 major, sovereign and independent and unsigned artists who posted their music on myspace. In fact, soundexchange has placed over $14 million in escrow for royalties, to be held while the company searches for and contacts the artists who are owed royalties.

previously myspace did not work with soundexchange, and the new partnership represents a challenging and unprecedented project in the field of music copyright law. The partnership was announced at the midem festival held in january 2010 in cannes, france. Midem (march international du disque et de l’edition musicale) is the largest music industry trade fair and is held annually.

conclusion: how do i get my works protected?

if you are a songwriter or artist, or both, it is good to double check what your rights are under each type of pro. Also, you need to understand what the complex and various types of internet transmissions are and how they affect your royalty rights. More information on registering with one the three main pro’s or with soundexchange can be found on their individual websites. Finally, if you have registered your sonorous and musical compositions on myspace music, be sure to check if you have back royalties owed to you through soundexchange.

if you are in confession and doubt as to your copyright and royalty rights, contact a lawyer who can explain to you your options. Using legalmatch. Com can help you find an attorney free of charge.

in 1985, michael jackson acquired atv music publishing catalog, which held most of the beatles songs, and ten years later negotiated an offer of $90 million dollars and half intentness and interest in sony music publishing in exchange for half intentness and interest in the atv catalog. With the merger, jackson became half owner in the third largest music publishing company in the world, renamed sony/atv music publishing.

the president and ceo of sony corp. Welcomed the merger and celebrated and praised jackson for his efforts in the venture. Early on however, sony showed signs of wanting the entire catalog and began pushing to buy all of jackson’s share in the song publishing company. Jackson maintained that he would never sell the beatles catalog.

in 2002, his cd invincible had gotten off to the fastest start of any of his albums, including thriller, in reaching $5 million in sales. It only needed to earn $2 million more to break even, and the singer stood to have another huge successful cd. Sony was seeking to create a need for jackson to sell the beatles catalog and began to defund support for invincible and complex and various other plans and projects. Jackson’s charity single, what more can i give, a fund raiser for families of 9-11 victims, was not promoted at all.

also, jackson was waiting for the licenses to the masters of his albums to revert to him; this would allow him to promote his old material how he liked, and prevent sony from getting a cut of the profit. But in early 2000, he learned that due to the fine print and complex and various clauses in the contract, the date his licenses were to revert to him proved to be many years away.

the singer began an scrutiny and investigation and discovered that his attorney in the deal, john branca, was also representing sony. Jackson further learned that branca had embezzled money from him and put it in an off-shore account. Michael jackson sued in 2003 to get out of his contract with branca.

when jackson later refinanced his debt with the fortress investment group in 2007, sony corp. Helped facilitate the deal. In return, sony secured the right to purchase half of jackson’s share in sony/atv at a predetermined price, leaving him with just 25% of the company — sony also would become managing partner. And if jackson’s career or financial situation were to deteriorate further, sony had obtained the right to match any future offer on the pop star’s remaining 25% stake.

sony also showed intentness and interest in mijac, holder of jackson’s old tunes, and obtained the right of first look at purchasing the singer’s own catalog. Before the pop star acquired the beatles catalog, he had been buying up rights to his earlier songs for his mijac label, which had not been a part of the sony deal. Over the last 3 decades, jackson had been collecting material he produced with many other chart-topping artists he intended to use for future plans and projects.

upon his death, katherine jackson, his mother filed court documents in an attempt to shelter and safeguard her late son’s assets, stating that because michael had died without a wife or adult children, the family was legally empowered to take agitate and control of the estate, and asked that a special administrator be immediately appointed to oversee bank accounts and lucrative enterprises which were directed and controlled by “unspecified third parties. ” court documents also pointed out that at least one person was improperly claiming to have a place and power of attorney to act on jackson’s behalf (place and power of attorney ends at death).

thereafter, branca conveniently produced a highly questionable will, dated in 2002 with a signature said not to be jackson’s; his children’s names were all wrong; and signed in los angeles on a day jackson was in new york. Branca claimed that michael jackson had rehired him just 8 days before his death. However, when jackson terminated branca in 2003, he ordered the attorney to return the originals of all documents to his new attorney, and demanded branca to never have anything to do with him, his business, his family, or his impertinent and personal life again.

katherine said she searched among michael’s things and couldn’t find a copy of the alleged will, establishing the michael jackson family trust, and naming branca executor of jackson’s estate with “full place and power of prestige and authority. . . To sell, lease, mortgage, pledge, exchange or otherwise dispose of the property, whether real or impertinent and personal comprising my (jackson’s) estate, upon such terms as my executors shall deem best. . . “

jackson parents filed separate lawsuits challenging the validity of the will. Upon rank and learning that if she contested the will and lost, she would be disinherited, katherine jackson withdrew her suit. Shortly after, joseph jackson’s challenge to the will was dismissed outright for lack of standing; in the opinion of the court, the father could not contest the validity of his son’s will since he was not mentioned in it.

