A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or other indicator that identifies the source or sponsorship of goods or services. If an individual, business, or other organization uses a trademark to sell or promote its goods or services, then it can gain the right to exclude others...
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A trade secret is a form of intellectual property that applies to business secrets. If a company or other organization creates or compiles information that gives it an economic advantage over its competitors, it can protect that information as a trade secret -- in a sense...
DMLP Staff - 04/30/2008 - 3:43pm - 0 comments -
If you obtain or publish a company's trade secrets, the company may have a legal claim against you for trade secret misappropriation . Generally speaking, a "trade secret" is secret information that confers a competitive business advantage on its owner by virtue...
DMLP Staff - 04/30/2008 - 4:21pm - 0 comments -
If you are thinking about publishing something that looks like a company's internal -- and possibly secret -- document or information, you need to think about the potential legal consequences under trade secrets law. As explained in Basics of a Trade Secret Claim , if a...
DMLP Staff - 04/30/2008 - 4:22pm - 0 comments -
Each state has its own law relating to trade secrets. However, most U.S. states have adopted their own slightly modified version of the Uniform Trade Secret Act (UTSA) , so there is a good deal of uniformity among state laws on the subject. Choose your state from the list...
DMLP Staff - 04/30/2008 - 4:22pm - 0 comments -
Trademark law applies to the use of words, phrases, symbols, slogans and other "marks" to identify the source or sponsorship of goods or services. The Lanham Act , which is the federal statute that covers trademark law, makes it unlawful for you to use a trademark...
DMLP Staff - 04/30/2008 - 4:24pm - 0 comments -
There are three ways to secure your rights in your trademark : (1) use the mark in commerce in connection with a good or service; (2) register the trademark with your state; or (3) register the trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO...
DMLP Staff - 04/30/2008 - 4:25pm - 0 comments -
An important question for bloggers, citizen media creators, and other online publishers is whether trademark law limits their ability to engage in reporting, commentary, criticism, and other forms of political, social, and artistic expression. There is a threat, should...
DMLP Staff - 04/30/2008 - 4:25pm - 0 comments -
The term "cybersquatting" refers to registering, using, or selling a domain name with a bad faith intent to profit from someone else's trademark. In the 1990s, when many companies were just beginning to realize the significance of the Internet, cybersquatters...
DMLP Staff - 04/30/2008 - 4:26pm - 0 comments -
If you host user-generated content, such as user comments, you should be aware of your potential liability for that content under trademark law. For instance, a website user could post another blog's logo in a comment, eliciting a cease-and-desist letter from the competing...
DMLP Staff - 04/30/2008 - 4:27pm - 0 comments -
