I am an attorney. I’m not actively involved in technology development anymore. I don’t run a technology business, nor a business that develops new technology to run its business. Why does this matter? Well, most patent attorneys are just like…
I am an attorney. I’m not actively involved in technology development anymore. I don’t run a technology business, nor a business that develops new technology to run its business. Why does this matter? Well, most patent attorneys are just like…
So, according to the New York Times, a new, previously unpublished Dr. Seuss book originally called The Pet Shop will be published this year as What Pet Should I Get?. Because I practice copyright law, my first thought was “what’s…
If you’re a Pinterest user, you may have recently received an email like this one, by which Pinterest is updating its users about Pinterest’s privacy policy. Why is Pinterest doing this? Well, there could be a number of reasons why.…
There’s been a lot of talk about Ventura v. Kyle, Captain Freedom’s Jesse Ventura’s lawsuit against Chris Kyle (AKA American Sniper). Certainly, it appears odd that a public figure like Jesse Ventura would sue a widow for such a large…
Happy New Year’s Public Domain Day 2014! The duration of copyright for a work can be very complicated. For many works, it’s the life of the author, plus 70 years. For other works, it’s 95 years from publication or 120…
This year, I made homemade Satsuma, Navel Orange, Grapefruit, Lime, and Kumquat “Cello” (liqueur) for Christmas presents for a number of friends and some of my work colleagues. Because I’m a Registered Patent Attorney, it’s labeled as “Patent Medicine,” which…
Given the Thanksgiving holiday, I thought it appropriate to post about a Thanksgiving-related patent, namely, U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,103 issued to Anthony Volk on September 18, 1973. If you’re interested in the history of turkey thermometers, the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center…
Louisiana law permits businesses to register trademarks with the Louisiana Secretary of State; and, in fact, many businesses do so, thinking that a Louisiana trademark registration provides them with substantive rights. Unfortunately, they are wrong. You see, a trademark is…
In a previous post, I discussed who owns copyright to a work in view of Copyright law’s so called “Work Made For Hire” doctrine. As mentioned, the answer is somewhat shocking to people who are unfamiliar with the law. Put…
I’ve seen some articles published recently, and I thought it might be a good idea to clear up two misconceptions about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), in particular, the provisions which limit liability for online service providers who take…