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In our rapidly evolving world, innovation is the cornerstone of success for businesses both large and small. And at the heart of this innovation lies a critical asset, trade secrets. These invaluable pieces of confidential information give companies a competitive edge, enabling them to develop groundbreaking products, services, and strategies. Trade secrets encompass a wide Read More

I am often asked if one can protect a slogan per se, namely just the words by themselves. For example, the word three-peat has been used in sports to identify winning three championships in a row. In general, slogans themselves cannot be protected under either trademark or copyright laws. However, a slogan can receive trademark Read More

It’s important to be cautious when sharing your invention with others. By revealing your invention, you may put your intellectual property rights at risk. The more you reveal about your invention, the more likely another person can steal or copy it. To protect your invention, you should consider filing for a patent. If you have Read More

Now inevitably some people will violate the terms of an NDA even if they sign it. It’s therefore once again important to know who you’re entrusting with your invention. It’s also important to establish a confidential relationship with the customer if your invention is not patentable and customers won’t sign an NDA. If you have Read More

You’ve likely heard the term intellectual property or IP, and you might have asked yourself, “what exactly is IP?” Here’s a definition. IP is creative works or ideas that are embodied in a form that can be shared or that enable others to recreate, emulate, or manufacture them. Here they are. Patents, trademarks, copyrights, and Read More

Under the Paris Convention of 1919, an applicant who filed in one member country can file a national application in one or more other member countries within one year of the original filing date. The foreign applications obtain this right of priority so that your effective foreign filing date is the same as your U.S. Read More

It is important to be cautious when sharing your invention with others. By revealing your invention to others, you may put your intellectual property rights at risk. The more you reveal about your invention, the more likely another person can steal or copy it. To protect your invention, you should consider filing for a patent. Read More

A patent grants inventors exclusive rights to their inventions and prevents others from making, using, or selling the invention without permission. If your invention is not patentable, you can still protect it by having potential customers sign a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. Of course, some people will violate the terms of an NDA even if Read More

Should I get my own registration or should I hire an attorney to do a registration? Well, with any legal process, there’s forms to fill out. There’s pitfalls to do, and there’s confusion factor. People go online, they see the form, they attempt to do it. It works by me sometimes. People call me up 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