Tag Archives: West Palm Beach Intellectual Property Attorney
Is Someone Infringing on Your Trademark?
When you started your business, you likely put time and energy into carefully designing your logo and brand. You then went through the process to trademark your brand set out by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) so that no one else could use it or try to copy it. One day,… Read More »
Copyright and Characters: When Fictional People Take on Lives of Their Own
Most people know that there is some type of legal protection for creative works like books, music, or movies, but the contours and limits of that copyright protection are a little murkier. For instance, one often litigated area of copyright law is how it applies to characters from creative works. For instance, when J.K…. Read More »
What Happens When a Trademark Goes too Far
Trademark law is usually concerned with protecting consumers from fraud. The idea behind it is that each company should get its own logo and name so that consumers know who they are buying from. Yet, sometimes trademark law goes beyond this, and attempts to address other concerns. One area of trademark law where this… Read More »
Don’t Scuff the Copyright: Federal Court Extends Intellectual Property Protection to Flooring
When trying to come up with things that copyright law protects, most people think about works like art, music, or movies. However, it turns out that copyright law protects much more than that. A recent ruling by the 11th Circuit, the federal appeals court covering Florida, highlights the surprisingly broad reach of copyright law…. Read More »
Contesting an “Incontestable” Mark
One of the benefits of registering a trademark with the federal government is that after a certain period of time a mark becomes “incontestable.” That sounds like a powerful benefit. No one wants to be sued by someone with a mark that the government has labeled as beyond contestation. Yet, the name is actually… Read More »
Intellectual Property Protection for Restaurants
Restaurant owners often wonder about whether they can use the intellectual property (IP) system to stop competitors from stealing their recipes. The answer, as with so many things in law, is that it is complicated. American IP is divided into four categories: patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. These each protect their own types… Read More »
What Copyright Protects
Copyrights, patents and trademarks are each valuable parts of an intellectual property portfolio, but people often find it difficult to keep straight which intellectual property is protected by which set of rules. Each branch of intellectual property is designed for a very specific type of protection, and conflating them can often cause problems. Take,… Read More »
Nike Opposes Local Business’ Trademark Rights
A legal action filed by athletics giant Nike against local Florida business Crossfit CityPlace, a Pike & Lustig, LLP client, alleges that the small business has attempted to register a trademark that is too similar to one of Nike’s marks. The trademarks in question are Nike’s “jumpman” logo, a silhouette depiction of a slam-dunking Michael Jordan,… Read More »
Understanding Fair Use in Copyright Law
One of the most commonly discussed pieces of copyright law is the doctrine of fair use. It is also one of the most complex pieces. This doctrine acts as a powerful limitation on the rights of copyright holders because it undercuts their monopoly on their works. Ordinarily, only a person who holds a copyright… Read More »
