Licensing Agreements: Profiting From Your Valuable Intellectual Property
A licensing agreement is a contract in which you, the licensor, gives someone else, the licensee, permission to do something that they otherwise would not have the right to do. There are many situations in which a small business might use a licensing agreement: While licensing agreements need to be customized to fit your particular […]
Transferring Ownership of Intellectual Property
Over the lifespan of a small business, you may find yourself needing to sell or transfer intellectual property rights. There are a variety of situations where this might come up: Even though intellectual property rights are intangible, they can still be sold or transferred much like any other business asset. This week, we look at how to […]
Works Made for Hire: Who owns the creation?
If a work meets the legal requirements to be considered a work made for hire, then the employer will be considered the author of the work, even if an individual employee was actually the original creator.
Protecting Your Content: The Basics of Copyright Law
We’ve previously discussed protecting your brand by registering and enforcing your trademarks. But what about the unique content you create? Enter copyright law. Copyright protects “original works of authorship.” This can be anything from written works like books and articles, to musical and artistic creations, even computer programs and architectural plans. Copyright is an important area of […]
COVID-19 and Trademark Deadlines: Don’t Delay!
The Coronavirus pandemic has turned life upside down for most of the world, and has been especially difficult for small businesses and nonprofits. However, this hasn’t completely eliminated legal obligations and deadlines. I have said before, and I will say it again, I firmly believe that we will get through this. Many small businesses and […]
Trade Names, Fictitious Names, and DBAs
Building a successful business is hard work. You need a great product or service, a marketing plan for getting the word out, skills in sales to convert your product or service into actual money, a head for numbers and finance, and innumerable leadership skills to tie it all together. Today, let’s talk about the marketing/branding […]
Protecting Your Brand, Part 4 – Enforcing Your Trademark
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the importance of conducting a trademark search. In Part 2, we explained this idea of the “likelihood of confusion” and what to look for in that trademark search. In Part 3, we discussed how to register your trademarks with the USPTO. But once your trademark is registered, it’s your job to protect […]
Protecting Your Brand, Part 3 – How to Register Your Trademarks
To recap, in Part 1 of this series, we discussed the importance of conducting a trademark search, and in Part 2, we explained this idea of the “likelihood of confusion” and what to look for in that trademark search. Assuming your trademarks aren’t confusingly similar with that of another company offering related goods or services, how do you […]
Protecting Your Brand, Part 2 – Just what is “Confusingly Similar”?
The question isn’t whether your trademark is identical to someone else’s. The question is how similar the two trademarks in question are and whether both marks are being used for related goods and services.
Protecting Your Brand Part 1 – The Importance of a Thorough Trademark Search
While your business does have some common law rights in trademarks that are not registered, registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office does provide important benefits
