As an entrepreneur or investor, it is important to conduct due diligence to reduce risk. Risks inevitably come with intellectual property, but proactively being diligent to protect your IP can avoid issues in the future. Many become dead set on a particular name for their business or a certain logo and get started on branding,…
Patent prosecution can be a slow process. What can the patent agent or patent attorney do to speed up the patent prosecution process? Patent prosecution is usually slow because of the applicant represented by the patent agent or patent attorney either does not provide information or makes it difficult for the USPTO examiner to evaluate….
In our most recent IP Over Tea webinar, rising star and managing shareholder Thomas Stanton discussed IP investments and what makes intellectual property attractive to investors. Millions of SMEs are born each year with big ideas; some are successful and others are not. It is possible that some of the “unicorn” startups that have flourished, understand what makes…
There are a few things to note before going forward on a trademark registration. The strongest trademarks are those that are inherently distinctive. These are trademarks which easily identify the good or service. Descriptive and generic trademarks are weak and often get rejected so it is important to understand what makes or breaks a trademark….
How are NFTs and intellectual property related? In our last webinar, we had a question about how intellectual property & NFTs are intertwined. Forbes describes NFTs or non-fungible tokens as “a digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos. They are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and are generally…
What is fair use & when are you infringing on someone’s copyright? Making sure no one is using your work of art requires copyright owners to perform due diligence regularly. It is also necessary that one know the difference between copyright infringement & fair use. Copyright infringement is when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed,…
Are you an angel investor? Entrepreneur? IP Attorney?! Whichever category you fall in to, there is value in understanding intellectual property and how it impacts venture capitalism. When investors are funding startups, they are looking for valuable intellectual property. The key for entrepreneurs is identifying these aspects and offering potential shareholders the ability to fund…
Yes, a patent can have one or multiple inventors. However, the number of inventors is dependent on those that invented the claimed invention. United States Patent Law requires that all inventors must be named in a patent application. The law defines an inventor as only those who contribute to the conception of the claimed invention….
Finding photos for your business to use online can get tricky when it comes to copyright. You as the business owner assume all legal responsibilities when posting content online. Even if you are not making any money using a copyrighted image, you can be held liable for infringement. Ensuring you have a list of best…
On this World IP Day, we examine the 2021 theme highlighting small businesses, “IP and SMEs” and how small-medium sized enterprises should approach patents, trademarks and copyrights in order to bring their ideas to market. SMEs hold a significant percentage of modern-day job creation and are essential in a post-pandemic economy. They also contribute significantly to…
