The Chatter We Make

On its surface, the trademark application filing process is relatively uncomplicated. The trademark office offers an online form for preparing and filing your trademark application and it’s simple and easy to use. All you need are basic computer skills and — voila! — you have a trademark application on file. If it’s all so simple, why does our firm see so many issues?

Someone knocked off your product. Congratulations! You have a successful product that’s selling — so much so that other people have taken the time to copy it. However, you’re now losing money that should be in your pocket.

No matter your political party, just about everyone can agree that international IP protection is a problem that needs solving. The current administration is putting pressure on China that the country has never faced before.

All lawyers may have an advanced degree behind their names, but lawyers and law firms aren’t one-size-fits-all. With any professional service — your accountant, your insurance company, your bank — you choose the service provider not only because it’s the right fit for your business needs, but also due to more subjective considerations such as your personality and values.

A design around means developing your product with existing patents in mind and adding consumer value with new innovation. The starting point for this process is a patent search.

Just because someone else owns a domain with your trademark or brand name in it doesn’t mean it’s cybersquatting. Domain investing is permitted, so long is there is no bad faith intent, which can be a fine line.

Artificial intelligence as it is starting to be employed is certainly new technology. You have to be aware that it is essentially the proverbial “robot” doing stuff, not a person. There are going to be glitches. But, in one sense, we have always had automated systems doing “stuff” for us so it is not unexpected that these systems are making their way into the legal industry.