In a word, yes. Consider this situation: An entrepreneur comes up with a new invention, let’s say, a self-inflating tire. A big tire company, which has unsuccessfully tried to develop self-inflating tires for years, signs a non-disclosure agreement and comes to inspect the tire. The non-disclosure agreement is a contract by which the big tire […]
Blog – Adam Garson Law
Can I Patent my Software or Internet Invention or Smartphone App?
February 21, 2019
Patent
You can create a great software or Internet invention that is completely novel, unobvious and has utility, but you still may not qualify for a patent. Why not? Congress enacted 35 USC §101 to identify which inventions are the proper subject for patents. That section states: Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, […]
MacDonald’s Loses its Mojo in the EU
February 14, 2019
Trademark
McDonald’s Trademark BIG MAC Trademarks may reside in families. A family of marks is a group of trademarks that have a recognizable common characteristic. For example, you may recall that Eastman Kodak owned trademarks for KODACOLOR, KODAMATIC, and KODACHROME, the term “Koda” being the common element of all three trademarks. A family of marks is […]
Anish Kapoor Declares Victory!
February 7, 2019
Copyright
In October 2018 we wrote about Anish Kapoor’s lawsuit against the National Rifle Association (“NRA”) for copyright infringement. You may recall that the NRA published a video called the “Clenched Fist of Truth,” a controversial video about the “liberal insurgency… destroying American Society.” In the video, were fleeting images of various sculptural and architectural works, […]
Ask Dr. Copyright — The Public Domain Comes of Age
January 17, 2019
Ask Dr. Copyright, Internet Law
Dear Doc: What’s “the public domain”? Why should I care? And why is 1923 an important year? Signed, Nothing Better to do Today Than Worry About Obscure Copyright Law Issues Dear Nothing, &c.: When the drafters of the US Constitution peered into their famous crystal ball (you know, the one that let them […]
Treble Damages for Willful Patent Infringement
January 3, 2019
Patent
Stryker Corporation sued Zimmer, Inc. for patent infringement. There was no question whether Zimmer infringed Stryker’s patent – it did. Zimmer believed Stryker’s patent was invalid and believed that it would prevail in the infringement lawsuit. Zimmer had good reason to believe that the Stryker patent was invalid. As a result, Zimmer continued to infringe […]
I’ve read that you can’t copyright a recipe. The US Copyright Office says, “Copyright law does not protect recipes that are mere listings of ingredients. Nor does it protect other mere listings of ingredients such as those found in formulas, compounds, or prescriptions.” On the other hand, I’ve read that some things like colors (pink […]
Tangible or Intangible? This is actually an interesting question. If you erect a sign displaying a trademark over a store, isn’t that a tangible representation of a trademark? Of course it is. On the other hand, if you were to license your trademark for use by another company, you don’t transfer a physical representation of […]
Anyone who deals with patents should be familiar with the concept of prior art. ‘Prior art’ is critical to patenting and can prevent your invention from qualifying for a patent, even if it’s a great invention. Prior art generally is a prior publication such as a patent, patent publication, treatise, advertisement, article on the web, […]
USPTO Fixes Some of the Problems with the PTAB
November 22, 2018
Intellectual Property, Patent
The ‘Patent Trial and Appeal Board’ (‘PTAB’) has 174 administrative judges, who hear appeals of actions by the USPTO, such as denials of patent applications. In the past, the USPTO has been accused of packing the PTAB panels with handpicked judges to reach a desired result in a particular case. Panels of the PTAB also […]