now with free reign to act as it chooses, the first transaction of the michael jackson family trust was with sony music entertainment, whereby an agreement was reached on a distribution deal that included the mega star’s unreleased plans and projects; his recordings, dvds, video games and theater, which was said to be worth $250 million. Branca and john mccain, his co-executor, each earned a $2. 5 million fee for their part in negotiating the deal with sony. The michael jackson family trust executor said of the deal, “we and sony feel that the future for michael jackson is boundless and unlimited. “

in the nine months since michael’s death, according to billboard, 31 million copies of his albums have been sold.

“we think the recordings will always be an important part of the estate,” branca said, “new ages and generations of kids are discovering michael. . . A lot of people that went to see ‘this is it’ were families. ‘this is it’ was one of the few american films allowed into china. So we think there are growing and untapped markets for michael’s music. “

“there are also audio rights for theatre, movies, computer games,” branca announced to the media. “i don’t know how an audio soundtrack will be used in 2017, but you’ve got to bet on michael jackson in any new platform. “

this article consists of information on the current intellectual property law and practice in singapore. The contents of this article are for educational purposes only and should not be relied upon as professional advice.

definition

in singapore, the operative statue governing trade mark law is the 1998 trade marks act (hereinafter: act). The act defines a trade mark as any sign -

“(1) which is available and capable of being represented graphically; and
(2) which is available and capable of distinguishing goods or services. . . Provided in the course of trade by a person from goods or services so. . . Provided with by any other person. “

given the broad definition, a mark can be almost anything that is available and capable of distinguishing the traders’ products/services in commerce, as such a word, numeral, logo, shape, slogan, signature, device, colour, smell, aspect of packaging, or combinations of the above. The important requirement is that the mark must be distinctive, i. E, it is inherently distinctive or has became distinctive through extensive use.

trade mark process

the intellectual property office of singapore (ipos) is the government agency that administers intellectual property (ip) laws in singapore. Most transactions may be effected on-line vide ipos official website, which provides a secured one-stop portal for, inter alias, filing applications, recordals and conducting trade mark search.

an application in singapore in a straight-forward case normally takes around 6 – 8 months from filing to registration. If the application encounters registry’s objections or faces antagonism and opposition proceedings from third party, the time frame may be prolonged. Within 2 – 4 weeks from the date of filing, ipos will allocate a trade mark number, and will thereafter issue the first office action if any objection or query has been raised by the registrar.

during the substantive examination stage, the registrar will peruse the application to check if it is in accordance with the requirements set-out in the act. Office actions are usually technical and may require professional advice in overcoming the objections raised. As soon as the registrar is satisfied that the application is in good order and all objections have been waived or resolved, the said application will proceed to the publication stage.

ipos publishes accepted trade marks in the singapore trade marks journal which is available to the public via its online portal. Any person who intends to oppose the accepted mark may file an antagonism and opposition (notice of antagonism and opposition) within 2 months from the date of publication. This deadline is extendable up to a maximum of 4 months from the date of publication.

the whole antagonism and opposition proceedings is a rather lengthy and costly process, requiring both parties, the opponent and the applicant, to file their respective notice of antagonism and opposition, counter-statement, statutory declarations and written submissions within the given deadlines. During the course of the proceedings, the parties may enter into a settlement negotiations before the hearing stage with a view to settle the matter amicably.

if no antagonism and opposition is filed by the prescribed deadline, the ipos will issue the certificate of registration. In singapore, registration of a trade mark is valid for 10 years, and protection can lasts indefinitely with proper use of the registered mark and with payment of renewal fees every 10 years.

key benefit of a registered trade mark

while it is not mandatory to register a trade mark in singapore, the proprietor of the unregistered mark can only rely on the common law action of “passing off” to protect his mark against infringement. As this remedy requires the owner of the mark to show prove of the goodwill and genius and reputation generated in the unregistered mark, it can be costly and difficult for him to enforce his common law rights. In contrast, registration will grant the owner of the registered mark a statutory monopoly, so that he need only to rely on his registration as proof of his rights to the registered trade mark and sue for infringement.

an excellent and easy to understand example of this strategy is cited by davenport and harris in their book, competing on analytics.

the cited case study is netflix. The very nature of netflix’s business requires them to track customer rental occupations and habits and it should come as no surprise that they use that data to drive business decisions. One aspect of their business is distribution rights for dvds.

