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I have an idea for a novelty in dentistry, researched it, and built a proposal, but I am afraid to present it to anyone because I could lose the rights of my idea. What do you think I should do? Thank you.
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answered on Oct 22, 2024
You can file a patent application, or a provisional patent application, to start the process of protecting your idea with a patent. Some ideas might be possible to protect as a trade secret, for example if you knew of a particular way to do a dental operation then you might teach people how to do... View More 
I am a digital marketer for my freelancing company in Montreal, Quebec. My client paid for the month of august and apparently wasn't satisfied and decided to continue, next month we worked harder and hired new people, but the invoice was sent at the beginning of the month but never paid. we... View More
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answered on Oct 18, 2024
It depends on where the client is located and a few other factual questions.
If they are in the United States and you register a copyright in the content you created, and if there was not a contract between you and the client to assign them rights in the content, then you might have a... View More
So, say, someone has made a game and for it created a bunch of 3D models that are direct copies of copyrgihted content from different IP's. They are 100% breaking the law, this is out of the question.
What if I get access to those models? Can I use them without the creator permission?... View More
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answered on Oct 10, 2024
Sorry, it's not that simple. At least under the Second Circuit, which is where New York sits, infringing derivative works can also be independently worthy of copyright. "Our Court concluded that Eden could state a cause of action for infringement of its own derivative works and licensed... View More
Is it legal to tell my readers to listen to specific songs at certain times in my motion-comic? For example, having a notice at the start of the comic telling readers that the comic is read best with certain songs to accompany it, and saying "Now Playing: *Song Name*" at the top of my... View More
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answered on Oct 7, 2024
I would want to think more about this before giving an opinion you could rely upon. First thought is that this seems like it MIGHT be a viable way to escape the need for a "sync license" as you would not personally be synchronizing the music to the images. But there may be court cases... View More
Hello. I intend to file a suit against a company that's not located in my home state of CT. The other company is located in Wyoming and California, as well as other countries. It seems very vague as to whether or not I can file the suit in CT. Can anyone clarify this? What I can tell you about... View More
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answered on Sep 9, 2024
Yes, you can file suit in CT for an injury that happened here, and it is something that a licensed CT attorney like myself could help with. You should be aware that a "foreign" (out-of-state) company could try to have the case "removed" to Federal court if the amount in dispute... View More
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answered on Sep 6, 2024
This is a straightforward problem to solve. Any competent trademark attorney could handle it for you. Remember, the ownership of your mark accrued when you started to use it and continues as long as you use it. Registration formalizes your ownership and gives you some advantages in enforcing your... View More
This method of perforating dough layer is considered abandoned due to not replying on time. Do I get to apply to revive or need to put a new application
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answered on Sep 1, 2024
Was it an *unintentional* delay up until the moment that you obtained an attorney to prepare the papers to revive? If so, you can petition to revive.
"Unintentional" is hard to define - indeed, I am not able to find case law that defines it - but it might be considered to... View More
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answered on Aug 29, 2024
You certainly can. Whether you would be likely to get sued is a different question, and whether you would be likely to lose such a lawsuit for copyright infringement is a third question.
Question 2: if you're just making bookmarks for fellow churchgoers, it's unlikely the Bible... View More
My Uncle and his associates started a Company in PA Called "WeatherShield, Inc" in 1976 w/ a soon registered DBA of AllWeatherShield for phone book listings. The business was Selling and Installing Siding, windows, Doors, and Insulation Services. What Rights can I push to capture too... View More
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answered on Sep 15, 2024
Your ability to expand and protect the WEATHER SHIELD mark nationally will be affected by whether there already are other national or regional brands that have been using similar marks for similar goods or services. Your scope of protection will be limited to goods and services for which you have... View More
I operate under the name Virgin Plus Printing Company. Recently, I received a letter from a lawyer representing Virgin Group, demanding that I change my company's name due to infringement. They have requested this change without offering any compensation. My company has been established since... View More
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answered on Jun 19, 2024
It would take a substantial amount of time to assess your options how to proceed. For example, regardless of your business name, what services or products do you offer? This is important because your goods or services should be compared to the goods or services for which VIRGIN is a registered... View More
And they want me to put together a montage for them from their gameplay. Is it illegal to edit for them since they don't own the video game itself? Thanks!
