Trademark Specimen of Use — Is “TM” or ® OK to use in a specimen of use?

It is the policy of the  U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) that trademarks may not be warehoused, or saved for later use.  Therefore, the PTO requires evidence of actual use in commerce before allowing registration of a trademark.  The evidence of actual use is called a “specimen”. Each trademark application must include an acceptable…

Copyright Protection May Be Available for Professional Engineering Plans

Professional engineers (PEs) often work as consultants, rather than employees.  If a PE is an employee, then his or her work product will most likely be owned by the employer.  If the PE is working as a consultant, there may be a question of who owns the plans. Often PEs think that their PE stamp…

Good News for Yoga Practitioners and Speech Advocates — Bikram not entitled to copyright his Sequence

On October 8, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California affirmed a previous ruling by a federal district court that Bikram Choudhury’s sequence of 26 yoga poses is not entitled to copyright protection. The court held that the poses represent an idea or system, neither of which may be protected by copyright. The court…

DESIGN PATENTS — The IP Solution for Many Small Businesses

By: Sharon Adams May 2014 The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)  commemorated the issuance of the 700,000th design patent, for a “Hand-Held Learning Apparatus” currently assigned to the Emeryville, California-based LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. A design patent often is an excellent intellectual property solution for many small businesses, especially businesses selling a product. If…