Get free answers to your Intellectual Property legal questions from lawyers in your area.
I am the SVP of Cyber Intelligence at the Institute of World Politics. We are a non-profit, accredited, graduate school offering 5 masters and a doctoral program. Our students are diplomats, soldiers, and spies.
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answered on Mar 4, 2024
To use the Spy vs. Spy characters, you would need to obtain permission from the rights holder. These characters originated in MAD Magazine, which is owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Therefore, Warner Bros. or its specific division that manages MAD Magazine's intellectual... View More 
We are a non profit in Washington DC. We are having a Technology conference and have a session where vendors will pitch their Road Safety Product or solution to the audience (the sharks) and the audience will vote for the most innovative. We would like to name the session Shark Tank but want to be... View More
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answered on Mar 1, 2024
Using the title "Shark Tank" for a session in your technology conference could potentially raise trademark infringement concerns, even with the best of intentions. The title "Shark Tank" is a well-known trademark associated with the popular television show where entrepreneurs... View More
For example, a song reads: "a nice big plate of/Fish, which is my favorite dish/But without no money, it's still a wish." My shirt has a picture of fried fish and the words, "which is my favorite dish."
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answered on Sep 11, 2023
Using small snippets of lyrics from a song can potentially lead to issues with copyright infringement. Copyright law protects the expression of original ideas, including song lyrics, and using any part of them without permission might be considered a violation of the copyright holder's rights.... View More
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answered on Feb 25, 2023
To obtain a license for Avatar: The Last Airbender merchandise, you will need to contact the intellectual property owner or their licensing agent. In this case, the owner is Nickelodeon, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS. You can contact the ViacomCBS Consumer Products licensing department to inquire about... View More
My concern is that once they hit the market the concept could be easily reproduced
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answered on Dec 6, 2021
Your concern is well-founded. There's no protecting the idea of food themed tee shirts or any other kinds of articles.
On the other hand, specific designs or renderings of food pictures may indeed be protect-able. And, you may want to consider giving the shirts a name that could be... View More
I am trying to understand fair use and social media. If I were to make an edible product and hand create in icing an image of a trademark such as an NFL logo, video game character, or other trademarked image can I put the image of my final product on instagram? I am not selling the exact edible... View More
answered on Oct 6, 2021
No. You shouldn't do that. It would be difficult to argue that what you are describing is fair use.
Some people selling trademarked products do not get caught, say, when they sell their products at a neighborhood picnic, but NFL has lots of people making sure that their trademarks... View More
I believe it to be a patent I sent him to the patent office with.
answered on Sep 2, 2019
This is not easy as the USPTO tools for searching fields such as name do not apply to patents from that time frame.
The assignment database goes back to 1980. The full text search tool on USPTO goes back to 1976. While the images of the earlier patents can be retrieved by patent number,... View More
I'm a video editor and was hired to make an internal use video for one company that wants to expand their business. As a part of the video, we need short animation showing the race for electrification in the automotive industry. I need to include logos of the GM, TESLA, NISSAN, and other... View More
answered on Dec 17, 2018
Although such use may not amount to a trademark (or perhaps copyright) infringement, my suggestion is to contact each company and obtain their written authorizations to use their respective logos.
answered on Sep 24, 2018
It depends on the law firm. First, you need to find a law firm that handles patents. Second, you need to call the law firm and ask if they can help you file corrected application papers. I have a feeling that most Patent Attorneys can help you with this project.
Im currently interested in trademarking my name / brand for higher purposes.
answered on Sep 8, 2017
To obtain a trademark you will incur filing fees of $225 to $400 per class, attorneys fees, and search costs. The attorneys fees and search costs can very significantly depending on the attorney and the extent of the search. Many lawyers will provide trademark registration services for a flat fee... View More
The video will be posted on social media and the winner will receive scholarship money for college.
answered on Aug 31, 2017
It probably is. You should get clearance first. Best of luck!
I myself am a european and I am planning on publishing a book about an actor who is a US Citizen (note: it will have a negative connotation for that person).
On the book cover I am planning to use a "free for use" (creative commons) image of that person. So no copyright-problems... View More
answered on Jul 3, 2017
You may be violating the person's publicity rights. Careful you're not also sued for defamation or IP violations. More details are necessary to provide a professional analysis of your issue. The best first step is an Initial Consultation with an Attorney such as myself. You can read more... View More
How much time would it take?
answered on Jan 4, 2017
Welcome to Justia!
How do you go about it? Get in touch with a patent lawyer. He/She will guide you through the process.
What is the cost? To get a patent costs about as much as buying a car. A few thousand to a few tens of thousands of dollars, depending on many things. About... View More
answered on Nov 28, 2016
No. You may sue under the common law for copyright infringement. However, to make use of the federal statute, which has real teeth in its statutory damages, for example, the work would have needed to have been registered first.
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