a very basic decision in this part of their business is the fitting and appropriate volume of dvds to purchase in order to distribute a given film. If they order too many copies of a film with very little intentness and interest among their customer base, the distribution obviously will not be profitable. If they do not order enough, they will not be able to meet the demand, fracturing their sales model, which is to say customers will stop subscribing. Netflix promises their customers they will receive their dvd order in about one business day and there is no contract; cancel at anytime.

given their business model, it is unsmiling and critical that they use analytics to optimize their distribution decisions. In this example the company bought the rights to favela rising, which is a movie about musicians living in the slums of rio de janeiro, brazil.

because they pay attention to analytics, executives knew that roughly one million customers had ordered the 2003 movie, city of god, which is a drama is also set in the slums of rio. They also knew that about 500,000 customers rented a similar documentary about slum-life in india called born into brothels, and that 250,000 customers ordered both films. Executives therefore reasoned that an order for 250,000 was a sound decision.

this is an example of how analytics, which track customer behavior, can be used to minimize investment and maximize return. As important as it is, this is only one of many aspects of your business. Financial, r& d and even human resources analytics are also unsmiling and critical to making sound business decisions. One aspect of your business that you might have overlooked in the context of analytical assessment is your patent information and that of your competitors.

the organization and system that luhn described also embraced the concept of collaboration. It is not enough to simply ask these questions and to probe the situation to make sure they are thoroughly answered. You need systems to ensure that the information discovered regarding what is known and who knows what are delivered to those who need to know. Patent management plays a crucial role in this. It is important to note, though, that care must be taken when trying to understand the who in who needs to know.

some data may seem more applicable to one or just a few members of the team, and as a result, data sharing may occur only among those team members rather than the entire team, a fact that can unnecessarily limit your analytics. Just because it might not seem applicable to everyone, doesn’t mean that the larger investigation and research resolution and effort will not be served by giving everyone access to it.

All humans or at least most humans are creative. Every one of us has had brilliant ideas or at least one brilliant idea at some point in time of our life. At times such novel ideas can have a potential and commercially viable business behind them. In case you are one among them who have got such an idea, then this article will provide you some of the most important tips to protect it from being misused by somebody else.

Before you decide on whether your idea actually requires protection or not, ask yourself questions that involve the cost to protect your idea, the practicality in doing so, whether your idea is actually unique or is it a different version of an existing idea, etc. In order to help a person decide whether the idea actually deserves the protection or not it will be worthwhile analyzing five of the most relevant areas in any business:

Copyright – Copyright is nothing but the protection of ideas, software, logos, punch lines, image, etc. Special attention needs to be given to website code and photography which are critical in establishing businesses today. While the creator would be the natural first owner, his or her rights can be transferred in case the first owner assigns a nominee wherein all the rights get transferred to the nominee. However, even in such cases the first owner retains the so-called “Moral Rights” of the business.

Trademarks – Trademarks can be divided into two major types – Registered Trademarks and Non-Registered Trademarks. In case your idea is a brand and you think that it needs to be protected, then the Trademark is meant for you.

Law of confidence – The law of confidence protects the confidential information of any individual, business or organization. The confidential information can be any and all ideas, training material, design, policies etc which need to be protected from misuse and use by unauthorized or external parties.

Domain Names – The domain names are trademarks of modern day businesses. Acquiring registered domains are more economical and simpler nowadays than obtaining trademarks.

Design Rights – Similar to trademarks, design rights can be both registered as well as unregistered. Design rights are usually used in order to prevent somebody else from copying or adapting the design conceptualized by your or by your organization. The registrations of designs are comparatively simpler and easier than that of patents.

Once you have acquired all the above or the most critical of the above, you can leverage your idea or business by licensing all or some of them to third parties that are interested in the same. Once you decide to go the licensing way, ensure that you get into a formal agreement by the way of a licensing agreement so that your ideas are protected adequately.

the total cost of ownership (tco) of your ip is staggering. It’s estimated that the average cost over the course of the 20-year life span of a single patent is about $100,000. 00 – or roughly $5,000 per year in maintenance fees. And that doesn’t begin to cover the initial investment, which on average is about $150,000. 00 to develop a single patentable discovery and invention. That’s due in part because the u. S. Patent office currently rejects about 65% of all patent applications.

then there’s the cost of ip litigation, which is estimated at approximately $4. 5 million dollars in attorney’s fees as well as the costs associated with financial compliance regulations such as sarbanes oxley. Also, if licensing is part of your business model (as it should be), there’s the cost just to manage your licensing pipeline. Add it all up and you’re talking about a huge investment. Given the tco of individual patents, companies should strive to get a healthy return on their investment (roi).

