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…
Public Domain Day 2015
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…
Patent Medicine
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…
Turkey Thermometer Patent
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 State Trademark Registration
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…
Copyright Assignments
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…
DMCA Misconceptions
Matt Miller, Registered Patent Attorney
Posted in copyright, Digital Millennium Copyright Act
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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…
The Southern Food and Beverage Museum is Open
The Southern Food and Beverage Museum is Open! Here are some pics (and, their library is pretty cool… with a 1918 edition of Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cookbook and Modernist Cuisine within about 10 feet of each other). [nggallery…
Huey Lewis v. Ray Parker, Jr.
In view of it being the 30th anniversary of the release of the original Ghostbusters movie, here’s some interesting legal trivia. But first, listen to this. Then, listen to this. Now, do you hear some similarities? Huey Lewis did, and…
What is the difference between patents, copyrights, and trademarks?
What’s the difference between a patent, a copyright, and a trademark? Well, there’s the short answer and there’s the long answer. The Short answer is that trademarks protect brand names, copyrights protect artistic expression, and patents protect new ideas. For…
