Intellectual Property Legal Questions

A design mark that is simply a version of the word mark is examined and in virtually the same manner as if you had not filed a desing at all.  the primary difference is that the stylized version of the word offers you less protection than if you sinmply file a trademark without claiming any of the stylized elements.  A standard character mark, where you do not claim any design elements, if registerted, provides you with the broadest possible protecting, effectively claiming all styles, fonts, colors, and versions of the words themselves.... Read More

In general term the owner of the copyright is the creator not the person who pay for the creation. As a result of that many agreements with artists, developers or software engineers have included a clause to transfer the copyright interest in the work to the person who hires the services of the creator of a work, for instance, a software. That said, there are additional considerations to make, which cannot be all addressed here. This article may help https://www.ayalamateus.com/who-owns-the-intellectual-property-rights-of-a-creative-work. Additionally, platforms like Fiverr do not get involved in a transaction with a freelancers and will not protect your intellectual property or help you with the enforcement of any agreement. Additionally, under Fiver terms and conditions users give to Fiverr an unconditional nonexclusive unlimited license. Whether those terms are enforcement may be subject to debate. However, I don't think you want to create your software to spend years in court. ... Read More

The copyright in the molds extends to the molds.  You could not copy and sell the molds themselves.  However, the molds are sold with the intention that people use them to create articles.  The rights of the copyright holder of the mold design do not extend to the articles created with the mold. That said, as I advise all parties who base a business on intellectual property, you should obtain a private opinion upon which you can rely that is specific to your facts from an intellectual property attorney in your jurisdiction.  A short, relatively inexpensive consultation should suffice.  Obtain a quote for the servife in advance.... Read More

Royalties charged for the use of intellectual property vary widely.  If an intellectual property is foremost in defining or providing the functionality of a product or service, the royalty fee may be a substantial percentage of the revenue received for the product or service by the licensee.  Alternatively, if the licensed IP is merely incidential to the covered product or service, the royalty payment is typically a much smaller portion of the gross revenue for the covered item. Payment terms also may vary.  In come cases, a substantial sum is paid up front when the license is granted.  In many cases, royalties are simply paid periodically as a percentage of sales.  Many royaltiy agreeements combinde minimum periodic payments with additional remitance of a percentage of sales. Carefully drafted royalty agreements focus on gross sales of the licensee rather than profits of the licensee, because determination of gross sales is much more ascertainable than a determination of profits (profit figures can be manipulated with clever bookkeeping, while gross sales are pretty easily verified). I am available to review your royalty arrangement and offer an opinion whether, in light of the facts particular to your case, the arrangement seems fair and workable. Anthony Claiborne Claiborne Intellectual Property Law Services 425.533.6132... Read More

I will be happy to provide you with advice and guidance on your question.  No membership is required.  However, without knowing the scope of the question, I cannot determine the level of effort required to provide an answer.  I do provide a free initial consultation, and for many questions we can reach an anwer in the initial consultation, without any charges. Here's what I propose.  Why don't we have an initial consultation?  You will present your question and I, without answering it, will provide you with a quote, if there would be any charges at all for delving into the question.  If my quote is acceptable to you, you can engage me to answer your question. Regards, Anthony Claiborne Claiborne Intellectual Property Law Services 425-533-6132... Read More

Theft of intellectual property is in the legal category of "tort".  The statute of limitations for a tort suit begins usually when the harm is discoverd.  If you discovered the theft farther back than your state's statute of limitations, it's likely you may not be able to recover for theft of IP.  Your question says you are in Colorado.  The Colorado statute of limitations for this kind of tort is generally two years. Depending on the value of your IP, it may well be worth your while to hire a Colorado attorney for private consultation on this matter.  Getting a professional opinion on SOL questions should be relatively inexpensive.... Read More

You took the photograph, and normally this automatically creates a copyright that your own in the photograph.  This right allows you to exclude unlicensed parties from copying, creating derivative works or publicly displaying your photograph. However, photo contests in which contestants provide photos are usually conducted with the expectation that the contest holders will publish some of the photos that are provided.  With this in mind, the parties that conduct such contests usually have some sort of agreement that entrants sign that gives the parties running the contest the right to reproduce photos that have been submitted. Do you have copies of your original entry materials from 2014?  If you did not grant the Smithsonian the right to reproduce your photo, this matter may merit further efforts on your part and retaining an intellectual property law attorney for private consultation. Regards, Anthony Claiborne 425-533-6132 ... Read More

The protection of your trade name depends on several factors. They include: Whether there is any other organization that owns the federal trademark offering similar goods and/ or services? Whether there is any state trademark registered with the secretary of the state (SOS) office offering similar goods and/or services? Whether your common-law mark "Blue Nile Organics" is generic, descriptive in nature? To resolve the above questions, you need to get a comprehensive trademark search report with the help of a trademark attorney. After reviewing the report, any trademark attorney can tell you whether your mark has a chance to get a federal trademark registration. Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/trademark-attorney/... Read More

