It is unfortunate that other Intellectual Property vehicles, such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks, do not always do the job of protecting an innovator’s intellectual assets. In certain circumstances, though…

There are many situations when obtaining a patent is not practical. For example, if the inventor has been publicly selling or disclosing the invention for more than a year, then…

Trademarks, which identify products or goods, and service marks, which identify services, are source identifiers. When you are driving, and you see a restaurant that has distinct looking yellow arches,…

One of the most common defenses to a charge that a copyright is being infringed is the defense of fair use. US copyright law, via the doctrine of fair use,…

I would generally say yes for simple registrations (unless you are not confident in your ability to navigate a website and upload a document) and no for more complicated registrations.…

A copyright is a legal construct that allows its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work. Unlike patents, which are generally directed either to the function…

US issued patents can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-adv.htm. It can be a bit tricky at first to navigate this site (e.g., searching a patent number has to be typed in…

The claims of utility patent set the metes and bounds of protection for the invention. They define an intellectual space. If a competing product is inside of that space, it…

As an initial matter, I would note that no matter how good the invention is, there is never a guarantee that it will result in a patent being issued by…

Even if you were the first person to invent something, that fact will not preclude someone else from procuring a patent on your invention. A few years back the United…