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Intellectual Property Questions & Answers
1 Answer | Asked in Copyright and Intellectual Property for Texas on
Q: could I be reported for copyright?

If I sold t-shirts with the words "SAD DAD CLUB" or "SAD DADS CLUB" printed on them but the words "SAD DAD" are trademarked for use on t-shirts, could I be reported for copyright?

Sean Goodwin
Sean Goodwin
answered on Nov 21, 2024

You are asking for a complicated legal opinion, which most attorneys will not provide unless you are a client. If you would like a detailed answer to your question, please hire a competent trademark attorney.

The test for trademark infringement is "likelihood of confusion."...
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1 Answer | Asked in Copyright and Intellectual Property for Louisiana on
Q: I was trying to find out how to ask permission to use the copyrighted wu-tang logo or variation on mainly t-shirts.
James L. Arrasmith
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answered on Nov 20, 2024

To use the Wu-Tang Clan logo or any variation, you'll need to contact RZA's company Wu-Tang Corp, which handles licensing and merchandise rights for the group.

Your best approach would be to submit your request through their official channels - either through their website or by...
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3 Answers | Asked in Animal / Dog Law, Civil Rights, Insurance Defense and Intellectual Property for California on
Q: Declaration of Assets, Insurance & Employment under penalty of perjury from claimant's attorney

Our 21 lb dog bit an uber eats driver on the calf piercing his skin and he and his attorney are seeking compensation over insurance limits. Our insurance company sent us a declaration of assets, insurance and employment under penalty of perjury to complete with the policy limit settlement to send... View More

William John Light
William John Light
answered on Nov 18, 2024

You don't have to disclose your assets, other than insurance limits, even during litigation, unless punitive damages are sought.

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1 Answer | Asked in Copyright, Education Law, Intellectual Property and Trademark on
Q: I am owning the domain names below servicenowpro.com servicenowgold.com i want to sell,any legal issues From servicenow.

I want to reachout to servicenow to sell this domains, i believe it may help them for future products and projects.

I don't know the legal things,

Please guide me

James L. Arrasmith
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answered on Nov 15, 2024

Your desire to sell these domain names to ServiceNow requires careful consideration due to potential trademark issues.

These domain names could be viewed as "cybersquatting" since they incorporate ServiceNow's trademark. The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA)...
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2 Answers | Asked in Copyright, Intellectual Property and Trademark for Kentucky on
Q: If i made a shirt with a name on it that is now a trademark, can I be reported for copyright?

I made a shirt for my daughter 2 years ago that says "zach bryan" with a photo that she picked of a longhorn. Facebook notified me that I have been reported for copyright Infringment but I don't see how as my daughter picked a photo I made on the computer. It was not copy and pasted

Patrick Cummins
Patrick Cummins
answered on Nov 13, 2024

If the copyright infringement allegation is directed to the picture of the longhorn, and you captured the image of the longhorn or you drew it yourself, you are likely not at fault. If someone else drew the image of the longhorn, or captured the image of the longhorn with their camera, then you... View More

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1 Answer | Asked in Copyright and Intellectual Property for Washington on
Q: Hello! I am a seller on Amazon USA.

I received a lawsuit in court regarding intellectual property violation. Can you help me solve this problem?

James L. Arrasmith
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answered on Nov 15, 2024

This is a serious legal matter that requires immediate attention. Intellectual property lawsuits from Amazon can have significant consequences for your business, including potential account suspension and financial penalties.

Your first step should be to carefully review the lawsuit...
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2 Answers | Asked in Copyright, Intellectual Property, International Law and Trademark on
Q: Does using a company's name in a domain for independent stock information violate trademark law?

I am considering registering a domain name that combines a publicly traded company’s name with the word ‘stock’ (e.g., [CompanyName]Stock.com) to independently present public information about the company's stock performance, financial data, and other objective metrics. The site would... View More

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answered on Nov 12, 2024

If you are not using the mark to establish a brand in the selling of goods and services, using the mark as part of a domain name for a website is usually considered minimal use and not sufficient to constitute trademark infringement.

Consider my annotation to this case where the mark was...
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1 Answer | Asked in Copyright, Entertainment / Sports, Identity Theft and Intellectual Property for California on
Q: Is it legal for an artist to use someone else's personal emails and text for their songs?
James L. Arrasmith
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answered on Nov 14, 2024

Using someone else's private communications like emails and texts in songs without permission can lead to serious legal issues. Personal communications are protected by copyright law, and the original writer typically owns the rights to their content. Additionally, publishing private messages... View More

2 Answers | Asked in Intellectual Property and Patents (Intellectual Property) on
Q: Need to provisional patent on a device for vision screening. How Do I file a provisionanl patent to build the POC?

The device is not been made yet. I need to file a patent right away. Is there a patent type that is relatively cheap so we can protect our intellectual property until we build a POC?

Peter D. Mlynek
Peter D. Mlynek
answered on Nov 11, 2024

A couple of points:

(1) Congratulations on worrying about patenting your device. Way too many people build the product, sell it, and then seek to get a patent, only to be told that it is too late.

(2) However, there is such a thing as trying to file a patent application too early....
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2 Answers | Asked in Copyright, Intellectual Property and Trademark for Washington on
Q: Is the term/name “Wheel of Calamity” trademarked or copyrighted in any way?

Intend to start a social media company under this title and want to verify its Existence amount other trademarked intellectual property.