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answered on Jun 15, 2024
The video montage most likely would be considered as an infringing derivative of the copyright audiovisual work (the game). This could result in a DMCA takedown notice. It's equally or more likely that the videogame producer would appreciate the publicity for their product (assuming the... View More
is it only through the USPTO TESS and copyright.gov web sites? specifically the costs involved what are they and what would be the timeline of start to completed if everything is successful
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answered on May 8, 2024
Attorneys will be reluctant to quote our fees in a public forum like this. Different attorneys may think that filing and prosecuting a trademark application is easy and should be cheap, or difficult and should be expensive. The USPTO will charge either $250 or $350 per "class" of goods or... View More
I bartered with a "friend" to do the artwork for cover to book. (A new Mini-fridge for her artwork.) I gave her the rough sketch of my cover and pictures of components in that sketch. She is now claiming it is her work and she will (or already has) put the cover on Facebook giving her... View More
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answered on May 8, 2024
It's important that you have emails demonstrating what was to. In some States, a chain of emails can be a binding contract.
Contrary to what attorney Goodwin answered, you may accidentally have established "work for hire" - although this is unlikely. You could have a... View More
I am a composer and have ideas for poetry I'd like AI to help draft. I would then tweak it and use it as the text for choral compositions. I want to make sure that is legal or to learn if there are best practices around acknowledgements for the text. If I have to acknowledge Google Gemini for... View More
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answered on May 2, 2024
Copyright in GenAI work is a fascinating topic. I would love to discuss it with you. A short answer to your question is that the U.S. Copyright Office does not register copyrights for works produced by Gen AI. No court so far has told them that they have to. Without a registered copyright, there is... View More
I need to know specifically what this patent protects in terms of the use case for a europallet stacking procedure
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answered on May 2, 2024
If you give a competent patent attorney a set of patent claims and a specific product, the attorney can give you a pretty good guess as to whether a jury could be convinced that the product does or does not infringe the claims. A competent attorney will not answer an open ended question like the... View More
I am reaching out to seek expertise on a copyright matter that pertains to the creation and sale of AI-generated images of celebrities, specifically Johnny Depp.
As an entrepreneur exploring opportunities in the digital art space, I am considering the possibility of generating and selling... View More
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answered on Apr 24, 2024
Hi! This is an interesting and innovative question that I have seen a few times. The question confuses copyright and associated legal doctrine of fair use with rights of publicity, which are a completely different area of law that does not embrace "fair use".
If you have a... View More
I'm making a new card game, and while all of the art is original, I'm worried someone might steal it. If I were to copyright it would it protect all of my art or just one single card?
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answered on Apr 24, 2024
You could file a copyright registration for each individual card or for the whole set of cards. If you file for the whole set as one registration and someone copied just one card there is an argument that their copying would be de mínimus (not a big deal) compared to the whole set of cards.
There is a current technology that has a patent that will be expiring soon. I have an assay that was some basis on the technology in the expiring patent and have changed the assay significantly enough that it is different from the original but encompasses the technology. What are the cost... View More
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answered on Apr 16, 2024
Cost for a patent application varies and most practitioners do not discuss pricing publicly. You get different quality of work depending how much you're willing to pay, but other factors also affect the pricing - size of firm, overhead, what other clients are willing to pay, etc.
A... View More
my parents are moving in with my grandma into a small bedroom and dont have room for me (17) or my brother (16) but my sister will let us move in so were not homeless do my parents have any rights to tell me no even if i would be homeless due to the situation
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answered on Apr 1, 2024
Taking your question at face value, if your parents move in with your grandma but tell you that you can't move in with them, that is the kind of situation that would possibly cause the state to TPR, in which case you likely would be ordered to live with the closest adult relative who would... View More
I am dealing in mainly digital art, which focusing in NFTs, without registering the trademark, I feel not secure to launch my NFT with my brand name. I am in Thailand right now, but soon moving to Hong Kong,
Which kind of trademark do I need to register as well as the cost to register and... View More
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answered on Apr 1, 2024
Filing for a U.S. trademark that you already are using will cost $250-$350 in government fees plus about an hour of attorney time. I takes about one year to eighteen months to obtain registration. You can and should use the trademark during the application process. The only thing to watch out for... View More
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