A trademark can give its owner a monopoly over use of a range of items that comprise its brand – a certain word, phrase, logo, slogan, sound, or even a smell. As any business owner knows, each of these may be an essential component of a company’s brand. However, good...
You have probably invested time and money into getting your trademark registration. In keeping the registration alive, you need to know how to renew a trademark to protect your valuable asset. How Long Does a U.S. Trademark Last? Rights in a federally registered...
Can You Trademark a Logo? Yes, you can trademark any distinctive logo with particular graphics and stylized features. A logo represents your company, coincides with your brand, helps you advertise, and builds and maintains your reputation. This guide will explain how...
Can You Trademark a Phrase? Any business can trademark a phrase used with their products or services. Trademarks can include any catchphrases, slogans, taglines, or mottos, including combinations of different words. If you want to trademark a phrase, your company must...
Any business or brand should consider trademark cost as a business investment. A trademark has tremendous value as companies continue to expand online and globally. As you build your brand or business, establishing a trademark becomes essential. Technology helps...
Ready to take your invention to market? You may need to explore paths to commercialization. There are two common paths: one is to license the innovation to an established company and the other is to sell your product or service directly to the market. A company must...
Scope of subject matterCopyright can also protect creative works that are often thought of as protectable under other intellectual property rights. To name a few examples, the software is sometimes eligible for patent protection; aspects of a website and the original...
On January 18, 2017, the Supreme Court heard oral argument for Lee v. Tam.[1] In this case, the Supreme Court will review whether the 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a) of the Lanham Act, which prohibits the registration of disparaging trademarks, is facially invalid...
A party is liable for inducing infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) if it knowingly causes another party to perform the acts of infringement. Because knowledge of infringement is a requirement for inducing infringement, the inducer’s good faith belief that the...
Patent law protects rights in new and non-obvious inventions. More than this, it provides the owner of the patent with an exclusive monopoly on the invention in the market for a period of time. The ability to prevent competitors from practicing an...
Software patents often include method claims, where inventiveness generally depends on the functionality of the software rather than unique hardware structures. However, if not properly claimed, the value of method claims can be significantly diminished,...
Part 2 of our discussion of the Lexmark case focuses on the ability to contract around the doctrine of patent exhaustion. Current law prevents a patent holder from suing a customer for using a product that the patent holder sold to the customer. ...
On June 16, 2015, the Federal Circuit decided Williamson v. Citrix, changing its position on means-plus-function claims. Because this case has potentially significant impacts on the validity and scope of software patent applications, we are providing this memo to...
The Federal Circuit will soon decide whether the patent exhaustion doctrine, which limits the extent U.S. patent owners can control patented articles after they are sold, is applicable when the sale occurs outside the U.S. Under current Federal Circuit...
On December 5, 2014, the Supreme Court granted a petition for writ of certiorari for Commil, USA, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc. The Supreme Court will hear the case on March 31, 2015. The Court will review whether a defendant’s belief that a patent is...
