Hawaii Intellectual Property Legal Questions

Plagurizing is not a crime, so there is no statute of limitations. If you wanted to go after them for fraud or misappropriation, the statute of limitations is different in every state, so you'd need to determine in which state(s) you could bring an action and review the statute of limitations on these torts in those states. If you wanted to go after them for copyright infringement, you could go after them for any activity that took place within 3 years of bringing suit (which would include sales over the past 3 years). The statute of limitations clock normally begins when you knew or should have known of the activity giving rise to your complaint. If they wrote the book in 2008, but did not publish until 2013, such that you could only have known about the activity for the past year, writing the book in 2008 does not save them. If you think you have a case, you should find a local lawyer who will meet with you for 15-20 minutes to help determine if you have a case based on the specific facts and whether the amount you could collect makes moving forward with a complaint worthwhile. Good luck, Todd... Read Answer

Hi Ken, If you are buying the curriculum and you are buying the book, I'm not clear on what other IP rights might be possessed by the author that you are purchasing. If I were to teach a class at our local law school, I could assign a text book and the students would need to buy it. The author's revenue would come entirely from the purchase of the text book. If you are starting a school, you have other classes. I would make arrangements to buy books for those other classes and see if those books are purchased without the extra fee for "IP rights". All knowledge comes from experience. Good luck, Todd... Read Answer

Attorneys are supposed to hold files in escrow for their client. If requested, the client's files should be handed over without charge. I would ask your state's Bar Association to intevene on your behalf. If you feel files have been destroyed, I would similarly report that to your state's Bar Association for redress. Good luck, Todd... Read Answer

You are entitled to use your company name in the geographical area in which you do business, but you are not entitled to register your company name as a federal trademark to obtain exclusive rights to use the company name in the whole United States unless you use the trademark in interstate commerce.  Furthermore, if you know that someone else is using the same name for substantially the same goods and services, you cannot register the trademark in the US Trademark Office because that would cause confusion and the public would think the two companies are related.  If the other company sells very different goods or services and there is no likelihood of confusion between your use of the company name and their use of the same company name, then you may be able to register your company name in the U.S. Trademark Office, but you could not prevent the other company from using the same name on their different goods or services.  An example of using the same name for different goods or services is Delta Airlines and Delta faucets.  Another requirement for registering a trademark is that the mark has to be distinctive, it cannot be descriptive.  For example, you could not register a trademark BEST WHOLESALE PLUMBING SUPPLIES because the trademark simply tells what you are selling, and the word "best" is not distinctive.  You would not be allowed to obtain exclusive rights in a trademark that simply describes your goods or services. This answer is intended to educate you about trademarks and does not constitute legal advice specific to your situation.  No attorney-client relationship is created by this answer.  You should consult an attorney who practices trademark law to obtain legal advice about your set of facts.... Read Answer