Well, this isn't really a copyright question, but an evidentiary question. The failure to preserve or produce relevant evidence in a civil case can have consequences to the party who failed to preserve/produce. The legal concept is called spoliation. You should research that topic to... View More

Hello, and I'm sorry to hear that you have been sued. Unfortunately, a lawsuit in the US District Court is a very serious matter. There are lots of issues that you need to explore, and at minimum, you will need to respond to the Complaint (usually by filing an answer or motion to dismiss)... View More

The status 602 abandonment is specifically for failure to respond to an office action. An office action is a rejection issued by the examiner assigned to your application. Sometimes the rejections identify major problems with your application, and other times the problems are relatively minor and... View More

This is a trademark issue, and the Lakers franchise has well-established trademarks on the Lakers name for use with clothing and other sporting goods. The question when analyzing trademark infringement is whether or not there is a reasonable likelihood of confusion as to the source of the goods in... View More

Mr. Brooks is correct. One thing to note is that transfers of trademarks without also transferring the goodwill are invalid as "assignments in gross." You cannot simply say that you have transferred the goodwill, but must actually do so, by transferring the related underlying assets, so... View More

Hello. What is important to remember here is that a trademark is a word/phrase/logo that is used in association with the commercial offering of some kind of product or service. The association with a particular product or service is the key here, as there is no trademark without such an... View More

Hello. When seeking to stop garnishments, there are generally two options for personal bankruptcies, Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. You have to meet certain financial qualifications to file a Chapter 7, and maybe the attorney you spoke with already decided that you are not eligible, and would instead... View More

Hello. With no will (and actually even if there was a will), the father's estate would have to go through the court process called probate. When there is a will, the probate process allows the assets in the estate to be transferred according to the instructions in the will. Without a will,... View More

It's not clear from your question if you are referring to nationally registered trademarks, or filings in Arizona. This makes some difference to the issue. However, in general, you need to understand that a trademark provides protection to a word, phrase, logo, etc, ONLY as it relates to a... View More

Hello. I am sorry to hear of your loss, please accept my condolences.

The answer to your question would depend, in part, on what kind of estate planning your father had done. Your father's estate may have to go through the court process called probate in order to transfer assets to... View More

A trademark can be marked as "dead" for a variety of reasons. If it is dead because the application or registration was abandoned, then there is no way to revive an abandoned federal trademark application, at least once the various grace periods have expired. The only option is to file a... View More

Hello. There is no way to revive an abandoned federal trademark application, at least once the various grace periods have expired. The only option is to file a completely new application.

***Please not the important disclaimers set forth at the bottom of this page.***

Hello. The average length of time for a federal trademark application from filing date to final disposition (be that registration or denial) was 9.8 months as of last June, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. There are a number of things that can influence this number dramatically,... View More

A trademark provides protection for a name, logo, slogan, etc., as it is used in conjunction with the sale of particular products and/or services. It is quite possible to have multiple trademarks that are the same or similar coexisting in the market, as long as there is no reasonable likelihood of... View More

Understand that, in order to have viable trademark rights, either at the state or federal level, the user of a particular mark does not actually have to register their mark. This, then, makes it somewhat difficult for you to know the scope of any rights they may or may not have. If they actually... View More

In order to change the owner of an existing trademark, the usual process is to prepare an assignment agreement. The assignment agreement then has to be recorded with the US Patent and Trademark Office. However, be VERY careful when attempting to assign an active trademark. If you do not transfer... View More

What you are describing is best protected with trademark, not copyright. You are describing selling products with a particular name/phrase/slogan attached to them, which is precisely what trademarks protect. The fact that you buy the products from a vendor doesn't change it because, as you... View More

When somebody files an improper application for a trademark, there are several options for handling. The first is usually to make a formal demand that they abandon their application. If that doesn't work, then an opposition can be filed during the publication period near the end of their... View More

Hello. When you talk about protecting an "idea" that you want to "build," that sounds a bit like you are talking about something that would need a patent, not a trademark. Patents can protect ideas, inventions, etc. Trademarks are words, slogans, logos, images, etc. that are... View More

If you are speaking about a federal trademark registration, you are generally required to wait until you are actually using the mark in commerce before filing for federal registration. You CAN file what is called an intent to use application before you actually start using it, but the purpose of... View More