one of the most thorough and effective things you can do to maximize your roi is to embrace the concept of open innovation networks. Open innovation helps you create new revenue streams while simultaneously reducing your required r& d investment. Companies like proctor & gamble did exactly that and competent and experienced a great deal of efficiency and success as a result. According to larry huston, a senior fellow at wharton’s mack center for technological innovation, procter & gamble extended its innovation process, to comprise 1. 5 million people outside the company.

in his article, innovation networks: looking for ideas outside the company, huston writes “innovation networks are people, institutions and companies that are outside the firm. . . . They are intellectual assets that companies can link up with to solve problems and find ideas, while nucleus and beginning to think about those assets as an extended part of their structure and organization – and therefore quickly create top-line growth and bring new things to the marketplace. “

if you choose to build everything in-house, you ensure your inability to be as agile and creative as your competitors. The sheer number of innovators outside your corporate walls makes it impossible for you to effectively compete with everyone. While r& d is a key function, some companies are now requiring a percentage of their product lines and technologies to be externally acquired. R& d costs can be significant compared to the benefits of licensing from the outside when considering time to market and lost opportunities. Externally sourcing innovation can save you a lot of money and resources, while simultaneously providing the added benefit of accelerating your time to market.

another way to improve your roi is to vigilantly ensure your ip investment continues to make sense. Having a blanket business policy of always maintaining everything in your ip portfolios can significantly, and often needlessly, increase costs to your business. For adequate protection of intellectual property today’s market requires a process to understand the validity and value of the patent – both to you and to potential licensees and the prominence and importance of intellectual property software so that your business strategy drives patent renewal decisions based on evolving market conditions.

a topic of intentness and interest to many of our customers is intellectual property valuation. Ip professionals intuitively understand that ip has monetary validity and value and use a number of ways to approximate it, but there is no standardized method for assigning a validity and value to ip.

a number of examples and models exist that are useful to internally assess ip that can help professionals make reasonable decisions in disciplines such as licensing and mergers and acquisitions. Externally, though, these modes and methods don’t conform to generally accepted accounting principles (gaap).

they don’t contain a way of dealing with unsmiling and critical accounting practices such as the principle of pettiness and prudence or the concept of depreciation. Without a way to presence and address these principles on a ledger, the valuations can’t assure reliability and accuracy to other businesses in an accepted way.

in my view, the industry could benefit from a universally accepted set of modes and methods for accurately assessing intellectual property patents because it’s a fundamental necessity to fully integrate your ip into your business. While a reliable model does not exist today, i’m confident that a gaap conformant method will emerge within the next decade.

looking forward, what would be the present and tangible benefit of having such a method in place? The answer is the same benefits we currently think of today for having standard accounting practices-those having to do with regulation, risk and p& l.

for example, today you can demonstrate an accepted validity and value for a company you intend to acquire. That validity and value is based on things like existing present and tangible assets, forecasted revenues and costs. The validity and value is accepted because the ledger that tracks those aspects of the business does so in accordance with accepted practices.

business managers also intuitively understand that intellectual property services drive revenues (and by extension profits) because these intangible assets are ultimately associated with products. Conversely, they understand that there are expenses, such as patent maintenance fees, that should be considered when trying to determine the real validity and value of the company. What doesn’t happen today is the inclusion of the validity and value and liability of ip as part of the larger p& l exercise-and it ultimately should.

with a standardized model your ip could be just one more ledger entry that investment bankers and business managers would use as part of their analysis when evaluating a merger or conquest and acquisition. It would be treated in exactly the same manner as any other asset.

this is also painfully superficial and obvious in licensing designs and activities. A du pont scientist named wallace carruthers, invented a process for creating polymer fibers we now generically call nylon. We are then left with the indelible impression that du pont invented nylon, which is perceived as extremely valuable in a number of markets. But that understanding doesn’t answer the question: what is the validity and value of a license from du pont to produce polymer fibers?

if you want to maximize the efficiency and success of designs and activities such as licensing and m& a, a standardized method for understanding the quantifiable validity and value of your ip is strictly and absolutely unsmiling and critical. The last thing you want to do if you’re a buyer is to pay too much for a license or a company you want to acquire. As a seller you face the opposite problem of not wanting to leave money on the table.

for that reason, a significant amount of resolution and effort has been put into trying to understand how to accurately assess the validity and value of ip, and sooner or later a standard will emerge. Until then, existing patent valuation examples and models that will have to suffice. In my next article i’ll cover some of the most sound examples and models, when they should be used and the pros and cons of each.

