USPTO Closed on March 3, 2014 due to weather.
When the Dumb Starbucks store showed up late last week in Los Angeles, there was a lot of media attention on it. One defense that I heard in the media was that it was a parody of a Starbucks store and, therefore, it was probably ok. That’s not exactly the case.
Trademarks can be so confusing. Is it ok to use the same trademark as someone else? A detailed analysis must be conducted before answering such a question. A great example of the type of analysis that occurs in trademark law can be found in the movie Coming to America.
I have been receiving a multitude of questions lately about use of NFL logos. I do give these folks a lot of credit for asking an attorney before moving forward with their ideas of using NFL logos. Most of these folks are asking whether or not they can put NFL logos on certain things and […]
By: Mark Malek In my last post I discussed the different parts of a patent application. You may recall that one of the parts, the most important part, was the claims. The claims outline the scope of protection that is being sought in the patent application. After the patent application successfully passes through examination process, […]
The Parts Of A Patent Application
There are many parts of a patent application, and each part is very important to the patent application. When drafting a patent application, it is important to be sure that it is complete, and that it can withstand challenges to validity based on formalities.
Inventor and Fraud
If an inventor is under an obligation to assign the rights to an invention to a company, it would be fraud to try to file the application in the name of another. Engaging in such fraud can open up (and tip over) a can of worms for the inventor that may not be easily cleaned up.
Obtaining Patent Rights For A Deceased Inventor
If an inventor passes away prior to filing a patent application, or prior to executing an oath or declaration, a substitute statement can be filed by the deceased inventor’s legal representative.
