Trademarks & Copyrights

Once upon a time, Florida’s home towns and cities were bustling with modest shops and a patch-quilt of "mom & pop" stores. Over the decades, for better or worse, much of the commercial landscape has changed. To be sure, while mega-malls dot the marketplace map, not every business is national, international, or multi-national in nature. Similarly, not every pizza restaurant […]

¿Demasiado Poco y Demasiado Tarde (Too Little, Too Late)? “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.” – Spanish Proverb Introduction & Overview Corporate procrastinators beware! The Pearl of the Antilles may, once again, be considered a real gem. When the changing tides appear as if they may swell up, awash in fresh business opportunities, your company can either

In recent years, there has been an explosion of patent litigation in the federal courts based on false patent marking or mismarking claims. You or your company can either be on the cutting edge of preventative patent maintenance or be carved up as the unfortunate victim of one or more qui tam relators a/k/a “Patent Trolls.” Sometimes referred to as

Why is Trademark Protection Important, How does it Compare to Other IP Protection, and What is the Legal Process to Obtain a Trademark “He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the

“We have not journeyed across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy.”1 People of all ages have been greedily gobbling candy since ancient times. Traced from its dulcified roots in the form of Egyptian fruit, nut, and honey treats dating back to around 1,500 B.C., and the early Greeks’

Iceland v. Iceland On our most recent family trip to Iceland, we took a short breather from a walking tour of Reykjavik and found ourselves in a bustling local, Iceland® supermarket. As most tourists, we were curious about what the inhabitants of the place eat. Little did we realize, on the occasion of that particular food foray, that this particular

The Patenting of Clothing and Fashion Apparel Under U.S. Law Clothing is undeniably one of our most basic human needs. Apart from privacy concerns, it serves to cloak our fragile anatomies with protection from exposure to the elements, Mother Nature’s caprices, and various and sundry challenges and threats caused by other people. Evidence unearthed and examined by historians and archeologists

The timeless and sagely advice to the effect that “[w]hen in Rome, do as the Roman do,” also serves as prudent counsel for trademark practitioners serving a client’s needs in United States territories and possessions. Arrogantly, or passively, assuming that a federal registration is preferable and sufficient in every situation may not provide maximum protection for a client’s commercial and/or

Business owners may not fully appreciate the importance of copyrights. The purpose of this article is to offer a general overview of copyright law and how it can be relevant to most businesses. Let us now suppose that you have $35 to spend on your business today. Where could you best spend it? For this modest sum, a business can

The brand designation, mark, or name of your Florida company can, and should, be your company’s most valuable asset. How much can a brand be worth? Consider this: according to Interbrand’s March 2011 Report, among the world’s most valuable brands are the following: Coca-Cola ®, $70 Billion; IBM ®, $65 Billion; Microsoft ®, $61 Billion; Google ®, $44 Billion; and