Sam Raimi, director of the new film “Oz: The Great and Powerful” is being very careful not to infringe on the rights of the 1939 classic movie “The Wizard of Oz,” even though the movie is supposed to be a prequel. He was told that anything unique to the movie that was not in L....
Category: Intellectual Property
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Twitter Followers: Company or Personal Property?
Jim Roberts, one of the top editors at the New York Times, recently quit the Times and the debate ensued as to who owned his 75,000 Twitter followers. Roberts accepted a buyout for the followers, but the issue has still come under debate and speculation. Twitter followers are a commodity in today’s social-media-obsessed society. One...
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Business Piracy of Intellectual Property
Business piracy is the unauthorized use of intellectual property owned by a business. Business piracy is stealing. Theft of intellectual property costs businesses in Florida and throughout the United States billions of dollars per year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). On their website they state that intellectual property theft is the top...
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Google Loses Patent Infringement Lawsuit
Google recently lost an infringement lawsuit regarding a patent that most people wouldn’t think of as being intellectual property: a filtering technology that generates online advertising based on search terms. Vringo, Inc. was awarded over $30 million for Google and four co-defendants’ – AOL Inc., IAC/InterActiveCorp, Target Corporation and Gannett Co Inc. – infringements on...
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Who controls Intellectual Property in the Workplace?
A “work made for hire” is a piece of intellectual property created by an employee or independent contractor of a company in which the rights to the property belong to the company, not the author. There are many things to consider in regards to this law, the first being whether the author was an employee...
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Digital Assets Are Part of Florida Estate Planning
When most people think of Estate planning, they think of packing up a house and dividing assets such as jewelry, baseball cards, and family heirlooms. These are all important things to think about, but in today’s age of technology, there is a whole other area of assets to include in your estate plan: Digital Assets....
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Avoid Infringing on Someone Else’s Trademark
Avoid Infringing on Someone Else’s Trademark: It is important when thinking about trademarking your business, logo, product or any other trademark-able item, that you make sure you do not infringe on someone else’s trademark. There are some simple steps to take to protect yourself from the costly mistakes of infringement. Four simple steps that Boyer...
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You Need an Attorney to Protect Your Property
You Need an Attorney to Protect Your Property: With the recent news of PIPA (Protection of Intellectual Property Act) and SIPA (Stop Internet Piracy Act) being shelved by the United States Congress, many people may wonder what they can do to protect their intellectual property. Whether you are creating new products or improving on inventions...
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Online Protests Force Congress to Rethink Bills
Congress put two controversial bills on the shelf last week. The Stop Online Piracy Act (“SOPA”) and Protect IP Act (“PIPA”) received a lot of attention from the public. Over 13 million people made their voices heard, mostly online, and forced Congress to halt any votes planned for the two bills. Many people viewed the...
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The International Trademark
Are you wondering how to get your slogan or logo trademarked internationally? Well Boyer Law Firm can help. There are different ways an international trademark can be applied for: 1. Through the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office, 2. Through the desired country directly, and 3. Through an 3rd party company. A trademark is a name,...