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.
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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.
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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.
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We're celebrating Women’s History Month and shining our Portland Business Spotlight on Shop Adorn. We had the pleasure of sitting down with co-owner Nicole Whitesell to learn more about how Shop Adorn got started and grew to where they are today.
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This February, Res Nova Law is celebrating Black History Month and shining our Portland Business Spotlight on Red, White & Black, a film production business founded by Oregon’s first recorded black winemaker, Bertony Faustin.
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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.
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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.”
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Fresh year, fresh you! This January, we are pleased to shine our Portland Business Spotlight on Flux Salon, a woman-and-stylist-owned hair salon with the fun philosophy that happy hair equals happy people.
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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.
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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.
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This December, Res Nova Law shines its Small Business Spotlight on Portland, Oregon's Liberation Barbell, a queer- and woman-of-color-owned lifting gym focusing on strength gains and empowerment instead of weight loss, viewed through a lens of body positivity and anti-oppression.
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As experienced business litigators, we've helped our clients resolve all kinds of business disputes and have gained key insights on how to run a business smoothly and profitably. To get another perspective, we interviewed Consign Couture to learn about how its founder and owner, Tamara Young, resolved an unexpected dispute with her then-partner and built a thriving business in the face of adversity.
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We encourage our clients to have solid, well-written contracts in place in order to protect their business interests well into the future. To help you get on the right track, we've compiled 5 tips for small business owners who are thinking about drafting or negotiating their own contracts.
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This November, we're shining our Small Business Spotlight on Portland, Oregon's very own Mimi Ceramics, a woman-owned, creative business that shares hand-crafted pottery all over the world. We had the pleasure of chatting with ceramicist and founder Mica DeMarquez to learn more about what motivates her in terms of creativity and entrepreneurship.
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We're excited to shine October's Small Business Spotlight on Portland, Oregon's very own Fetch Eyewear, a designer eyeglasses boutique that donates 100% of profits to animal rescue. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Fetch Eyewear founder and philanthropist Ann Sacks, to learn more about what motivates her, what makes Fetch Eyewear so unique, and how the Sacks family advocates for animal welfare.
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Did you know that colors can be registered as trademarks? The path to registration is not easy, however. This past summer, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled that cereal giant General Mills cannot register the color yellow as a trademark for Cheerios. Read our blog post to learn more about the TTAB decision and color marks in general.
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Two Portland businesses, Heart LLC and Heart Pizza LLC, are currently battling over the use of their very similar names. Heart LLC has been using the trademark HEART in connection with specialty coffee goods and services. Heart Pizza LLC, on the other hand, started using the trademark HEART in connection with—you guessed it—pizza-related goods and services. Check out our discussion of the eight factors that courts look at to determine whether a trademark is infringed.
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This September, Res Nova Law is all about finding balance. That's why we're shining our Not-So-Small Business Spotlight on barre3, a whole body health studio that focuses on building, maintaining, and restoring balance through a unique 3-fitness-discipline approach.
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