The first thing to figure out is whether you have ever signed an invention assignment or other written agreement to assign your intellectual property rights to one of these companies. If so, those documents would give you the answer.

If not, California state law will govern, and it may... View More

Since your name is common, and you're naming your business a generic/descriptive name which describes exactly what you'll be doing, you probably won't have a trademark problem. Usually other people can't stop you from using your own name for your business. Best to search the... View More

If a granted patent describes the same method that you want to use, then the inventor can prevent you from using that process without their permission. If a patent application has not yet been granted, then the inventor does not yet have the right to stop you. However, if the patent is granted... View More

From your description, what you want to do is a derivative work, and thus it is copyright infringement. You do have a fair use argument, but as you suspect, using your derivative work as advertising weighs against you in a fair use analysis. Safest thing to do is to get permission from the... View More

To find trademark owner information, you can look up a trademark at tess2.uspto.gov. There is some information there, and you will find more if you click on the TSDR button.

There's a good chance that they are right - you should not ignore this. If they end up filing a lawsuit against you, REALLY don't ignore it. You may wish to talk to your own lawyer now to get a better idea of how strong their case is, or you could just try to negotiate them down to a... View More

You should get permission from the copyright holder of the video - could be the videographer or their employer, or ESPN... In my opinion what you are describing would not pass a fair use test. You might also need permission from the athlete in the video, depending on state law.

You can look up a trademark owner's contact information at tsdr.uspto.gov. You can then contact the trademark owner, and make your offer. You may want to seek business and legal advice to make sure you offer an appropriate price, and to make sure the trademark is assigned to you properly... View More

I'm so sorry for your loss. In addition to patent law considerations, to figure all of this out you would also need to consult with an attorney in the state that has jurisdiction over your husband's death (California?) Patent rights may pass to you (or someone else) based on your... View More

Someone has filed a petition for cancellation of the trademark with the TTAB (Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.) The trademark owner must respond to the petition before the deadline, or the trademark will be cancelled. Look up the trademark in the USPTO databases (TESS, TSDR) to find out the... View More

You can look up an existing patent application or granted patent yourself on the USPTO Public Pair database - you will need the application number, or publication number, or patent number to do this.

A tough question to answer, even when you know all of the specific details! Copyright protection certainly applies to quotations. It can apply to aspects of the characters, depending on how recognizable they are. As an example, writers of "fan fiction" encounter this dilemma all the... View More

The title of a song is not something that can have copyright protection, in and of itself. It is too short.

You should perform trademark searches, however, both state and federal, to make sure no one else is using the same or a similar phrase as a trademark for cosmetics.

Maybe. A trademark is reserved for a particular category of goods or services, sometimes more than one. So you wouldn't be able to use the same or a confusingly similar mark for the same or similar goods or services.

if you want to use the same mark for a completely different... View More

Maybe, but it would depend on what the rejection was and whether sending a specimen with a different item will raise new issues. If you send a specimen that is clearly a picture of a different item, there could be a question of whether the new item was in use at the date that you claimed the... View More

You can search for US trademarks at tess2.uspto.gov. If you find something, check to see whether it is live or dead, and also look at the goods/services description.

States also have their own trademark registration process and databases, which you can search.

A phrase like... View More

Plagiarism is when you use someone else's words or ideas, imply or claim they are your own, and don't give credit to the true author. It's not a crime in and of itself, though there can be serious consequences to a student or writer, like a bad grade or bad reputation. Sometimes... View More