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Author: Adamsiplaw

29
Oct
 

Trademarks and copyrights are two major forms of intellectual property. Sometimes known as “soft IP” to distinguish them from the “hard IP” of patents, trademarks and copyrights are easily confused, as they both protect intangible assets. Trademarks protect brand names, logos, slogans, and other aspects that represent a business in the marketplace. Copyrights protect creative works, such as books, movies, and paintings. An Alabama trademark lawyer explains in more detail. 

22
Oct
 

Startups and other early-stage companies have a lot on their minds — securing funding, finding the right talent, setting a business trajectory, and developing a winning product. For many companies, intellectual property protection may seem like a concern only to more established players. However, valuable intellectual property is crucial for the long-term success of any company and, in many cases, it will be the primary factor in determining its value. Companies should establish an innovation harvesting process to ensure that great ideas from the R&D department make it into patent applications. An Alabama intellectual property lawyer explains how to do this below. 

15
Oct

Beware of Trademark Scams

Fri Oct 15th, 2021 by  Trademarks
 

On September 15, the Department of Justice announced that a Latvian national, Viktors Suhorukovs, had been sentenced to four years in federal prison and ordered to pay over $4.5 million in restitution after pleading guilty to a scheme to defraud holders of United States trademark registrations. Evidence showed that Mr. Suhorukovs operated a limited liability company titled “Patent and Trademark Office, LLC” — a name that is misleadingly similar to the actual United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) — for the purpose of sending sham trademark registration renewal notices to registrants. Once the victim signed and returned the renewal notice, Mr. Suhorukovs sent them an invoice for the renewal service and charged an inflated fee for trademark renewal. The victims would then send their “renewal fees” to Mr. Suhorukovs, thinking they were dealing with the USPTO. In total, almost 3,000 victims were identified. 

8
Oct
 

Suppose that you have come up with a great idea for a new invention that, to your knowledge, is not currently sold in the market. Since you’ve never seen this kind of invention before, you likely assume that you will easily be able to patent it. However, the requirements of patentability are not quite so simple. Generally, inventions must be new, useful, and non-obvious in order to be patentable. While the “utility” element of patentability is easily met in most cases, the novelty and non-obviousness requirements are a bit more complex. Below, an Alabama patent attorney provides a high-level overview of what a patent applicant must show to obtain a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). 

30
Sep
 

Being sued for patent infringement can be a frightening process. Patent litigation can take a significant toll on a business and result in thousands or even millions of dollars in damages. Even if you did the most diligent patent searching and determined that your product does not infringe anyone else’s patent, you still may have missed something, or perhaps your product infringes only a portion of someone else’s patent. If you are sued for patent infringement, you need to be prepared to defend yourself from the allegations using one or more defenses to patent infringement. An Alabama patent litigation attorney goes over the major ones below.