To get a patent, you need to file a "non-provisional" patent application. While legally, you are not required to use a patent attorney to file for a patent, the patent regulations are very complex, and most businesses and individuals use a patent attorney. More information about the... View More

You must file for patent protection in each individual country in which you want protection. Usually companies select which countries to seek patents in based on where the biggest markets for the invention are located. The costs for patent protection varies considerably from one country to the... View More

The term of a patent depends on the country that issued the patent, on the type of patent, and on whether "maintenance fees" have been paid. In the US, a "utility" patent lasts 20 years from the date of the first patent application giving rise to the patent. However, the... View More

First, it is not a good idea to disclose your invention in a public forum like this until you have determined whether your invention is patentable. That being said, there is not sufficient information to determine patentability. It would be necessary to learn more information about your... View More

Yes, you would have potential liability if your book was published under circumstances that led consumers to believe that it came from a celebrity, rather than yourself. This would include misstating the name of a celebrity. If you changed your name to be the same as the celebrity, there could... View More

I presume you mean how you register a copyright to your music. You fill out a form and file it with the Copyright Office. The form to use depends on whether your "music" comprises lyrics, a recording, or both. see www.copyright.gov for details. However, if others contributed to the... View More

Yes, you need an attorney. The laws regarding piracy are very much in favor of the owner of the intellectual property rights. Moreover, in most piracy cases, if you are found liable, you can be obligated to pay the attorneys fees of the IP owner, which can easily run into tens of thousands of... View More

First consider whether the lyrics may be in the public domain, for example, if the song is over 75 years old. Assuming the song is protected by copyright, unfortunately, there is no "objective test" for how many words you can quote. In general, reproducing a copyrighted work for... View More

Try going here: http://dockets.justia.com/

Select Virgina for the jurisdiction and patent (under intellectual property) for the case "Type." This will show you patent cases that have been filed. Then get a PACER account, and look at the docket reports for various... View More

Only a "claimant" to a copyright can register it. You are not the "author" you so you can not claim ownership through authorship. However, assuming your grandmother is dead, and your are her sole heir, you may be the copyright owner under the laws where your grandmother died.... View More

It depends on what you mean by your "own" photographs. If these are photos you took, yes, you probably own copyrights to them. If someone else took picture of you, they would own the rights to them. However, you may also have a "right of publicity," which would give you the... View More

I don't think so. I am not aware of any specific eagle logo of the FOE that they have registered and that the USPS has copied.

Yes, you can, by going to uspto.gov. However, unless you are familiar with the regulations of the Trademark Office, your application may be rejected.

Paul Overhauser

317 891-1500

www.overhauser.com

The best way to protect a recipie would, in theory, be through a patent. However, this could be difficult for two reasons. First, "non-obviousneess" is required for a patent, and the Patent Office may consider your ingredients to be "obvious," and hence unpatentable. Second,... View More

A band name is not copyrightable, but it can be protected by trademark law. You may be ablet to obtain a State or Federal trademark registration on the name, and, a logo for the band's name, if you have one.

Paul Overhauser

www.overhauser.com

317 891-1500

A trademark is used in connection with products (such as TIDE for laundry detergent), while a servicemark is used in connection services (such as ROTO-ROOTER fo plumbing services). Some marks can be both a trademark and a service, such as DAIRY QUEEN, which is used for both restaurant services,... View More

You might be sued if the names are so similar that consumers might be confused by the similarity. A domain name can constitute a trademark or service mark, and domain names can be registered with the Trademark Office. However, depending on where you are located, you may not be subject to the... View More

No, you would not be able to obtain a US patent on the same machine, becuase in the US, a patent can only be issued to the "inventor," and you are not the inventor. However, most patents are not for entire machines, but only improvements to things others have done in the past. If you... View More

Criminal penalties are applicable in severe trademark infringement cases involving counterfeiting of products. Counterfeiting is considered to be an extreme form of trademark infrigmement since the infriger knowlgy takes advantage of the trademark, bandname, and goodwill of a firm to deliverately... View More

Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001), will likely immunize the US media outlets from US liability for disclosing or discussing the leaked Wikileaks documents. The case is from the United States Supreme Court, and relieved a media defendant of liability for broadcasting a taped conversation of... View More