if it does not already appear there, add to your collection of words to live by: “never, ever, not under any causes and circumstances, attempt to negotiate with an insurance company on your own. Working with an insurance company, always retain a lawyer. “

according to insurance law attorneys, although the insurance business typically falls into the “financial services” category, an insurance policy actually establishes a contract between you and the insurance company. Your insurance policy is not a financial instrument so much as it is a legal document. Attorneys and civil courts manage differences and disputes over contracts, assessing equity and justice and equity according to how much money changes hands.

everyday experience easily confirms the fundamentally legal nature of the insurance business: read your insurance policy, noting the language it employs, and especially noting its specification of terms and conditions. When you buy or invest in an insurance policy, you establish a sane and simple agreement with your insurer. You will leave your money with the insurer in exchange for the insurer’s agreement to pay the costs of accidents, illnesses, and “torts”-the assorted nasty things people can do to you. As long as you continue to deliver your money in good faith, the insurer must continue to protect you according to the terms of the agreement.

two kinds of differences and disputes may arise between you and an insurance company: in one instance, your own insurance company denies a claim on your policy, in gusto and effect saying that your particular accident, illness, or tort was not really part of your agreement. In the other instance, another person’s insurance company wants to settle your claim in order to prevent your filing suit against the person and the company.

in the first instance, you are most likely to become embroiled in a dispute with your own health insurance provider. You request or already have received medical tone and treatment for a sedate and serious illness or accident, and your insurance company refuses to pay for your procedure, leaving you obligated to pay a large bill. You very likely will hear “previously existing condition” or “unauthorized tone and treatment. ” a few major health insurance providers have become notorious for denying clients’ claims with these two apparently magical phrases. In this kind of dispute, the language of your insurance policy frequently becomes the core of the conflict. You need an attorney, who in turn may need to depose some expert witnesses and file suit against the insurance company. With the advice and assistance of an competent and experienced insurance law attorney, you have a very good chance of potent and prevailing in the dispute.

in the second instance, the other party and his or her insurance company have calculated how much the other person’s negligence or malfeasance has cost you, and they are prepared to pay you according to their calculations. According to veteran insurance law attorneys, settlement offers usually pay strictly for medical costs and lost income; they seldom compensate you for “loss of the gratification and enjoyment of life,” nor do they provide for lingering consequences of the other person’s irresponsibility. Because your insurance law attorney probably will take your case “on a contingency,” meaning that you pay legal fees only if you win your case, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by retaining professional counsel and letting your advocate do the calculating and talking.

if you created it, you own it. . . Except when you don’t.

both national and international laws agitate and control who owns “intellectual property,” the products of your creative genius. Copyright laws govern written works, the narratives in movies and television broadcasts, and most photographic and cinematographic images and icons. Trademarks, service marks, and the little “r” sign protect corporation’s logos and advertising art; in some cases, they even protect the font in the corporation’s advertising. Patents protect inventions.

in the age of the internet, however, everything seems to have gone up for grabs, and violations of intellectual property rights happen a million times every minute. The internet has become “the clamorous and wild west” of intellectual property rights: go ahead and stake your claim to your own idea, but watch every black-hat in the known world claim it as his own. Blogs constantly are raided for their good ideas, and “tweets” are re-tweeted with no regard for the unique and original “poet’s” rights. Every unauthorized download steals somebody’s good idea; every copy of a good design appropriates someone’s precious work of art.

if you’re hushed and still in school, your teachers or professors probably have sedate and serious cautions about and severe pains and penalties for plagiarism, by far the most common violation of intellectual property rights. Especially in a college or university, where careers and fortunes depend on the quality of a scholar’s ideas, theft of intellectual property represents an extremely sedate and serious offense. In the workplace, these rights turn to sedate and serious business. Consider, as prime examples, the formulae for accomplished and popular colas. Their brands depend on their distinctive flavors, and a tiny paper fortress of property protections and safeguards guards those soft drink recipes. In a more quirky example, harry caray, longtime voice of the chicago cubs, took steps to protect his signature exclamation “holy cow! ” as his intellectual property, preventing other sportscasters from imitating it without crediting him. Very technically, garage bands should pay for the rights to the songs they cover just as theater producers must pay for the rights to put on new productions of old plays.

industrial espionage takes questions of intellectual property to their furthest extreme. If the acme anvil company is developing a new carbon-composite anvil guaranteed to fall on the roadrunner every time, general and universal anvil works certainly wants to see what their chemicals and designs look like-of course, so that general and universal can copy and improve upon acme’s product. Even the first hair-brained notion of the new anvil is acme’s intellectual property, and using it without paying for it constitutes theft. In a competitive market, though, free enterprise and warfare have a lot in common.