The "right of publicity" is a type of intellectual property that is relevant for answering your question. I see that you are from California. The right of publicity is state law specific and changes from one to another. Every individual has a right of publicity and a right to protect their name, and likeness. Sometimes right of publicity extends posthumously. A California right of publicity attorney can help you with this question. Best of luck. Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

Misappropriation of confidential organization information is a loss of intellectual property. This misappropriation is most probably a breach of your employment agreement. In some instances based on your planned disclosure to third parties, you may become criminally liable. Hire an attorney who has expertise in trade secret law and some criminal law in your ex-employer work location state.  Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

As long as the comparison is truthful and you can prove with empirical data. You may have seen cellular service provider corporation advertisements. They compare with competitor speed, coverage in the advertisement based on the third party assessment tool. Sometimes, these advertisements may be slightly misleading. These are big corporations and will be able to defend themselves from claims of slightly misleading content. Totally misleading advertisement with no factual basis is illegal and most probably get sued by Federal Trademark Commission (i.e., F.T.C.) and competitor. Your best shot would be to find an expert third party independent company in your product category of the industry. Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

There are a lot of ifs and buts in your question. If you are an inventor or co-inventor who works for an organization full-time or contract, then your employment contract determines the ownership of the patent. Sometimes, if the inventor organization is a university, then they may let the inventor contributor have a percentage of royalty based on the intellectual property licensing agreement. Most of the time, the inventor organization who you work for becomes the owner of the patent. You only become the exclusive owner of an invention when you invent something outside of your office hours using own resources and tools without any help from employer intellectual property.  Based on the above-stated answer about ownership of a patent, please make an informed decision about patent licensing.  Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

Yes, the third party cannot apply for a patent based on your public disclosure. You have one year to apply for a patent from the date of disclosure. Best of luck. Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

When something becomes available to the public either through implicit or explicit disclosure, then it becomes part of the prior art for patent purposes. The disclosure can be a publication for everyone to access on a webpage, technology-related journal publication, or otherwise available to the public. See 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1). Therefore, any of the above public disclosures or other means may make it part of the prior art.  Even though you want your invention to be open-source, you can still financially incentivize it in the form of intellectual property licensing. If this is open-source software, then you can license your software for free as long as the non-exclusive licensee (that is a user of license) complies with the terms of the license. Many open-source software providers are highly successful by licensing. Consult an intellectual property attorney for licensing your open-source work. Disclosure: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

Based on what you have stated, it is plausible to use three small quotes with proper attribution in an endnote. These three small quotes come under copyright "fair use," which is a defense for copyright infringement. You are giving credit to the copyright owner, and the amount of copied quotes is minuscule to your total work. Yes, you can sell your work for profit while using three quotes with attribution from copyrighted content. Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

You may pursue trademarks for the two products and educational services. The two types of trademarks that are suitable in this situation include the name-based trademark. Another one is a service-based trademark, which is based on educational services. Before you choose the product name, conduct a comprehensive trademark search with the help of a trademark attorney. This comprehensive search must include federal USPTO trademark databases, state trademark databases, and common law. Based on this search, any trademark attorney will give you a search-based legal analysis about the possibility of trademark registration. Trademark registration is a 6-9 month process and you should be patient with the USPTO process. You are the owner of any work-for-hire copyrightable work. You may pursue copyright based on the "original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression." See 17 U.S.C. § 102 (a). I need more information to state whether you may pursue copyright solely on design.  Patent eligible subject matter includes "any new and useful process, the machine, manufacture, or composition of matter" may obtain a patent." See 35 U.S.C. §101. Abstract ideas are not protected under patent law. Any research material that is already available to the public in some form and utilizing slide charts may be abstract and not patent-eligible. I need more information to determine whether there is any more patent-eligible subject matter that you pursue. Good luck!   Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

Owning a domain name does not give you an intellectual property right or right to the trademark. If you are using the trademarked words in commerce on your domain, and you were the first to use those words with respect to the goods and services being marketed, you may be able to object to another person obtaining the mark based on common law trademark rights. With that said, if the other party was first, and the other party has a registered mark, it is possible that you  will need to relinquish your domain or simply be required to cease and desist use. There are a lot of factors to consider in this area including whether your site and domain actually infringe the registered mark. Simply having a domain does not mean it infringes and it is possible, especially if you were first, that the mark holder will not be able to force turn over.  With that said, we have forced turnover on behalf of clients who own marks when a domain was acquired and is being used to confuse and interfere with our client's trademark rights.  This is a comples area of intellectual property law and you should obtain the advice of a lawyer with knowledge and experience in e-commerce, intellectual property and UDRP procedures. ... Read More

If the PicRights image required a license to use, it may very well be entitled to a license fee for past use, but I do not know how they came up with the proposed fee of $1245.  You should review PicRights Terms of Use on their website to learn more about what they do and do not allow with their images.  Feel free to reach out to us if you need more assistance.... Read More