Drastic Changes to Canadian Trademark Law Take Effect in June 2019
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Apr 18, 2019 in Business' Intellectual Property
Written by Guest Author, Marks Gray Associate Logan McEwen Trademarks in Canada are looking at a major overhaul effective June 17, 2019 as Canadian legislation adopting the Singapore Treaty, Nice Agreement, and Madrid Protocol are implemented. How the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) examines and approves trademark applications will be remarkably different. A short highlight reel includes: Registrable marks will now include scents, holograms, color combinations, and animated images alongside traditional word marks, design marks, […]
Continue ReadingTips for Business Owners: Protect Your IP Assets by Using Employment Agreements
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Feb 7, 2019 in Business' Intellectual Property
So, your trademark is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, you’ve obtained copyright registration for your original materials through the US Copyright Office, and an employee agreement is now part of your new hire packet. You may believe your intellectual property safeguarding efforts are complete – but have you explicitly established ownership of the company’s intellectual property within those hiring documents? You should consider– if materials were created outside the ordinary course of […]
Continue ReadingTips for Business Owners: The Fewer Resources You Have, The More You Need to Plan
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Nov 8, 2018 in Business' Intellectual Property
For many start-ups and existing small businesses, funding and resources are tight, so they necessarily take great care when deciding where to invest their money. However, one place that many businesses unfortunately overlook is planning for and protecting their intellectual property (IP). The value of IP in the US has been estimated as being around $10-$15 trillion. And when assessing the value of IP for your company, it may mean the difference between big-time success […]
Continue ReadingAccused of Trademark Infringement: Do You Have Insurance?
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Aug 2, 2018 in Business' Intellectual Property
As more businesses use the internet to advertise their goods and services, more business owners are discovering copyright and trademark infringement issues that impact their businesses. People duplicate photos, logos, portions of books, manuals, and websites that they find on the Internet – but they don’t obtain permission from the original owner of the copyrighted work or trademark. Since business owners are increasingly beginning to understand the value of protecting their trademarks and obtaining copyright […]
Continue ReadingTrademark Tip: Why to Register in Black and White
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Aug 10, 2017 in Basics of Intellectual Property
Consider registering your trademark in black and white. This protects trademark use in all colors, rather than only limiting protection to the colors provided in a color image. If color is vital to your brand, consider two applications: one in black and white and one in your brand colors.
Continue ReadingOptions for Protecting Original Software Code
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Jul 27, 2017 in Business' Intellectual Property
Protecting your original software code allows you to gain control over how your idea is distributed to the public. Do you want it to be open source? Licensed? Kept secret? Furthermore, without legal protection, you could even be prevented from using your own code in certain situations. There are three main ways to protect your code: trade secret, copyright, and patent. Trade secret A trade secret is proprietary information that gives an individual or company […]
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