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I’m often asked the question, what is the difference between a design patent and a utility patent, and what do they cover? Because they are two distinct patents, and they cover two distinct areas. A design patent covers the ornamental beauty of something. And maybe we should discuss this best understood with an example. What Read More

Is there a class of individuals who get copyrights above others? My answer is really not. I mean, it’s the obvious. You’ve got musicians, you’ve got TV production, but you also have books, people who create books, authors, you have photographers, you even have architects. I mean, people who do design work, that’s copyrightable, that’s Read More

The process of obtaining a design patent is quite different. What’s most important are the drawings, because the protection actually comes right from the drawing that we submit to the patent office. Whereas every patent has claims, a design patent claim refers back to the drawing. In a utility patent, the claims are in words. Read More

To begin with, there are two types of patents. There are design patents and utility patents. And the patents that people normally think about are utility patents. It can be a mechanical, electrical, a chemical patent. Design patents are quite different. They cover the shape of an item. And when you’re product can be protected Read More

A provisional patent application is a little bit of a misnomer. It truly is not a patent, but it gives you the rights to get a patent. The advantage in why should I get a provisional patent application? First of all, a provisional patent application lasts for only one year. At the end of that Read More

Your product is now known as the generic version of the goods. And the best example we’re going to use, I don’t know if most of you remember in the seventies, you did not say, “I want to get a copy of this made.” You would say, “can you get me a Xerox?” Well, Xerox Read More

People run into this, run into awkward situations where a mark is either originally was deceptive, misleading, or scandalous, or it just so happens that somebody makes a slang word out of their mark and suddenly what was an innocent mark suddenly becomes known as something that’s not acceptably socially. That way is another way Read More

Another way of losing your mark is something called naked licensing. I become fairly popular with my mark. My mark becomes desirable. I decide to franchise. So I’m McDonald’s, I go out and I have a bunch of new McDonald’s restaurants. However, in my franchise agreement, I do nothing that regards the quality of the Read More

Now, another way to lose the mark is I don’t police my mark in a marketplace. For instance, I become aware of a few other companies that are using my mark, but I say, eh, doesn’t bother me. Either it’s not that close or it’s a big enough marketplace, or maybe they’re on a different Read More