As hard as business owners work to keep their brand-defining secrets private, those who want a piece of their success work equally hard to gain access to those secrets. Most states have similar versions of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act which defines what trade secrets are and the charges that can be brought against someone…
Trademark law is an extremely complicated topic for business owners, but it’s also one of the most essential parts of protecting your business branding efforts and your intellectual property. Trademarking your name or logo ensures that consumers aren’t confused by deceivingly similar designs, allowing you to safeguard your brand and image. However, one issue continues…
If you’re trying to set your business apart from its competitors and prevent other companies from using phrases or symbols that define your company, a federal trademark could be a viable solution. The United States Patent and Trademark Office maintains a database of existing trademarks to ensure that parties don’t apply for already-trademarked slogans. Before…
The International Trademark Association (“INTA”) is the worldwide trademark association who has been instrumental in framing how every country in the world communicates on trademarks, infringement and brand enforcement. As members, we attend the Annual Conference which brings together 11,000 trademark attorneys from all over the world. Lately, a hot topic has been how to…
Your company’s employee handbook is one of the most important assets surrounding the protection of your intellectual property, primarily because trade secrets are especially vulnerable to employee theft. Because employee theft of intellectual property is costly and sometimes even catastrophic to companies, it is vital that businesses have a plan in place for insider threats.…
AN OVERVIEW OF USPTO OFFICE ACTIONS Approximately three months after the moment when you file your trademark application and pay your fee, you may receive an email advising you that an office action has been assigned to your application. An office action is the USPTO’s way of informing applicants that there is a problem (or problems) with the application.…
If you run a business, then this probably isn’t the first time that you’ve heard about trademarks. Maybe you already have registered marks, or have run into some issues in trying to register one. Although getting your trademark registered is, theoretically, a straightforward process, there are many reasons why it is essential to have a…
If you’re wondering if your business needs to post a terms of use and privacy policy on your website, the answer is a resounding yes. First, the European Union recently began enforcing their General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which protects visitors to websites from unknowingly having their personal data gathered for website business use. Some…
Registering your trademark isn’t enough to maintain the benefits of IP protections. If you don’t want to lose control of your trademark, you must consistently police it and search for possible infringement. Every business should have a written policy and protocol for finding and responding to trademark infringement. Let’s take a look at a few…
As the world has grown smaller due to the internet and fast international travel, counterfeiting has become a widespread issue. What was once mostly a major concern for clothing retailers and designers, counterfeiting has become a major issue for almost every industry that creates any type of product. More than 100 million counterfeit products are…