11May
Trade Secret Theft Strategy: Powerful 5-Step Plan
Obama Administration's 5-Step Strategy for Combating Trade Secret Theft
The timing of recent cyber attacks, and the suspicions of their Chinese origin, added yet more interest to the administrations recent announcement. The strategy presented by the Obama administration is designed to put an end to, or at least severely limit, the theft of US trade secrets. This strategy has five basic steps:Stepping up diplomatic efforts
This step involves a few things. Building coalitions with countries that are facing their own cyber threats and threats of trade secrets. Increasing diplomatic efforts and conversation with countries who are most likely to be suspected in...
07May
Trademark Essentials: 3 Critical Differences from Copyright & Patent
Trademarks — Different From Copyright and Patents
There is sometimes some confusion surrounding the various intellectual property law terms. People are generally familiar with the words, but are sometimes not too sure which one applies to what. Though there are depths to the laws surrounding these terms, it’s easy to get a general overview of what is covered under each law. This overview is for trademarks.First, What a Trademark Is
Trademarks are basically a phrase, a word, a design or a symbol that identifies one company from another. Or one provider from another. These trademarked items (or ones that qualify for trademarking)...
04May
Can You Patent an Idea? The Truth You Need to Know
No, You Can’t Patent An Idea, But…
You may have had the most brilliant thought or breakthrough but, no matter what hucksters try to tell you—you cannot patent that thought. What you can do, though, is recognize that that imaginative, unique idea is a good, solid step toward getting to something you can patent. So, don’t give up—the idea is the just the beginning, and then it’s time to move on to the next steps.Nail Down the Details
A general idea cannot be patented, but detailed plans, drawings, are first steps to getting to where you can obtain a patent. Once you...
29Apr
Master Social Media: 3 Key Strategies for IP Lawyers
Establishing Yourself on Social Media
There is a place for lawyers and intellectual property experts on social media, which is why establishing a presence is so important. Not only establishing a presence, but establishing yourself as a helpful expert, or someone who keeps on top of things, can be invaluable. So, how do you go about turning yourself into a social media maven?Follow the Right People
After following friends, family and those you are interested in, start following people within your industry. This should be the process whether you are on Twitter, Facebook, Google + or any of your other preferred social...
26Apr
General Copyright: Top 3 Things You Should Know
General Copyright
The copyright process is one that sometimes confuses people, for all that it’s so simple. This is partly due to it being confused with other things, such as the patent process. It’s also due to simple misunderstandings of what can be copyrighted, and how. This overview gives a little bit of general information, though of course it cannot cover the topic in detail.Copyrighting Your Work
You write a blog post, a book, a musical piece—can you copyright them? Well, according to the law, they are copyrighted the moment you write them down. You can append the copyright symbol...
23Apr
First to File Patent Law: What You Need to Know
The First Thing to Realize About First to File
It’s complicated. That’s not surprising as few laws are as simple as, perhaps, the writers intended them to be, and this is a good example of that truism. Still, in general, as of Mar 16, 2013, the United States changed from a “first to invent” country to a “first to file” country, and inventors seeking patents should know what that means. The problem is, the law is not well defined, nor has the United States Patent and Trade Office really caught up with the law itself. There are, warn patent attorneys and experts,...
20Apr
Trade Secrets vs Patents: Choosing the Right Strategy
A Little About Trade Secrets
Trade secret laws affect almost every business that deals in innovation and creation. A trade secret, generally, is information related to your business or product that is basically confidential and not generally known. This can be something related to how you do business, if it's unique, new products and other matters where you have a reasonable expectation of confidentiality. This doesn't always work, plus there is the matter of trade secret protection being lost as soon as the secret becomes known. This factor sometimes has businesses wondering which is the best protection for their product or secret?...
15Apr
