A trade secret may consist of any formula, pattern, device, or compilation of information that is used in your business and can provide an advantage in the marketplace over competitors who do not know it. Trade secrets can protect almost any information that has value to your company and is not known by your competitors.
Read More
Copyrights give exclusive legal rights to an author or the author’s assignee to reproduce, distribute, perform, display and prepare derivative works of any original work of authorship. Original works of authorship include literary, dramatic and artistic works, architecture and ornamental designs. Copyright protection is automatic the moment your original work of authorship is fixed in tangible form such as by a writing, recording, drawing or even in computer code.
Read More
There are three types of patents in the United States: utility patents, design patents and plant patents. A utility patent protects the way a machine, article or process is used and works. A design patent protects the ornamental design of an item. A plant patent protects asexually-reproduced plants. An invention can be granted either a utility patent, design patent, or both.
Read More
You may want to consider filing a federal trademark application if you haven’t done so yet. A trademark is any symbol, word, slogan, design, or any combination associated with your particular goods and/or services. A trademark can also be a sound, color, or smell. Anything can be considered a trademark if it helps avoid confusion among consumers by distinguishing your specific goods and services from that of others.
Read More
Intellectual property law protects copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and patents. Copyrights refer to any original work of authorship and cover creative works such as literature, illustrations, films, and songs. Trademarks cover branding such as a business or product name, symbols or slogans associated with a particular entity or person. Trade Secrets cover propriety business information such as recipes, formulas, and processes. Patents are granted as an exclusive right to the inventor for new and novel inventions, such as a device, design, or method.
Read More
With the shift to remote work likely here to stay for many, companies and their employees are regularly relying on remote conferencing tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx and other platforms to conduct business. Companies should be aware of a recent decision from the Chancery Court in Delaware that denied a preliminary injunction to a trade secret owner because it found the company had failed to take “reasonable precautions” to protect the confidentiality of its trade secrets during a Zoom conference.
Read More
The United States Supreme Court unanimously decided in March of this year that private copyright holders can no longer sue individual states for copyright infringement using the cause of action created by the CRCA. Frederick L. Allen v. Roy A. Cooper, III, Governor of North Carolina, 589 US (2020).
Read More
Employers often assume that anything their employees invent while on the job belongs to the company. However, the general rule is that the employee retains ownership over patent rights resulting from the invention, even if the invention relates to the employer’s product line.
Read More
Wise businesses will carefully patrol the line between patents and trade secrets, which is not always an easy task. While disclosing more information helps strengthen a patent, you lose trade secret protection by making that information public. On the other hand, if you can hold back key technology, you might gain perpetual trade secret protection. A recent California case, Waymo v. Uber, highlights this very tension.
Read More
Last year, the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in TC Heartland put a stop to forum shopping in patent infringement suits. This blog post explores what proper venue looks like in a post-TC Heartland landscape.
Read More
If you've ever collaborated on a creative work, you might know that issues of copyright co-ownership can get murky very quickly. This article will give you a broad overview of the copyright implications of collaborating with others on creative works, and how you might be able to avoid disputes over copyright ownership.
Read More
The key to protecting your company's proprietary information is straightforward: you have to keep it a secret. While this may seem simple in concept, maintaining the confidentiality of a trade secret can be difficult in practice. Check out our list of steps your company can take to keep its trade secrets secret.
Read More
To learn how a pioneering Portland company manages its intellectual property, we chatted with Shawn Small, a mechanical engineer and the owner of Ruckus Composites. Ruckus Composites uses science, cutting edge technology, and their own inventive techniques to repair carbon fiber bicycle frames.
Read More
For many business owners, a fresh new year means a fresh new “look and feel” for their business—including updated websites, logos, branding, or product packaging for 2018. In the legal world, we refer to the look and feel of a business as its “trade dress.”
Read More
On Monday, January 22, a California federal court awarded Grumpy Cat Limited $710,000 in damages for copyright and trademark infringement claims against Grenade Beverage LLC, a California-based beverage company.
Read More
How do businesses set themselves apart from their competition, who may be selling a comparable product or service at a similar price point? The marketing term is branding, but in the legal world, it’s all about trademark law. To learn about how one Portland company does it, we interviewed Ian Williams—owner of Portland, Oregon's Deadstock Coffee.
Read More
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the trademark case, Lee v. Tam. We interviewed The Slants to hear their thoughts on the Supreme Court, their goals with this case, and the causes they care the most about.
Read More