Public Law Center
Yesterday I volunteered at a Public Law Center clinic in Santa Ana. A Hispanic man sat down in the chair opposite me and told me, through an interpreter, how a friend of a friend defrauded him of $1,900. This man gave his friend $1900 dollars in cash to buy him a car in an auction in Los Angeles. The man never heard from his ‘friend’ again.
The sad part is that this man, who seemed gentle, honest, and kind, will more than likely not get his money back. He doesn’t have a bank account, green card, or any proof whatsoever. He told me his best witness was his wife, as she was there when he gave the man his money. However, using your wife as a witness won’t get you very far in small claims court.
There is lots more to the story I could tell you, but homework calls. This doesn’t have anything to do with IP, Trade Secrets, or the Internet, but it was the first time that I really noticed how important legal advice can be to someone. I will study harder.
Burkhalter Kessler Goodman & George LLP
Although I’m a bit biased, I’m a big fan of BKGG’s IP blog.
Ryan Dwight – Jones Day IP Attorney
Today I had lunch with Ryan Dwight, an intellectual property attorney in Irvine, California for Jones Day. Ryan attended Chapman University and ended up landing one of those dream jobs that law students constantly talk about. He is working on a huge patent infringement case for a television manufacturer. He also has experience in patent litigation involving pharmaceuticals (specifically: Hatch-Waxman ANDA infringement).
Ryan is a sharp dude (engineering degree from Cal Poly and JD from Chapman) but he’s also a very relaxed one. Right after we sat down, a random old lady walked up to us and told Ryan he had nice teeth, and then walked off without another word. He simply laughed and then continued telling me about patents as if it was no big deal.
I digress. If you own a patent and want to sue someone for infringement, Ryan Dwight is your man.
The Coca-Cola Formula
Coca-Cola knows how to protect its secrets. If someone stole the famous formula, would a court protect it under trade secret laws? You bet. See my earlier post on trade secrets law.
Copyrights, Patents, & Trademarks
I’m amazed that not very many people know the difference between a copyright, patent, or trademark. But hey, a few years ago I didn’t, so that’s nothing to be ashamed about. Here is a quick run down:
According to the U.S. Copyright office:
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office:
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. The term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. US patent grants are effective only within the US, US territories, and US possessions. The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention.
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office:
A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms “trademark” and “mark” are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks. Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark.
See, not too difficult!
Who made “.com” and why is it popular?
Have you every wondered why “.com” is so popular? Ever wondered why there isn’t a million other “.’s?” For example, why isn’t there a “.branigan”? How about a “.law”? Why does there have to be a “.” at all? The answer is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN is a private organization that was granted regulatory authority by the U.S. Government over domain names. This article, from the California Lawyer Magazine, is the most enlightening article I’ve read about the internet in a long time. It doesn’t exactly explain everything I’m alluding to, but it lays the foundation for understanding the property of domain names. I’d do a bit more research, and answer some of the questions I raised, but you will have to wait. My Civil Procedure final is on Tuesday and that takes priority for the moment. Sigh.
Domain Valuation, Trademark Tracker & Google Insight
I was very excited to come across this website today. Valuate.com evaluates the $ value of your domain. Just type in your domain name, or the one you are thinking about buying, and it gives you a number. It also has a ‘trademark checker’ that automatically checks for trademark infringement. I have no idea how it works, but hey, still very cool! I typed in branigan.com (some guy has parked it with ads, sigh….) and it valued that domain at $2,800. I own braniganrobertson.com, which is valued at $0.
I came across an even cooler website for fellow internet dorks. Google Insight for Search is pretty amazing (yes, I know I’m behind on this one). I typed ‘trademark’ and narrowed the search patterns down so I could look at California alone. Folks in Los Angeles typed ‘trademark’ into Google a lot more than people in San Francisco. If you sign up for a account you can see the actual numbers. I haven’t tinkered with it enough to know of the real impact of how it can help someone looking to evaluate a domain, but it is definitely worth investigating.
Out of weird curiosity I typed in Lady Gaga. People in Mongolia love her. Fascinating….
Theft and Misappropriation of Company Trade Secrets
I’m not sure who this is, but he’s spot on.
