We will often have an inventor come to us and say “I’ve got a great idea and want to make a company out of it.” The most important part of forming a company is the people you surround yourself with. First, you go out and protect anything that is protectable with a trademark, patent, or copyright. Then, you talk to as many people as you can. You want those you chose to be good peopleRead More…
Filing for trademarks is a critical piece of the puzzle when you’re first starting your business. If you’re going to rely on branding to build your company and its value, you have to do a trademark search. You can do this on your own by going to the department of corporations trademark division online. However, doing this won’t tell you if there is someone who has a name similar to yours. If you don’t checkRead More…
People often ask me if you should talk to other people about what your idea is or should you have people sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). In 40 years of practicing law, I’ve only seen one lawsuit concerning an NDA. If you have a really good idea, meet with a patent attorney, see if there’s something you can file a provisional patent on, which will cost a few thousand dollars. You file that provisional patent,Read More…
We often have people come to us asking us to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or asking a client to sign an NDA. An NDA is basically a document that says: “I haven’t heard this idea before. You’re giving it to me for the first time. It’s not common knowledge out there. But I will keep it a secret for you for a period of time.” We have been asked to sign an NDA numerousRead More…
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is basically a document that says whatever information a company is giving someone needs to be kept confidential. We’ve been practicing law for over forty years, and we’ve only had one lawsuit concerning an NDA. They’re not very strong documents. What we advise you do is go out and see if there is any information that you have that can be protected — whether it be with trademarks, patents, or copyrights.Read More…
A trademark, service mark or a trade name is often a valuable asset of a business. This Newsletter shall discuss the methods of protecting these valuable assets.
This Newsletter shall discuss the procedure under California and Federal law for protecting trademarks and servicemarks, the protection afforded by registering a trademark or servicemark, and how a trademark or servicemark is maintained or abandoned. Definitions. A “trademark” is any word, name, symbol or device, or combination of these items, used by a manufacturer to identify his goods, and distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others. A “servicemark” is used in the saleRead More…
A company’s trade secrets are valuable assets. Under California law, a “trade secret” is information that is not generally known to the public or to other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and which is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy. Thus, unless a company takes affirmative steps to maintain the secrecy of its information by adopting a trade secrets protection program,Read More…
This Newsletter shall discuss the procedure under California and Federal law for protecting trademarks and servicemarks, the protection afforded by registering a trademark or servicemark, and how a trademark or servicemark is maintained or abandoned. Definitions. A “trademark” is any word, name, symbol or device, or combination of these items, used by a manufacturer to identify his goods, and distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others. A “servicemark” is used in the saleRead More…
The United States Customs & Border Protection (“CBP”), a bureau of the United States Department of Homeland Security, now maintains a trademark recordation system for trademarks currently registered with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”). The CBP’s aggressive intellectual property enforcement program devotes substantial resources to target, intercept, detain, seize, and forfeit shipments of goods that violate USPTO trademark registrations on the principal registry.
