Category: Intellectual Property

If you have a business idea such as a name, invention or symbol, it helps to seek legal protection for your work. In so doing, you will establish rightful ownership while preventing unlawful use or abuse of your property. There are several ways to protect your intellectual property, and identifying the right type of protection is very…

As a business, you need to protect your intellectual property and take care not to infringe on anyone else’s property rights. A failure to do either could lead to a complex dispute and preventing problems is generally far easier than resolving them. Here are three steps you can take: Check who holds the rights when…

The attorneys at the firmly established Los Angeles business and commercial law firm of Larson & Gaston, L.L.P., represent a diverse clientele with passion and diligence across a wide spectrum of challenges and opportunities. One of our practice areas is the realm of intellectual property, which we justifiably denote as being the repository for “powerful…

Nike zealously safeguards the company’s intellectual property, and who’s surprised by that? After all, the global shoemaking titan’s products are — and for years have been — in hot demand with consumers ranging from preschool tots to professional basketball players. Frankly, there is a lot to protect. We note on our business and commercial law website at…

A celebrity doesn’t get much bigger than country/pop music star Taylor Swift. She is not simply a singer; she is a brand, a business with so much money and power that it might seem daunting for another business to challenge her in any sort of business litigation.  The power of Swift, however, was not enough…

Intellectual property refers to any creation, including things like inventions and art pieces, and how they are used in commerce. Any kind of intellectual property is protected by a series of items such as copyrights, trademarks or patents, depending on the type of property. These protective copyrights or patents also allow the person who created…

If you’ve worked hard to develop a brand for your business, then you know how important it is to protect your intellectual property. Brands are established to signify specific services, products and ideas, and if someone infringes on your intellectual property rights and creates confusion among consumers, then the consequences could be quite serious. On…

If you own a business, chances are at some point down the road you will have to make a decision that will either lead to success or failure. One decision that some business owners have found particularly challenging is choosing a domain name. This can be a challenge because it is going to be one…

If you’ve looked at the class list at any fitness center in the United States, chances are you’ve seen yoga listed at least once or twice. You can’t even walk into a retail store without seeing workout outfits or mats specifically designed for this form of exercise. For a lot of our California readers though,…

The issue of patent infringement on the global stage is one that we’ve talked about before. Readers may recall our post last year in which we explored whether it’s possible for anyone to own the rights to the form of exercise called yoga. As we observed then, while it’s possible to trace the roots of yoga to…

How often do you think about state and federal laws? If you’re like most people here in the United States, then you probably think very little about how the law affects you from day to day life. But as our society becomes more involved in using the Internet and social media to express ourselves, the…

Intellectual property is an important asset for any business. Every startup needs to consider how it can protect its ideas and plans for the future. It has to protect its products and its way of doing things. Intellectual property comes in many forms, but knowing how to protect it is important. To start with, you…

In the era of social media, companies have unprecedented opportunities to connect with their customers. However, with this inundation of information—that can be viewed and shared with the click of a mouse—comes elevated risk that a company brands could be misused or abused. May companies have developed social media policies, which dictate the ways in…

Intellectual property can refer to many different legal elements. Intellectual property can be ideas, or tangible objects. They can be patents, copyrights, and trademarks. The umbrella that is IP law is quite a bit wider than many people may realize. Another area of intellectual property law that doesn’t always pop into your mind when you…

When you think about Louis Vuitton, do you think of a fashion company or a tech company? When you pose the same question about food delivery company Blue Apron, do you see a fresh food provider or a tech company? The question over this distinction is becoming ever more common as more companies want to…

What centrally defines the marketing power or financial force that underlies a dynamic business or creative individual? Although many things go into the equation, of course, we would modestly submit that the bottom line is inextricably linked with branding, which is in turn closely connected to notions of uniqueness. We have seen the connection many…

Artists, musical groups and companies – whether California-based, national or international – all have a few things in common, and one of those things is usually having a logo. A logo represents the group or company’s personal brand and is associated with them, for better or worse. Protecting rights to a logo is important, especially…

We’ve all seen Converse’s famous high-top sneaker called the Chuck Taylor All-Star. For some, this is a highly recognizable design, even if they can’t tell you who makes the shoe. So, with it being so recognizable, is it possible for Converse to trademark the appearance of the shoe?  If you’ve been paying attention to intellectual…

You know that a specific topic or subject matter is A-list material when it merits mention in the United States Constitution. The right to vote. Freedom of speech. An independent judiciary. No kings. And, for purposes of discussion in our blog post today, the existence of legal safeguards that protect the property rights and interests…

If you’re the owner of intellectual property rights in a musical product (a song, perhaps, which you wrote or produced), it shouldn’t be that hard to get your fair share of the royalties generated by that product, right? Actually, that can be just about as difficult as was the labor expended in creating a protected…