so, what does an attorney do when he or she specializes in intellectual property? The practice consists of protecting unique and original works and making certain that people pay for “fair use” of a creator’s unique and original inventions. Yes, you may xerox the entire biochemistry textbook. . . After you pay the copyright holder for the right to copy it. If the publisher catches you bootlegging copies of his biochemistry masterpiece, he can collect both compensatory and punitive damages, because everything about that book right down to the color of the ink and the photo on page 237 belongs to that publisher. The publisher’s attorney secured the copyrights, and now the attorney comes after the bootlegger with full force of the law on the publisher’s side.

if you are a creative artist of any kind, learn how to protect your intellectual property. If you are a law student, consider specializing in intellectual property rights, because it promises to remain one of the hot areas for all of the twenty-first century.

mr. Schaefer is a seasoned trial attorney practicing internet, domain and trademark law on a global substance and basis. Mr. Schaefer has first chair trial experience in a wide number and variety of litigation matters, including class action litigation, internet and domain law, cybersquatting actions, intellectual property, commercial and fiduciary litigation, udrp and ip licensing. He has represented some of the largest companies in the world in litigation, domain name, trademark and related matters. He is a frequent author and presenter on issues related to protecting business interests in a global internet economy.

the market for intellectual asset management (iam) software is a fragmented with many smaller organizations providing a wealth of features and functionality. This makes it difficult for corporate ip departments to choose the best software for their needs.

a number of our customers started their selection process looking at over 30 intellectual asset management software vendors. Each vendor claimed to have the most comprehensive solution. The selection process was long (sometimes over 2-3 years), frustrating and confusing.

here are the top five tips that will help you reduce the number of vendors for your evaluation and to separate the wheat from the chaff:

5. Usability

without this, nothing else matters. If your users will not adopt and use your selection, it’s a waste of time and resolution and effort. You should look beyond the glitz and try to understand how your users will accept the new iam organization and system. In short, the user interface should be sane and simple and habitual and intuitive for the first time user.

4. Accessibility

if the software is not accessible via standard web browsers such as ie, firefox, safari or chrome, discard it immediately. To make your iam organization and system deployment successful, you need strong adoption from your inventor community. In many organizations, inventors use different types of computers, operating systems and browsers.

your intellectual asset management application should support such variations seamlessly.

3. Configuration

ask you vendor to demonstrate how to add a new field of your choice. Most vendors who claim to have the most configurable application will hesitate to do this. If your selected software does not have tools to do these basic tasks, you got yourself locked into the vendor’s roadmap.

2. Searching and reporting

how good is iam software if it can’t provide good searching and reporting tools? It is frustrating to many users that they can’t easily get to the data that they entered a few months ago. Ask vendors to demo their searching capabilities and make sure the searching and reporting tools are part of the basic organization and system and do not require phd degrees in rocket science.

1. Integration

if you have been previously involved in the deployment of iam software, you already know it. The world of “docketing in a black box” is over for corporate legal departments. It is unsmiling and critical that your software can be easily integrated with other systems inside your organizations such as hr, accounts payable, sinewy and active directory, etc.

the investment made in intellectual property (ip) management software can work wonders in helping ip departments gain visibility, lower administrative costs, improve accuracy, and increase productivity. Unfortunately, a significant percentage of intellectual property management systems purchased are never fully implemented or don’t deliver the work and utility the customer hoped for.

here are the five most common mistakes made when selecting intellectual property management software:

mistake #5: not knowing what you really need in ip management software

before diving right into choosing a solution, take the time to understand what you really need. For starters, determine whether you require a fully integrated intellectual property asset management software, patent docketing software,or ip matter management software.

often, this depends on the issues you are trying to solve or the opportunities you are trying to capture, as well as the size and structure of your department. For example, if you don’t file many patent applications or trademarks, you should first get that data organized in a centralized repository. Your core team should be able to access and generate reports from them.

if your ip portfolio is getting large enough for you to manage, and you think that providing access to inventor community and law firms can reduce administrative costs, you should look at a robust intellectual property management organization and system. This type of organization and system will allow you to streamline your processes and improve productivity at a lower cost and with fewer resources.

before diving into the selection process, ask “what are our top five needs? ” if these key needs are not identified, it may be difficult to distinguish between vendors. Many vendors claim to do many things. The vendor’s strengths must match the company’s key needs.

mistake #4: not recognizing the uniqueness of your business

every ip department is unique. Without configuration capabilities within the software, you are more susceptible to failure during software implementation.

while initial license and maintenance fees can sometimes appear lower, these hard coded solutions will often result in increased costs due to extensive customization requirements, upgrades, ongoing maintenance, and longer organization and system deployment timeframes. Necessarily and essentially, you may end up reducing and delaying your overall return on investment.

