Should You Talk to Your Child about Copyright Law?
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Dec 3, 2020 in Copyrights
There are many important issues that parents know they need to talk to their kids about. Drugs. The importance of a good education. The birds and the bees. One thing that probably flies right past most parents’ radars is Copyright law. Why in the world would you want to talk to your children about copyright law? Because kids — and honestly, all of us, really — are encountering copyright issues on a daily basis whether […]
Continue ReadingDo Not Ignore Cease and Desist Letters
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Nov 13, 2020 in Basics of Intellectual Property
Imagine this scenario: You receive a cease and desist letter from a law firm. It says you are committing trademark infringement and/or copyright infringement. What do you do? Let’s take this step by step: 1. Do. Not. Ignore. It. The circular file is not the appropriate place for the letter. If you ignore it, the attorney who sent the letter will eventually file a lawsuit in federal court against you for trademark infringement and/or copyright […]
Continue ReadingeBay’s Bid to Crack Down on Counterfeits Could Impact IP Protection
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Nov 5, 2020 in Business' Intellectual Property
There are a lot of counterfeit products on digital marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. The most common category of “knockoff” products? Apparel. The second most common category? Footwear. Amazon does not require third-party sellers to verify the authenticity of sneakers. Largely because of the failure to verify authenticity, both Birkenstock (in 2016) and Nike (in 2019) have stopped offering their products on the marketplace giant. Perhaps looking to avoid a similar fate, eBay recently announced […]
Continue ReadingA Copyright Infringement Case that Rose from the Dead
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Oct 22, 2020 in Copyrights
In honor of Halloween, this week I thought I would (if you will forgive the pun) resurrect a case from 2008: that of Dawn of the Dead vs. Dead Rising. Video game or horror movie aficionados may remember that this one was a pretty big deal when it occurred. But for those who are not in the know, here is a recap. Dawn of the Dead is a 1978 film by George Romero that is […]
Continue ReadingThe United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued an alert in September 2020 regarding a new email scam. Email messages are showing up in trademark owners’ inboxes that appear to be from USPTO but are actually from third parties. Be aware that any correspondence appearing to be from this government agency may be fraudulent and pay careful attention. Learn why this digital scam may be surfacing now, key indicators that the email you received […]
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