Category Archives: Intellectual Property
Startups and Trademarks
You and your friends have discussed, with increasing enthusiasm, your idea for a new business. Maybe you want to produce an app, or maybe a restaurant pairing different cuisines. You know what you are going to do, and how you are going to do it, but you also know that you will be cash-strapped, with […]
Congress Saves Social Media by Nixing the Non-Disparagement Clause
As it has exploded into prominence, social media is a regular fixture in the legal news. Entire generations live through their social media links, finding friends, products, and restaurants online. Instead of a single review from a newspaper or magazine, you get feedback from actual regular customers – sometimes in the hundreds. Non-Disparagement Clauses. As […]
FOR $6, YOU CAN BE AN AGENT!
Secret Agent. Not a Copyright Agent. Photo courtesy of Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANeFo), 1945-1989 I’m going to be honest. Procedural requirements are important, but man, they are boring to read about. So when you can be an agent registered with the government, it’s exciting – so long as […]
Update Your Privacy Policy NOW
It’s understandable if you don’t think that website privacy policies are not on the top of your newsfeed. Apparently, Google, the world’s most popular website, changed its website’s privacy policy in June 2016, and nobody noticed. However, that anonymity may change soon, because the California Attorney General’s office is now providing a complaint form that […]
Getting a Notice from Your ISP
It’s been a long day. You pull the snail mail out of its box. You find a letter from your ISP, your internet service provider. Maybe it’s a special offer to such a loyal customer? You open it and find a notice that your subscriber information has been subpoenaed as part of a lawsuit for […]
A Tilted Playing Field: Copyright Infringement and Attorneys’ Fees
In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread. […]
New Obligations to Defend Your Trade Secrets
On Wednesday, May 11, 2016, President Obama signed into law the “Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016,” which provides an extraordinarily strong civil seizure provision – and an important notice requirement to employees, contractors and consultants that all employers who even think they have trade secrets should add to their contracts and employee handbooks. This […]
Dive On In, Justice Thomas!
by: Andrew K Jacobson On February 1st, the New York Times published “It’s Been 10 Years. Would Clarence Thomas Like to Add Anything?”, about the impending anniversary of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ last question to a lawyer appearing before the highest court in the land. Justice Thomas says that he wants to give counsel […]
PreIssuance Submissions
— Third Party Challenges to Pending Patent Applications — — New Procedure Under the America Invents Act — By: Sharon Adams November 14, 2014 One addition to U.S. patent law provided by the American Invents Act is the ability for a third party to challenge a pending patent application. See, 35 […]
Call of Duty — to Protect the Right of Publicity?
By: Sharon Adams Oct. 23, 2014 The recent case of Noriega v. Activision Blizzard presents the question: Does infamy give rise to the right of publicity? Manuel Noriega, the former Panamanian dictator, filed suit against Activision Blizzard, Inc. in July of this year, claiming that Activision’s use of his image […]