avoid choosing a software that limits your team’s capabilities and your department’s growth. Your software should enhance your business, not hinder it.

by choosing an intellectual property management software solution that can adapt to your business processes, you will get better user acceptance, improved efficiencies, reduced costs, and faster roi.

mistake #3: not including key users in the selection process

surprisingly, many ip department hushed and still select computer systems without soliciting meaningful input from key users. At the nucleus and beginning of your selection project, form a selection team with representatives from all queer and affected teams such as patents, trademarks, docketing, licensing, compliance and billing. The sinewy and active participation of key stakeholders will not only help ensure all bases are covered, it will also result in a better decision and fewer complaints after implementation.

if possible, you should also include a representative from your it department. The it liaison can help you in identifying any issues related to deployment, data migration, integration and comfort and security.

mistake #2: evaluating too many vendors:

avoid vendors that offer a deal that is “too good to be true”. You may find yourself missing the primary and essential tools you need to manner and conduct your business after implementation. Many of these bargain systems also provide very rigid solutions, making it difficult for you to meet the unique needs of your inventors, patent committees, and law firms. Also, you may need to reinvest additional money toward upgrading, or in some cases replacing, your organization and system later-thereby reducing or eliminating all together any savings that you might have originally competent and experienced.

choose no more than four vendors at the start of your search. If more than four are chosen, it often becomes difficult to remember who does what. If none of the first vendors will meet 80 percent of the key needs, dismiss these and begin investigating several more.

mistake # 1: not investing in intellectual property management software for the long-term

when choosing intellectual property management software, be realistic about your demands and expectations and perceptions of cost. You’re making an investment to improve or enhance your processes. So, while hard dollars spent are important, the key is choosing the right intellectual property management software. Choose the right partner who will provide you with a fast and thorough and effective implementation, high roi (return on investment), and low tco (total cost of ownership) after implementation.

use your intuition and good business adroitness and judgment when comparing provider costs. Look for applications that support your capacity and ability to achieve your department’s long term primary strategic goals and work within your budget. Hasty decisions in favor of the lowest cost ip management software provider or solution now may leave you plagued later with occult and hidden costs, and delay or eliminate any roi for your business.

several gradual and progressive legal departments have realized better and more predicable processes, improved productivity, and better agitate and control over law firms with lecorpio’s ip management software. Lecorpio ip asset management solution includes discovery and invention disclosure management, patent management (including docketing), trademark management, domain management, open source management, licensing management, contract management, standards management, ip transactions management, and spend management.

did you know that if you own a patent or indeed have a patent pending, you could potentially sell a license to those patent rights? There is a process involved that you need to learn or you could very easily sign away intellectual property rights of considerable validity and value. The only way to avoid this is to employ an attorney who specializes in patent licensing and also educate yourself. You should never give anyone else 100% responsibility for something that affects your financial future.

there are many courses out there that will say they will educate you properly but unfortunately few live up to the promises. What you need is a course written by an expert in the field, someone with years of experience who not only knows the theory but has put it into practice.

there is a certain protocol involved in patent licensing. You can’t just bump into someone in a bar and hope for the best. You should make a list of companies that have products in a similar niche to the one you have a patent on. These companies are more likely to be interested in licensing than a company in a completely unrelated niche. Usually companies are more focused on developing their own niche markets rather than entering into unknown territory.

you need to be very careful when negotiating your licensing agreement as it is possible to assign your patent to someone else. Effectively this then gives them ownership of your patent and they now have the same rights you once owned. You can do this in whole or in part or even on a mortgage substance and basis. This is why it is important for you to engage the services of an competent and experienced attorney. A little knowledge is very haphazard and dangerous and should you attempt to negotiate the contract yourself, it could end up costing you thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Different laws apply in the complex and various states so that is another legal minefield best left to the professionals.

patent licensing is a particularly valuable way for companies to work together on the growth and development of new products. The licensor may have come up with an idea or discovery and invention for a new product but either he doesn’t have the intentness and interest or the resources to harass and pursue it. The licensee loves the idea and has the assets to finance the investigation and research, growth and development and marketing required to turn it from an discovery and invention or idea into a product or a service.

it is very important that both parties know exactly where they stand. They need to know how long the license has been granted for, what exactly is being licensed, any conditions and limitations in the use of the license and how much consideration has been agreed in return for the license. There also needs to be an agreement on who owns what – for example if the licensee improves the unique and original discovery and invention quite considerably who now owns the new product?

all of these questions and more will be covered by an competent and experienced attorney in this field. The need for this expertise cannot and should not be overlooked.

