Plant Patent Protection Pepsi has sued four farmers in India for growing potatoes which are protected in India under the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act (PPV). The PPV was enacted in 2001 and was supposed to be pro farmer. Under the PPV, registration of a plant variety provides exclusivity to produce, sell, Read more about Potato Dispute over Plant Patent in India[…]
Patents protect your business by preventing others from copying, selling or using the patented invention without permission.
It also stops others from making or bringing the patented technology into the US.
If you would like to discuss how a patent can help you, contact us.
Stuffed miniature mascots in cheerleading uniforms. Monthly calendars featuring cheerleaders. Clothing designed to mimic cheerleading uniforms. What do all of these have in common? They are sold in university gift shops and, under the Supreme Court’s latest decision on cheerleading uniforms, they are likely infringing works. The US Supreme Court recently ruled that fashionable 2-D and 3-D Read more about Go, Fight, Win: SCOTUS Says Cheerleading Uniforms Are Functional AND Creative[…]
The Copyright Act defines a “collective work” as an assemblage into a collective whole of a number of individual contributions, each of which constitutes a separate and independent work, and gives as examples periodicals, anthologies, and encyclopedias. A collective work is also referred to as a “compilation.” Under the Copyright Act, copyright in a collective Read more about Copyrighting Collective Works[…]
In “passing off,” a seller associates another party’s mark with a good or service. The law of passing off concerns unfair competition more generally in situations where there does not need to be a registered trademark or any other intellectual property right. Where a second business does something so that the public is misled into Read more about Passing Off under Trademark Law[…]
In the United States, subject to one exception, trademark rights arise from use in commerce, regardless of whether or not the mark is registered. The first user of a mark generally takes priority over all subsequent users with respect to use of the mark in that market. The first user of a mark in commerce, Read more about Trademark Priority[…]
One of the most important aspects of the patent application is the written description requirement. Under the written description requirement, the applicant must provide a clear description of what is being claimed for patent protection. It is what the inventor hopes to receive in exchange for what the disclosure. The written description requirement may be Read more about Patent Applications: Written Description[…]
Under the Patent Act, a patent may be obtained for “any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.” The requirement that the subject of a patent be new is referred to as the novelty requirement; the requirement that the subject of a patent be useful Read more about Patenting Useful Inventions[…]
According to the Copyright Act, the authors of a joint work jointly own the copyright in the work they create. A joint work is defined in the Copyright Act as “a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole.” Read more about Copyright Joint Authorship and Ownership[…]
Trade dress is governed by the same set of laws that protect unregistered trademarks. While traditional trademark law protects words or logos, trade dress law protects the total packaging and design of a product. Because trade dress often serves the same function as a trademark or service mark — the identification of goods and services Read more about Trade Dress Protections[…]