QUESTION
hi i have a question on whether i should go to a patent attorney or not?
Asked on May 13th, 2015 on Patents - New York
More details to this question:
i currently have a patent pending on a product that i invented. this past week i noticed some pictures that i have taken in my home on another persons facebook page in another state, and a facebook association page as well. after commenting on his personal page(not anything about my pictures), he deleted my photos, he even used my description as his own, but has now changed the wording, and they are still on his association page. he is making it look like these are his pictures. he also has a made a product like mine, (not exactly, though). He is selling his product. I never mentioned that they are from my home, so they remain there. do i have any legal rights?
1 ANSWER
First of all, it appears that you have a copyright issue, not a patent one. Unless you registered your pictures with the Copyright Office within 90 days of putting them up on your website, you have lost the right to statutory damages and attorney's fees, but you could still get an injunction against use of your pictures. It appears that you are indicating that the other person is using your information pictures on his website to sell a competing product to one that you are selling. If that is the case, you potentially could also have a case for unfair competition. i suggest that you contact an attorney who specializes in copyright and unfair competition cases to discuss your situation with in greater detail.
Answered on May 13th, 2015 at 12:12 PM