Inventors and designers have the challenging job of inventing and designing around many issues: prior art, competitive products, budgets, physics, consumer safety, market demand, supply chain hiccups, government regulations, and … taxes.
For many of us, the term “Easter egg” conjures up memories of dying hard-boiled eggs in bright colors or hunting for treasures and candies stuffed inside plastic orbs hidden around the neighborhood.
Each year, March 14th is celebrated as Pi Day around the world. This day is dedicated to the mathematical constant π, which represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift? How about a non-fungible token (“NFT” for short). NFTs are digital certificates of ownership of assets, such as artwork (physical or virtual).
This practice is often called the “Poor Man’s Copyright” and the idea has been around for a long time. The theory is that mailing a copy of a work to yourself will provide you with certain legal rights akin to a copyright registration so long as the envelope remains sealed and bears a postmark by the United States Postal Service.
Public Domain Day is celebrated on January 1st and commemorates the expiration of copyright protection for certain creative works. US copyright law provides the copyright owner with certain exclusive rights for a limited time, after which the works fall into the public domain.
Recently, we filed an application to register the copyright for Finny the Fish. In the United States, and in many other countries, copyright protection arises at the moment a work is fixed in tangible medium. So, why would we take the extra step to register Finny’s copyright?
Both trademark law and copyright law may protect your logo, although the protection they provide differs. Trademark law would prohibit the unauthorized use of another’s logo that is sufficiently similar to your logo such that it is likely to cause confusion in the marketplace.
Under US copyright law, in most instances, if an independent designer creates your logo, then the independent designer, not you as the contracting party, would own the copyright.
In June 2022, the newly created Copyright Claims Board (“CCB”) began hearing cases. The claimant Angela Jarman filed an action against Paris Hilton’s company 11:11 Digital for $12,000 in damages for copyright infringement.
Fishman Stewart attorneys are dedicated to the practice of intellectual property law. As strategic advisors to CEOs and senior executives throughout the world, we help maximize the value of our client’s “intellectual capital.”
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