Patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets—these are the assets that we call intellectual property (IP). Let’s look at each class of IP assets in turn, and then get started in building your IP portfolio.
Business—at least as waged between competitors—is war. That observation was made in 1832 by Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz in his magnum opus, On War, based on his service in the Napoleonic Wars.
On Tuesday evening, I went to a “shark tank” event at TechNexus in Chicago. Thanks to my friend and colleague Nancy Fallon-Houle, the startup business lawyer, for inviting me.
Business people: If you are regrouping to take your business to the next level, your form of legal entity and your company documents can be a help or a hindrance.
Little noticed among this week’s flying blue W flags is the notice of allowance of the W trademark for caps and clothing.Yes, just Tuesday, November 1, 2016, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office agreed to issue the W trademark to the Chicago Cubs for valuable merchandising rights.
Are you protecting your company’s patents, trademarks, and other intellectual property (IP) internationally? If not, you’re missing out!
Fifty-eight years ago today, Kirk Godtfred of Lego filed his patent application on the basic building block, literally, of Lego’s billion dollar private fortune. Now, here’s the thing: A patent filed 58 years ago is long expired. The then-standard-17-year term ended in 1978. So how is it that Lego is still the only game in town?
Here’s a present for Dan Snyder, owner of the Redskins. This is the gift for the man who has everything—in the tradition of Machiavelli’s offering to Medici of good counsel.
The Washington Redskins are on the verge of winning big! Their trademark rights are about to be vindicated. That’s one good reason, I say, for them to throw in the towel.
What do the Redskins, The Slants, and the ACLU have in common? Citing the First Amendment, they say free speech trumps the Government’s efforts to ban offensive trademarks.
