If a residential lease agreement says the landlord must provide at least 24 hours' notice, then the landlord must abide by this requirement. If the agreement doesn't say how much notice is required, the parties should expressly agree to a reasonable time frame. 24 hours is considered... Read more »

In North Carolina, without a written lease agreement saying otherwise, residential tenancy is month-to-month. That means that either party can terminate by providing notice of 30 days or more. The terminating party isn't required to give a reason, as it is merely a termination, not an... Read more »

For federal trademark registration status, you could search the records of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The database is known as "TESS." For state trademark registration status, you would need to search the records for each state.

However, keep in mind that the US... Read more »

An agreement between two companies prohibiting one from hiring the other's employees is not strictly forbidden in North Carolina, although it must be written to comply with some fairly specific rules. Depending on how it is written and what purpose it is intended to serve, such an agreement... Read more »

A DMCA Takedown Notice must be tailored to each specific situation. So, an attorney would need to review the evidence to be able to compose one or help someone else compose one. Also, keep in mind that a response other than or in addition to standard DMCA Takedown Notice language might be... Read more »

Any time that you're considering using a trademark BECAUSE it's already famous, that's usually a clue that you could be headed down the road toward infringement. You can always ask permission to use someone else's trademark. But if the owner is a big company, there's... Read more »

It would depend in part on what each seller is selling. The purpose of a trademark is to help consumers distinguish between sellers, so that consumers know the specific "source" of the products/services they're buying. Using a phrase that someone else is already using to sell... Read more »

An attorney couldn't tell you exactly what's going on without reviewing the notice and your wife's listing. However, if the listing included the phrase "bullet journal" for anything like THE bullet journal, the trademark owner of that phrase would be well within their... Read more »

The economic reality test has been in place for years, although there have been several changes/attempted changes and clarifications/attempted clarifications in recent years. Also, in any given situation, there are numerous independent contractor rules that could apply. While there are the DOL rule... Read more »

Whether your daughter might be able to win a lawsuit depends in part on who owns the copyrights to the images. Since she was modeling for someone else, it is likely that they own the copyrights. Therefore, they would have the right to allow others to use the images. She should start by speaking... Read more »

Although the author will always be the author of their own work, whether the author is also the copyright owner often depends on the terms of the publishing agreement.

Review your agreement, paying close attention to terms like "copyright"/"intellectual property" and... Read more »

If you believe someone has committed a criminal offense against you, you could file a police report. (The police will then decide whether to bring charges and, if so, which ones.) If you believe someone has committed a civil offense against you, you could file a lawsuit. (You can usually file... Read more »

Generally, copyright belongs to the creator or author from the moment they create or author something, whether they register it or not, and you can only use something for commercial purposes if you created it, bought it, or "licensed" it. (There are some exceptions to the general rules,... Read more »

A trademark is something that distinguishes the "source" of particular goods and services from other sellers. Generally, when a term used to market products or services merely describes those products or services, it fails to function as a trademark because it lacks distinctiveness.... Read more »

A few things to consider:

The amount owed after surrender a car to the lender may be the difference between the loan and the SALE PRICE (not the "value").

Surrender may be considered a voluntary "repossession," and it will likely show on a credit report as such... Read more »

I am sorry to hear that you're experiencing this, especially after working so hard to maintain a good record with your former employer. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what constitutes a policy violation and the proper way to handle it, especially for an employee who is leaving.... Read more »

Defamation (libel and slander) requires making a false statement about one person to someone other than that person. A conversation between just two people doesn't typically constitute defamation, but it could constitute something else unlawful (like harassment).

Deleting a statement... Read more »

Generally, buying a used vehicle means buying it as-is and at your own risk. It also means that a buyer's failure to get an inspection before buying can be a huge problem in a lawsuit. On the other hand, depending on the applicable law, a buyer might be able to win a lawsuit against a seller... Read more »

Giving your dog to someone else is typically considered a "gift." In North Carolina, most gifts are considered "irrevocable." (In other words, the giver can't just take back a gift once given).

An exception to this general rule is when a gift comes with... Read more »

A judge will look at the totality of the circumstances and decide what's in the "best interest" of the child who is the subject of the custody litigation. In theory, terminating a parent's rights for one child could be in that child's best interest, while giving the same... Read more »