Intellectual Property Legal Questions

It is possible that this company is violating your trademark, although infringement in this case is dependent upon a number of factors, including which business has priority (who started using the mark first), how strong ElectroRide is as a trademark (vis a vis third parties using similar marks in a similar field and also depending on the descriptive nature of the wording ElectroRide as used in connection with electric products like bikes, etc...), and the relatedness of the services offered by both businesses.  There are a number of other factors that should be considered as well, but these few factors will help to focus the analysis.  Let me know if you need any help.  You should seek the advice of a lawyer here.... Read More

You do not appear to have either a copyright claim or a trademark claim. For a copyright claim, there would have to be copying and this could not occur if the other company never saw your work. Furthermore, short phrases are not protectable by copyright which is multiple books and songs have the same title. As for trademarks, to be have a claim, there would have to be a likelihood of confusion, which is not the case for a book or movie title relative a mining and metals company. Moreover, without a trademark registration in Mauritius, you would have no trademark rights to enforce there.  ... Read More

If this truly occurred, you need to file a grievance with the state bar association (you can do this yourself without an attorney), and if the bar association rules that the attorney violated his obligations to you, you can then get an attorney to file a law suit against the attorney and his firm seeking financial damages.... Read More

The old world practice constitutes copyright infringement and doing the same digitally would be as well. A "derivative work" as such a work that is based on another work is called requires the consent of the copyright owner. The origin work would have to be changed so greatly as to be virtually unrecognizable for the copyright not to apply. At best, minor traces of the original could be retained.... Read More

The answer to your question is yes you can license your trademark, but in doing so, you must exercise control over the use of the mark and can become liable for the acts of your licensee. For example, if the comic book contains a contest or endorsement, or libelous statement which results in a lawsuit, you could be named as a party in the lawsuit have to account for damages if you did not exercise sufficient control. However, assuming you do license the trademark, the license agreement should state that use of the mark enures to your benefit, and then, you could register your mark for comic books even though you don't sell comic books yourself.... Read More

Your question is a bit hard to answer in the abstract. If the name is an original one, and the other party is in Canada, there is probably very little risk unless you are in a "related-industry" scenario. Much will depend if the Canadian firm is doing business in the US. You could try to obtain the consent, but if they don't know about your existance it might be like waking a sleeping dog. ... Read More

If you are truly talking about the circuit drawing, that is something that you would register as a copyright, and not patent. If, on the other hand, you really mean what a circuit does, that may be something for which can obtain a patent. You need to consult with an Intellectual Property Attorney who can advise you on your specific situation.... Read More

Yes, they may in fact have a legitimate claim. The artist is the owner of an image s/he created. It may have been assigned to Getty and Getty may have the right to enforce the copyright. Getty is very aggressive about going after businesses who use their photos. We have successfully represented businesses  in defending their use. If your picture was taken by your photographer and you bought the rights, or you have a license agreement, or possibly your website developer has a license agreement, you may have a good defense. If not, sometimes we are able to help businesses negotiate a better solution with Getty. ... Read More

The answer about a lawsuit is that it depends.  The use of your likeness and your trademark will implicate trademark law.  An investigation will need to be made to determine who owns any trademark for your name (character) and if any registrations have been made.  Then, we would need to see about what rights may have bee assigned to the (WWF and its successsor, WWE).  Most times the wrestlers signed away their rights to their names (think Dwayne Johnson [who got to use his name "the Rock" for his first couple of movies, but in return, Vince was an Executive Producer]).  An exception was athletes like Steve Austin who contractually retained the rights to his name.  So, there may be a lawsuit, it may be that we discover the contracts that were signed giving them the rights.  There would at least be an answer. This answer is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice or a recommended course of action in any given situation. This answer is not intended to be, and should not be, relied upon by the recipient in making decisions of a legal nature with respect to the issues discussed herein. The recipient is encouraged to consult independent counsel before making any decisions or taking any action concerning the matters in this answer. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship between the author (John R. LaBar)/Henry, McCord, Bean, Miller, Gabriel & LaBar, P.L.L.C. and the recipient.  ... Read More

No, you are not required to voluntarilly provide such information as " the date of the sales, quantity, price, and name and location of customer made by you or for you- ". Of course, should they institute litigation, they may be able to obtain such information via discovery. In this case, since you have terminated all of the acts they have complained of, it is highly unlikely that they would institute litigation since the costs could exceed anything that they might hope to recover assuming that you have not had a hugh volume of sales and they might not even be correct in their assertions of trademark infringement (you have not indicated whether your mark was  identical to theirs and for essentially the same goods, or whether you had prior knowledge of the other party's trademark).... Read More

The copyright in a work grants several separate rights to the owner of the copyright. Mere ownership of a work does not give the owner of the work the right to reproduce that work. Since the artist in this case is deceased, you would need to contact owner of the copyright in the work of art (which may or may not be the heirs of the artist) to acquire the right to reproduce it. This presumes that the work of art is not old enough for the copyright in the work to have expired, for example, a work created in the 19th century or earlier, in which case you would be free to make copies.... Read More

Not enough information is provided about the case, but you really should not attempt to defend the law suit on your own without the assistance of a lawyer. However, to answer your question, it is too soon to file a motion to dismiss. In the Answer to the Complaint, for those allegations that you believe are in correctyou simply state that they are denied, for the allegations that you believe are correct you simply state that they are correction and for the allegations that you believe do not have sufficient information to either deny or accept, you simply so state.  In your answer, you also have to set forth your counterclaims if you have any and in some types of cases, some counterclaim must be included in the Answer or your right to assert them is lost. Again, you really should not proceed on your own.... Read More

Copyright of work made by an employee normally belongs completely to the employer.  Copyright of work made by an independent contractor normally belongs to the independent contractor unless there is a written "work made for hire" agreement transferring the rights to the employer. ... Read More