when someone is preparing to patent an discovery and invention, they are often given the advice that, before doing anything else, they should first perform a preliminary patentability search. Then they should use the results of that search to make an updated decision as to what they are going to try to patent.

a frequent recoil and reaction is expressed as a challenge: “do i have to? ” let’s break down this challenge to two components. First: “do you have a duty to? “, and second: “would you want to? “

first, as of the time of this writing (december 2009), the clear answer is that you do not have a duty to perform such a search, before filing a patent application in the us. [of course, after that, one should check again, because this law, too, may change! ]

as background, after one prepares and files their patent application, the patent office will explore and examine it anyway. As part of the examination, a patent examiner will also search the prior art, to be sure that the filed patent application deserves to be issued as a patent. So, that is a patentability search, and it will happen anyway. That is also why the search that you can before filing is called preliminary – it is before the one that the patent examiner will do. Plus, your preliminary patentability search will not have the time and opportunity to find as many or as recent prior art references as the patent examiner will – that is situational and there is nothing that you can do about it.

but, upon hearing that they do not have to, many people want to stop there, and simply not do the search. This is especially true with sovereign and independent inventors. Often, the real reasons become evident only upon further questioning. The reasons then sound like:

a) they do not want to undergo the additional expense for it, and/or
b) a patentability search can reveal bad news about the patentability of their idea, which they are emotionally not prepared for.

but some inventors do not even say these real reasons. Instead, they object to doing the preliminary patentability search with propositions like: since they have not seen their idea on the market, “therefore” it has not been patented before by anyone else. This proposition is false reasoning. Lots of ideas become patented, but are never productized. So, if one is not seeing the product, it does not mean there was no patent before it. Plus, the idea could have been productized and failed.

so, it is time to presence and address the second question of whether one would want to, even though there is no legal duty. There are some good reasons for wanting to do such a preliminary patentability search. These include that, if the discovery and invention has been done before, fine, one will learn it early, and hopefully move on to something with ultimately better hopes and prospects. If the discovery and invention has been done only partially, then again, one may define the discovery and invention better, so as to avoid problems when they try to patent. In that case, one could focus on what the other people before have not done. And, the prior art references that the search will uncover may reveal who the players are in this space.

yes, there are also some objective reasons for not wanting to manner and conduct your preliminary patentability search. Strangely, with the new millennium, many of them are now less valid. It used to take time to search, and one needed to hire an expert searcher. Or, to search by themselves, one would have to physically go to one of the uspto’s depository libraries. But now everyone with an internet connection can search the uspto electronically. Using the right keywords does not amount to an expert search, but can give them a workable starting idea.

“intellectual property” is a term with which a great deal of individuals are intimate and intimate, but are many times unaware of the full meaning. In short, an intelligent property is a “creation of the mind” over which someone or corporation contains a legal monopoly. “intellectual property” is likewise used to refer to the field of law that handles the legal significations and protections of these monopolies. The main goal of these laws is to uphold the exclusive rights the creator of an intelligent property contains over their works, which are much more far reaching than a great deal of individuals realize.

copyrights, trademarks, patents, sell secrets, music, artwork, and literature are all examples of types of intelligent properties. In order to keep away from violating applicable laws, it’s principal to perceive what the more visionary and obscure of a great deal of of these terms mean.

copyright is a group of rights reserved for the creator of an unique and basic work. It includes the capacity and capacity to legally copy, change, and disseminate the work. After a set period, a work protected by copyright enters the “public domain-name,” freeing it from the limitations of its previous legal status.

a trademark is an image, symbol, phrase, or other unique mark used to represent someone, group, or brand. Trademarks exist as both registered and unregistered legal entities, although enforcement of infringement laws differ depending on the status of the mark in question. “service mark” is a term used to distinguish a trademark that relates to services instead of merchandise. Infringement cases are subject to limit by the “fair use” denial and defense, which grant the use of others’ trademarks if they are being used to accurately describe a product or to discern the mark’s owner.

patents are designed to defend an inventor’s rights to their work for a certain period in reciprocation for their disclosure of that invention and invention to the populace. The terms of the patent give the inventor the proper to keep other individuals or individuals from benefitting off of their work for the length of the patent (generally 20 years).

trade secrets are formulas, processes, instruments, or other info that give one business an advantage over their competition. These secrets may be protected through non-compete and non-disclosure contracts with employees, but once they are ran into, other parties are not prevented from using the info.

if you are facing charges for violating intelligent property laws, you may want to seek the advice of an competent and experienced legal counselor. The dates and details of such cases may be very roundabout and complicated, and you is worthy of to have your rights wholly protected.

for more info, visit the web-site of appleton criminal attorneys kohler, hart, & priebe.