Startups in California need to be aware of the issue of copyright reform, as Members of Congress Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Tom Marino (R-PA) recently introduced federal legislation that’s designed to give creators a cost-effective way to enforce their rights. The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act was introduced in the House of Representatives this past summer and has …
A patent owner could bring an infringement suit just about anywhere until this past May. That’s when the United States Supreme Court issued TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, which reversed a 1990 decision that broadened the venue criteria for bringing a case. The Supreme Court reinstated the Fourco Glass rule it had originally been decided in 1957 which allows companies to …
American biopharmaceutical Gilead Sciences was hit with a $2.5 billion verdict in a patent jury trial against another pharmaceutical last year. But the company escaped another intellectual property case unharmed last week, avoiding what could have been a second $2.5 billion verdict. U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark in Delaware recently ruled that biopharmaceutical company’s conduct concerning its blockbuster hepatitis C (HCV) medication sofosvubir didn’t …
As a startup owner, you should know that a trademark is a word, name, symbol, or other device that’s used to identify your company’s goods and services, and distinguishes them from those offered by your competitors. Once you successfully register your mark, you run the risk of losing your right to enforce the registration if you misuse your mark. “Misuse” …
GoSpotCheck recently made the ranks of tech giants like Oracle and Apple—at least in one dubious category. Each of these companies has been sued by Leigh Rothschild. Rothschild and his Plano, Texas-based company Rothschild Digital Confirmation brought an action against GoSpotCheck in U.S. District Court in Denver, claiming they violated a 2008 patent for attaching a timestamp and location data to …
Photo Credit: Adam Procter A case in the news shows the importance of having an IP policy in place at your startup that explains to your employees that the company owns what’s invented at work… A former University of Missouri professor is on trial for his plans to sell an innovative process for making antifreeze by his own company. The school …
Photo Credits: medithIT Startups should be aware that a new online registration system for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) debuted last December from the U.S. Copyright Office. Companies will note several changes and a date for the expiration of the original paper system. The DMCA allows website publishers the opportunity to protect themselves against claims of copyright infringement from user …
Startups should be aware of the consequences if your employee steals trade secrets from his former employer. Read about a recent case in Northern California concerning shared ride technology… Plaintiffs UCAR are a large chauffeured car service provider in China. They offer ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft in the U.S. UCAR is working on ride-hailing software and its analysis …
The intellectual property of your startup can be bought and sold, licensed, exchanged, or donated just like other types of property. A sound strategy for the management of your company’s intellectual property rights will prove to be very profitable if you have experienced legal counsel and understand how these different techniques of conveyance are used. Think of conveying your IP …
A startup needs to protect its intellectual property. At the same time, it needs to shield itself from claims of infringement from others for use of works they don’t own. A common situation with the latter is using a work thought to be in the public domain that is in fact protected by copyright. A work in the public domain …
