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Protect Your IP when You Hire a Freelancer
This post explains how to make sure that you own work product and intellectual property (IP) when you use a freelancer service. Most of the following first appeared on Quora. Please see How can I...
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Design Copyright Explained
Many people are familiar with copyrights for literary and musical works, movies, and the like. This post is about a different type of copyright, the design copyright. Title 17, Chapter 13 of the United...
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How Much Can My Product Look Like Another Company’s Product?
This post discusses how much one company’s product can look like another company’s product without creating intellectual property problems. It largely copies a Quora answer that I wrote recently....
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Which Types of Intellectual Property Can Protect an Idea?
This post explains why the various types of intellectual property (“IP”) cannot protect a mere idea. However, IP may protect items that one creates based on such an idea. I first wrote about this...
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Creativity and Copyright
Creativity is important socially and aesthetically. It also is required for a work to be copyrightable. The Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices is the administrative manual of the Register of...
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DMCA Designated Agent List Going Online
The U.S. Copyright Office maintains designated agent records under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The Office recently announced that will be moving from paper to an online system. DMCA...
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What are Novelty and Non-obviousness?
Novelty and non-obviousness are requirements for a utility patent to be granted in the United States. This post explains the meaning of novelty and non-obviousness. I have based this on my answer to a...
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Trade Secrets Receive Federal Protection
This post discusses the civil and criminal protections for trade secrets available since May 12, 2016 under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). Relevant definitions in the DTSA roughly follow...
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DTSA (Defend Trade Secrets Act) Requires Notice to Employees
Until recently, trade secrets were solely a matter of state law. However, on May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the DTSA, the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. Because of the DTSA, trade secret...
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Monthly Missives Compilation Now Available
From late 2004 to early 2016, I published a not-quite-monthly email newsletter on various business-related legal topics – what I called my “monthly missives“. I recently compiled the nearly 100 emails...
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What is a DMCA Counter Notification?
Screen shot from YouTube counter notification tutorial In Terms of Use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), I discussed DMCA provisions pertaining to takedown notices. This post discusses...
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What is the Origin of the Copyright Symbol (©)?
This post about the origin of the copyright symbol (©) is based on my answer to a Quora question. See Why are the symbols of “©” and “®” used to identify copyrights and registered trademarks? Copyright...
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Fraudulent Takedown Notice Leads to $25,000 Judgment
Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the author of a fraudulent takedown notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to pay more than...
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How to Perfect an Intellectual Property Security Interest
Copyright Office Document Cover Sheet Last week I explained what a security interest is and how it can be perfected, i.e., made effective against third parties. (See What is a Security Interest, and...
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URS – ICANN Offers Uniform Rapid Suspension against Cybersquatters
I have written several times about ICANN’s longstanding Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). This post discusses a more recent way to thwart some cybersquatters, namely, URS – Uniform...
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Negotiating Software Licenses – What Really Counts
This post addresses the most important issues that are raised in negotiating software licenses. I will assume that parties have agreed on pricing. (Otherwise, there is no point negotiating license...
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Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement – Two Sides of the Same Coin
This post compares plagiarism and copyright infringement. It is prompted by a Quora question that I answered several months ago. (See Have your ideas or works ever been plagiarized? What happened?)...
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Patent Licensee: Have a Track Record if You Want to Succeed
This post is adapted from my answer to a Quora question from a prospective patent licensee. Q. How do I propose a licensing agreement with a patent holder? A. In my experience, the most important thing...
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Which Open Source License Should We Choose?
Software developers may have decided to provide open source software, but they may not know which open source license to use. This post describes three resources developers can consult to help make...
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Is a Copyright Notice with Multiple Years Legitimate?
We all have seen a typical copyright notice (e.g., “Copyright 2013 Anyhow, Inc.”) countless times. However, every once in a while, someone will see a copyright notice with multiple years (e.g.,...
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