2015 - Page 4 of 5 -

Ssshhh . . . Trade Secrets

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trade Secrets on Thursday, March 19, 2015. If you have developed a product, add another duty to your list of obligations: examining other similar products, patent filings, etc. to determine whether a competitor is misappropriating trade secret information. If you do not monitor the filings or if you do and fail to prosecute trade secret misappropriation claims, you may lose the right to sue for trade secret misappropriation. A trade secret is secret information that gives the owner a competitive business advantage simply because the competitors do not know this information. A trade secret can [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:57:25+00:00March 19th, 2015|

Taylor Swift Seeks to Trademark Signature Catchphrases

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Tuesday, March 17, 2015. Recent news that pop sensation Taylor Swift has applied to trademark "catchphrases" from her "1989" album (such as "This Sick Beat," "Nice to Meet You. Where You Been?" and "Party Like It's 1989") has appeared to open the floodgates in terms oftrademark questions. Can anyone trademark any phrase that pops into their minds, for use in the sale of certain products? The answer is yes, as long as you follow a few basic guidelines, according to NYU Law School professor Christopher Sprigman, who spoke to Money magazine about this [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:57:50+00:00March 17th, 2015|

Trademark Oppositions: Your Chance to Protect Your Trademark

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Saturday, March 14, 2015. Many people assume that if they file a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") and the Examining Attorney at the USPTO does not find any conflicting trademarks, that they are entitled to registration. However, there is another step along the way. Federal law provides a way for a party to challenge the registration of a trademark during what is known as the publication period. The publication period occurs after the Examining Attorney's preliminary approval and is intended to allow any person or entity who believes [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:58:06+00:00March 14th, 2015|

Copyright / Why You Should Always Take the Necessary Steps to Copyright the Content of Your Website

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Friday, March 13, 2015. As a small business owner you know full well that having an impressive website is vital for the success of your business. You elected to invest significant time and money to build the site or to employ a reputable web designer to separate your website from your competitors. You may have also chosen to hire a search engine optimization firm in hopes of obtaining a first page search engine ranking on Google or elsewhere in order to increase new customer income generated from internet acquisition. Now, how can you [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:58:22+00:00March 13th, 2015|

Pom Wonderful Protects Its Pom-Trademark

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Wednesday, March 11, 2015. If you've ever had pomegranate juice from the supermarket, chances are, it's Pom Wonderful. Pom Wonderful spends tremendous amounts of time and energy marketing its products - and bringing lawsuits against other companies' uses that may infringe its trademarks. Indeed, Pom Wonderful recently succeeded in bringing an action against Pur, which is known for making water filters, for selling a pomegranate-flavored energy drink called "Pom." The lessons learned from that case are helpful for anyone considering bringing a trademark action. Trademark infringement cases are important because they help companies [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:58:34+00:00March 11th, 2015|

Patent: First to File

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Patents on Thursday, February 26, 2015. When it comes to claiming rights over patentable technology, the United States recently joined the rest of the world in adopting a "first to file" system. This change, part of the sweeping America Invents Act ("AIA"), went into effect March 16, 2013. As many have noted, the law significantly impacted the way intellectual property is protected. Under the new system, even if an inventor is the first to invent something, she must quickly file a patent application on her invention before anyone else files or could lose out to [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T18:00:23+00:00February 26th, 2015|

What is a Copyright?

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Wednesday, February 25, 2015. A copyright is a type of legal protection, under federal law, for authors of "original works of authorship," meaning literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual works. A work need not be published to be protected - an experienced intellectual property attorney can explain this distinction in further detail. The law authorizes a copyright owner to do things such as reproduce his or her work; sell or rent it; or perform the work publicly (such as by releasing songs). Copyrights protect original works of authorship in a "fixed" tangible [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T18:00:42+00:00February 25th, 2015|

So You’re Starting a Food Truck: How Do You Protect Your Intellectual Property?

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Intellectual Property on Tuesday, February 17, 2015. There you are, finally rolling the dice and pursuing your culinary aspirations. You are starting your own food truck business. You have your unique concept, you have a potential catchy name and logo, you have a secret sauce that you believe consumers will eat even if it is served on plywood, you bought your food truck, you just launched your website, and you are all over social media. Then it dawns on you that you failed to take any steps to protect your company's intellectual property rights. This [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2023-08-16T09:53:34+00:00February 17th, 2015|

Protecting Your Patent Portfolio

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Patents on Thursday, February 12, 2015. Your business's patent portfolio, or the list of patents owned by your company, contains the fruits of your labor, so to speak. Managing your patent portfolio and comparing it to those of other companies is essential to helping you better determine the economic value of your own patents and maintaining your competitive edge in the marketplace. It also helps you keep an eye on potential copycats, which can be an irksome and costly issue to deal with. When other businesses are copying your inventions, they are profiting off of [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T18:01:10+00:00February 12th, 2015|

The Basics of Trademark Litigation

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Tuesday, February 10, 2015. If you are like many business owners, you take pride in the name of your business and/or product, which are likely the result of hard work and substantial investment, of both the financial and time variety. Hopefully you have worked with anexperienced Orange County trademark lawyer to protect these forms of intellectual property as too often, competitors try to capitalize on a business's success or reputation by using the same or a similar name for comparable businesses and products, often harming your business in the process. If this is [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T18:01:21+00:00February 10th, 2015|