The Importance of Documenting and Securing Intellectual Property When I interview a new client, one of my first questions is “what do you ultimately want to do with the business?” Very few people want to keep their business forever (for example, forgo retirement), and selling the business, hopefully for the maximum amount of profit, is…
Starbucks spent $387 Million last year alone to create an entire user experience through branding and brand protection. Take away that branding, and the remainder would be nothing but (some would say mediocre) cup of coffee in a paper cup. Possibly to a lesser extent, every business focuses on creating a brand because it essentially…
Copyright Infringement Copyright law protects original expressions. Original expressions include: writings, art, songs, music, dance, software, blue prints etc. Protection is automatic (but enhanced with a copyright filing) and it is protected for the life of the crated plus 70 years. Copyright infringement (colloquially referred to as “copyright theft”) is when someone uses copyrighted materials…
Reflecting on 2014, I can separate EmergeCounsel’s trademark practice into three categories: Searching and trademarking a name or a logo (very straightforward and cost efficient), Fixing the filing of a trademark that the entity screwed up by filing without the assistance of counsel (somewhat straightforward to trademark attorneys but not very cost efficient), and Doing general…
The mission and focus of EmergeCounsel is to help entrepreneurs create, grow, protect and sometimes fight for value. I was surprised when I discovered that the most fascinating, strategic and potentially greatest value driving area of my work is trademark. What are trademarks? Trademarks include: words, numbers, number and word combinations, slogans, designs, images, colors,…
First, copyright is one of the prongs of general intellectual property rights/strategies which include patents, trademarks, copyright and trade secret agreements, and/or licensing agreements. A specific combination of those strategies assure that no other entity can steal an entrepreneurial venture’s secret sauce which could include their goods, look and feel, artwork, and how to documents such…
Recently, I was reflecting about the emerging company niche as seen through the eyes of the business world. I noticed a tremendous amount effort is focused on distinguishing companies into different categories: startups, early stage, growth, emerging, enterprise, small, mid-sized, and/or enterprise. There are obvious differences in all of these categories from a financial and…
About nine years ago, I had a great idea. The idea was novel, scalable and could really make a positive difference in people’s lives. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur but at the time had only worked as an attorney, in large or government organizations. Leading and developing something that actually could change the…