Sean Goodwin
Sean Goodwin
answered on Nov 8, 2024

The best answer you will get to this question is from a trademark attorney who has conducted a legal analysis based on a clearance search. I highly recommend that you hire a qualified attorney to do this before you start spending money on advertising and then realize that you will have to rebrand... View More

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3 Answers | Asked in Trademark, Copyright and Intellectual Property for California on
Q: I'm looking to create and sell books commercially.

Some of them will have the word “Animal/Animals” in the title, internal pages, description etc. But there's a trademark for the word “ANIMALS” overseas, covering books. Does it mean that I can't include the word “Animal/Animals” either capital or lowercase in my book at all... View More

Sean Goodwin
Sean Goodwin
answered on Nov 8, 2024

The titles of books cannot be copyrighted.

Foreign trademarks are not applicable unless you plan to sell in that country. If you are worried about trademarks in the U.S., I highly recommend hiring a qualified trademark attorney to run a clearance search to ensure you will not be infringing....
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1 Answer | Asked in Estate Planning, Intellectual Property, Tax Law and Probate for Georgia on
Q: What does it mean when a property in Bartow county ga goes from the estate to the estate and then attn so and so????

My grandfather's property on his land tax accessor online went from owner: state of so and so then to owner: estate of so and so with ATTN so and so rite under it..... What does that mean???

Anthony M. Avery
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answered on Nov 6, 2024

That is the tax assessor's on line chain of title, which may or may not be correct or complete. Hire a GA attorney to search the title and explain to you the title.

1 Answer | Asked in Intellectual Property, Family Law and Probate for Tennessee on
Q: In state of Georgia life tenant selling property and that buyer demolished a mobile home on perment foundation
Anthony M. Avery
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answered on Nov 6, 2024

What is your question? If land is in GA then post there.

2 Answers | Asked in Intellectual Property for Michigan on
Q: Legal Assistance Needed for Recent Copyright Infringement Email

I am reaching out for legal guidance regarding a recent copyright infringement email my business, Empire Wardrobe, received. This email included a screenshot dated five months ago of a product on our website, which, according to our records, was removed shortly after that time.

This is the... View More

Sarah Teresa Haddad
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answered on Nov 5, 2024

Additional issues to consider would be whether the claimed original image is registered with the US Copyright Office, the purpose the original claimed image was used versus the purpose of the accused image, questions of any damages, and accessibility to the claimed original source.

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1 Answer | Asked in Copyright, Intellectual Property and Internet Law for North Carolina on
Q: Can I write a song about the plot of a visual novel? Do I need to get permission from the author in order to publish it?

I tried to be as vague as possible in describing things, but sticking to the events in the storyline. The characters do the same things, but I do not mention their names.

Essentially, I tried to make the story not be readily recognizable, but it's possible people do (I don't know... View More

James L. Arrasmith
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answered on Nov 15, 2024

Your situation touches on an interesting area of copyright law regarding derivative works. While you can't copyright ideas or general plot elements, the specific expression of those ideas (including character development, dialogue patterns, and unique plot sequences) is protected.... View More

2 Answers | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property), Trademark and Intellectual Property on
Q: Hi, I am trying to drop ship the nova bag from the website Wool & Oak. I don't know if the product is patent, trademark

I just want to know if I am allowed to drop ship this product and brand it after. Is it legal. So did Wool & Oak patent it or trademarked it or put copyrights on it. The product they sell is the only thing I care about. I won't take anything from their website

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answered on Nov 3, 2024

The product is most likely subject to more than one form of Intellectual Property protection by its manufacturer or original owner: trademark (its brand), trade dress (protects the overall appearance of the product, including its size, shape, color, texture, and graphics), patents of any... View More

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2 Answers | Asked in Intellectual Property, Internet Law and Copyright for Louisiana on
Q: Is it legal to take a recipe video from instagram and use an AI bot to create a recipe list from said video?

Would allow users to copy a link to the video and then paste it into the app, the AI would generate a shopping list and recipe steps to make said dish.

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answered on Oct 24, 2024

AI generating the shopping list and recipe steps from the link to the video: whether or not this is considered copyright infringement of the contents of the video or "illegal", will depend on if using the AI generative tool in this way will be considered Fair Use of the content of the... View More

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1 Answer | Asked in Copyright and Intellectual Property for New York on
Q: can i sell a Book which i own the copyright with inside a link to a free downloadable bonus ebook CC-BY-NC-SA?

the Book i sell has a qrcode link to the ebook. the bonus content is advertized.

the bonus ebook is made by me, using other CC-BY-NC-SA contents.

James L. Arrasmith
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answered on Oct 23, 2024

Including a free downloadable bonus ebook in your sold book can be tricky due to licensing restrictions. Since the bonus ebook is under the CC-BY-NC-SA license, the non-commercial (NC) aspect means it shouldn’t be distributed as part of a commercial transaction. Linking the bonus to a purchase... View More

3 Answers | Asked in Trademark and Intellectual Property on
Q: I have exclusive distributor with manufacturer. How can I legally stop him from selling his product to another company?

I am in discussion with a manufacturer in China to become his distributor in UAE. We agree to take exclusive distribution meaning that they should not supply their products or brand to another distributor in UAE. We will be signing a contract for exclusive distribution.

How can I legally... View More

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answered on Oct 23, 2024

Ensure that the Choice of Law provisions in the contract you are executing are subject to the laws of the jurisdiction where you are seeking to distribute the product, namely the UAE, otherwise it may be harder to enforce the terms of the agreement or license in that country.

Ensure any...
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3 Answers | Asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) and Intellectual Property for New Jersey on
Q: How can I register an idea?

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.

Alan Harrison
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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

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