Patent Search: Sixth Sense?
Posted on February 14, 2008 - Filed Under Legal and Law | Leave a Comment
How to conduct an effective patent search?
To conduct an effective search, it is always better to start writing a brief description of what your invention is all about. To begin with, state the problem and solution to overcome it. Your solution might be in the form of novel process, product, device, apparatus, article or mere ornamental design. A comprehensive search strategy will include three main inevitable steps and they are:
(1) General key words search = More hits
(2) Classification codes search = Cannot be determined (depends on the subject matter of invention)
(3) Hybrid search (classification code(s) + keyword(s)) = Relatively less no. of hits (depends on the subject matter of invention)
Lessons Learned - Register Your Copyright Before You Go To Court
Posted on February 13, 2008 - Filed Under Legal and Law | Leave a Comment
Copyrights are created at the click of the shutter. But to enforce your rights in court for infringement claims, you must first register your copyright before you bring suit in federal court. Period. It doesn’t matter when the infringement is committed or the registration is completed, you still must register before filing suit.
It’s too bad that a freelance writer, Glynn Wilson, in Alabama didn’t learn this lesson earlier. He recently sued Kitty Kelley alleging that she used without permission some of his material for her best-selling book about the Bush family, “The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty.” The validity of his claim will never be decided in court. He had to withdraw his copyright infringement suit after realizing that he was likely to lose because he had failed to register his copyright with the United States Copyright Office. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/19/arts/19kell.html
Read More..>>Copyrights In Your Photographs
Posted on January 17, 2008 - Filed Under Legal and Law | Leave a Comment
You take a picture of a city street. Look closely and you’ll see copyrighted material everywhere in your photo. The obvious copyrights are on the billboard, the newspaper stand and products in the store window. The less obvious copyrights are in the sculptural ornamentation of the lamppost, the patterned fabric of a woman’s skirt and the toy the kid is holding. You will never be able to track down all of these copyright owners to get their permission to use the photo. Are you out of luck if you want to use it commercially? Maybe not.
Read More..>>Copyright - It Costs You Nothing
Posted on January 5, 2008 - Filed Under Legal and Law | Leave a Comment
Copyrighting anything you have created costs you nothing. You simply put ‘Your Name 2005’ (2006, etc.) on it, beside it, or wherever the public can read it, and the act of copyright is done. It’s free — a gift from your government.
You’ve probably heard that registering your copyright costs you $30. Yes, that’s true, there is a $30 dollar fee if you choose to formally register your song, short story, photograph, painting, or whatever. You fill out Form TX for the written word, or form VA for graphic creations, such as photographs. Send in two copies of the ‘work’, plus your $30 dollars, to the Register of Copyright, Library of Congress, and your work will be entered into the archives and you will be in a better position to collect compensation in case of copyright infringement.
Read More..>>Faqs - Copyright
Posted on January 3, 2008 - Filed Under Legal and Law | Leave a Comment
Many people seem to think that putting a copyright notice on their work protects their rights. They are only partly right. Registering the copyright is an important step. If you register your copyright before an infringement occurs, you have a great deal more leverage in enforcing your rights.
Question: What does Copyright Law protect?
Copyright Law protects original works of authorship, including artistic and literary works for the life of the creator plus 70 years. This means that the copyright owner has the exclusive right to license, reproduce, perform, and display the work (subject to the “fair use” doctrine discussed below).
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