If you create a corporate entity in a state where your company may not have a physical presence, most states will require you to maintain a corporate agent, that is, an individual or entity who is responsible for receiving legal documents — notices and court papers — on behalf of your company. Pennsylvania differs in […]
All posts by: Adam Garson
Facing Trademark Protection on Facebook
June 23, 2009
Trademark
By now, anybody in the know who uses Facebook, is scrambling (or has scrambled) to get their own vanity user name. On Saturday, June 13, 2009, Facebook opened the door for an estimated 200 million users to select any “username” they wanted virtually without limitation. The benefit is to have a URL which reads “Facebook.com/UserName,” […]
Real Trademarks Used in Virtual Worlds
June 23, 2009
Trademark
Real Trademarks Used in Virtual Worlds, Second Life In a lawsuit filed in April 2009, Taser International, Inc., the world’s largest maker of stun guns sued Linden Research Inc. (“Linden Lab”), the San Francisco based company, which runs Second Life, the online virtual world. Taser Int’l, Inc. v. Linden Research, Inc., 2:09-cf-00811-ROS (D. Az 2009). […]
Lawyers often talk about the benefits of federal trademark registration. Federal registration bestows upon the trademark owner the ability to bring infringement actions in federal court, it provides evidentiary presumptions about use and validity of the mark, it bestows a presumption of incontestability (after 5 years), it provides constructive notice that the mark is yours, […]
Ask a knowledgeable layperson to define “Intellectual property” he or she typically lists patents, trademarks, and copyrights. A fourth type of intellectual property, “trade secrets,” should not be ignored. Trade secrets consist of any idea, process, formula or other information that a company or individual wishes to protect from infringement (i.e., from being stolen) by […]
iPod to the Queen. Did the President violate the law?
April 20, 2009
Copyright
You may have heard that during his recent visit, President Obama reportedly presented Queen Elizabeth II of England with a personalized iPod loaded with 40 show tunes. An article in the Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) web site by Fred von Lohmann recently pondered whether President Obama violated the law by presenting the Queen with digital […]
Trademarks — Use Them or Lose Them but Don’t Fudge It!
April 20, 2009
Trademark
The United States trademark system is a “use” based system. Using your trademark bestows upon you the benefits of trademark ownership so long as you are the first to identify your particular goods and services in the geographical region in which you do business. Use is paramount and can even trump another user’s valid federal […]
Where Should I Register my Copyrights and Trademarks? Yes, that’s correct. According to the The U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), a bureau of the Department of Homeland Security, trade in counterfeit and pirated goods threatens America’s economy, U.S. workers, national security and the health and safety of consumers. Stopping the flow of counterfeit goods into […]
Linking May be Dangerous to Your Health
March 18, 2009
Internet Law, Trademark
In our Internet-enabled world, businesses that do not operate their own web site are the exception, not the rule. Web site owners constantly strive to create dynamic, interesting content. Sometimes, the courts rule they have gone too far even when the legal ice is very thin. Slate, the online daily, recently reported the following. A […]