Nebraska Patents Legal Questions

You should really have an attorney help you. It is so easy to make simple mistakes that can ruin everything or cost you money you shouldn't spend. Many of those simple mistakes can't be fixed. See below for an overview of the trademark process: The trademark process can feel counter-intuitive. However, it secures your longest lasting intellectual property that can grow to be your largest single asset. The trademark process can last indefinitely because as long as you keep using your brand and keep your registration healthy, you own it potentially forever. Most of the work is in the first couple of years or so and it covers four different steps. The rest is just keeping your registration renewed and strengthened. Plan on spending between about $2,500 - $4,000 during this first part of the process and about $1,500 every five to ten years to keep the registration healthy. The first step is the due diligence step. While this step is optional, it can be critical to your success and can save you tens of thousands of dollars if not more. In this step you look around to see if your brand is something you can own. You should do some free looking yourself on the internet and in magazines, trade shows and etc. in your relevant market, first. Then have a professional search done. The search typically takes about two to three weeks to complete. As long as the search results look good, you can move to the next step. The second step is the application step, where we prepare and file a trademark application. This step usually takes anywhere from two to three weeks, on average. This is where we carefully describe you, your brand and your goods and services in just the right way to make your rights very clear. Once this step is complete, you have a pending trademark application and don?t have to worry about someone registering your brand after the filing. The third step is the negotiation step. Some trademark applications are initially rejected but I would say that more than half skip this step altogether. If the application is rejected we then have to convince the Examiner at the trademark office that they will not get into trouble by allowing your trademark. This step usually takes three to eighteen months and there is no guarantee that you will make it through. Sometimes the rejections are very simple to overcome and sometimes they are the start of a big struggle. Doing a search first helps you avoid the big struggle. But, if we successfully overcome the rejection, you will have your trademark and move on to the next step. The fourth and final step is the allowance and maintenance step. In this step there are certain requirements to obtain registration and keep it strong and healthy. If you have not already proven your use of your brand to the Trademark Office, this is when you will be required to do so. There is a fee to pay when you prove this use. Also, around five years and around ten years from obtaining your registration, there are renewals to file along with other filings that strengthen your rights. There are government fees that go along with these as well. After that, there are renewals to make every ten years. You cannot pay early and you cannot pay too late or you lose your rights, so it is critical to keep track of deadlines and keep in contact with your attorney so that nothing is missed. If you are able to go through all these steps successfully, you will have a trademark that lasts for as long as you are in business and that is a great asset to have.... Read More

You are obligated by law to provide support, including housing, for any minor child until he or she reaches the age of majority in your state of residence. However, if you are concerned for your and your daughter's safety, check the yellow pages of your local phone book for organizations that deal with children with anger issues or who threaten violence. If you can, get your son in for a thorough medical checkup and tell the doctor about your son's threats beforehand. Talk with your school's counselors and your son's teachers and see if they're seen the same kind of threatening behavior. Call your area's mental health agency and ask for advice.... Read More

You own a copyright in your poem from the moment you complete the original work in a tangible medium (in this case a computer file, or hand-written copy). A copyright registration is not required to enforce your rights in the work, but it would give you procedural advantages during enforcement, * e.g.*, a presumption of validity, access to broader remedies, particularly attorney's fees. It is unclear from your statement of the problem whether you have a copyright registration or not. So, assuming you have a valid copyright in the work, which you will have to prove, and there is actual copying that you can prove by the inf-ringer, you might be able to prevail in a copyright infringement suit. However, the damages, if any, that you might be entitled to might be so minimal that it might cost more to seek a remedy through the courts than it is worth. As always, it is best to consult an attorney so that he/she can ascertain all of the material facts in your particular case and perform legal research to see what your likely outcome will be before proceeding with a copyright infringement lawsuit. But, unless your poem is making bank for the infringer, I doubt it would be worth your trouble.... Read More

It would depend upon the scope of the exclusivity provisions of the license agreement itself. If you and your company are located in Ohio, I would be happy to review this with you. The Lawson Firm, LLC (hereinafter referred to as "TLF") does not claim expertise in the laws of jurisdictions other than those in which our attorneys are licensed.... Read More

If you buy it from the seller and include in the purchase agreement that you will be private labeling the product, that will handle intellectual property issues (generally). As for other issues (FDA, state requirements, EPA, etc.) that really depends on the details of the products, the market, and specific laws and regulations.... Read More

Based on the little information you provided, probably not. If the police are involved in a criminal investigation, they are likely going to keep secret any information they obtain until a trial, at which time the infornation will become public. You would have no claim to their work even though it was based on an image you created until it is released in the public records.... Read More

Best is to contact the small claims court of the jurisdiction you live in. Each of the small claims court will have a package to give you that will guide you along the way. If you talk to the clerk for small claims court they will usually answer your questions as to how to accomplish the filing - BUT they will not give you legal advice.... Read More

As long as you are not using the manufacturer's name or trademark as part of your advertising or marketing, you should be able to use basic, generic products in your laundry soap without concern. If you are making a large volume of laundry soap and other products, you will most likely be buying in bulk from either the manufacturer or a wholesaler with the understanding by all parties that the materials will be combined and sold as a new product. However, if you are using a well-known product as the basis of your soap and merely adding coloring, scents, etc., you may be violating the manufacturer or owner's intellectual property rights to control the distribution of its product, whether you refer to the product by name or not. Other legal concerns: your recipe cannot duplicate one that is currently patented, copyrighted, or otherwise protected manufactured products intended for human use may be regulated by various federal and state government agencies such as the FDA... Read More