If i go to Starbucks and purchase a reusable cup, am I legally allowed to go home, personalize it with a name or decoration and resell it? I’ve read several things, such as the “first sale doctrine”, and that leads me to believe that this is legal as long as I am not reproducing the logo or... View More 
answered on Jun 6, 2020
When you buy the cup, you own the cup, but you do not own the copyright rights associated with the logo. Your additions could be considered as creating a derivative work without the copyright owner's permission. Also, you would be infringing upon the trademark, and, since Starbucks mark is... View More
Should I reword questions or cite sources or both ?
answered on May 19, 2020
Test questions are subject to copyright. And the testing companies have enough money to go after infringers.
Using a picture of an Ohio drivers license I erased all the info and put my daughter information on it so it could be printed One time on a birthday cake. The cake decorated said I need permission to use it because the Oh DL is copyrighted. How do you get permission
E commerce seller with business. Wants to sell dumbbells. does not want to be in trouble with patent law. Your help would be appreciated.
Thank you,
answered on Apr 19, 2020
Yes.
Unless there are other details beyond what you have posted, you should be able to buy from anybody a standard product and put your trademark there.
You need to file for a trademark of course.
always consult with an attorney.
Marcos
www.legalbizglobal.com
480 324 6378
For example, a website that does news reports about consumer equipment but also posts other articles and how-to's - does this mean they don't qualify for the fair use doctrine above?
answered on Apr 4, 2020
You ask an interesting question concerning "fair use" in the context of copyright protection. Copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. So, you can write articles on any subject provided you express the "ideas" in the articles in your own words. The... View More
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answered on Mar 3, 2020
The Craven estate owns the rights to Freddy Krueger and are actively enforcing them. Just last year, a company that makes action figures based on the Nintendo versions of Freddy and Jason has to stop production because of the ongoing legal battle over the rights to the characters. I wouldn’t... View More
This is regarding a litigation I would like to bring to light in Ohio. Its very specifically plagiarism and the plagiarist has even used my penname. There are many specific parts of this that make it very difficult, one being I was a minor aged 13 when I wrote it and the law says I have no right to... View More
answered on Feb 27, 2020
It’s technically infringement because copyright protection begins when you put pen to paper. However, you must prove that you created the work in the first place. That might be tough to do in your predicament. Always a good idea to register your works with the copyright office, and always use an... View More
I'm talking about still (not moving) images, obtained without a license, in a video work that criticizes religious or political developments for the sake of advancing public knowledge, without any profit motive whatsoever, and without any financial gain.
answered on Jan 27, 2020
If you are sued for infringement, fair use would be your defense in court. But the outcome would depend on all the facts and evidence submitted to the court. Sometimes the person with the most money to spend on litigation wins. If the court finds it is an infringement, and not a fair use, it can... View More
Chronicles of Narnia: Susan was left behind in the final book "The Last Battle". Lewis recognized the story was incomplete in a 1960 letter to Pauline Bannister and suggested she finish it. This is my attempt to do just that and complete Susan's story. I was very careful to make no... View More
answered on Jan 17, 2020
There is a lot of fan fiction published on-line, so it is difficult for the owners of copyrights to monitor all that. But since the Narnia books have been made into movies, the production companies or whoever still owns the rights to those works could take action against you. Use the Find a... View More
i'm writing a song and i like the line "tiger, tiger, burning bright" which was a poem published in 1794. would it be safe to include it in my own writing or do you think i would still be sued by the writers family or estate?
answered on Jan 9, 2020
If the poem has passed into the public domain, then it would be available for anyone to use. If it was written that long ago, it probably is now in the public domain. And even if a work is copyrighted, if only 4 words of a copyrighted work are used, that might not be enough to be an infringement.... View More
I worked for a company that had many non-disclosure agreements
answered on Oct 24, 2019
Hi. Good question. You have to do a prior art search. Not an easy thing to do, often containing two levels. First is a outsourced company doing the prior art search. Second, a patent attorney analyzing and providing opinions on the prior art.
Worked for Lennox Industries for 19yrs; this was my final project. Even the events to my termination were questionable; at best, in my estimation.
answered on Sep 28, 2019
Congratulations on being an inventor on a US patent. You can download a PDF of the patent at https://patents.google.com/patent/US10337727B2/en?oq=10337727 and then print the patent out.
If you want the patent on some thicker stock, you can buy one from the USPTO for $3. I have not done... View More
I’m currently making a fan project that is completely non profit. I want to know if I would get sued or not.
answered on Sep 16, 2019
You can get sued.
Whether you will or not will depend on the company.
A lot of fan projects are left alone because of the potential for negative publicity, but that does not mean they do not have the right to do it.
Consult with a branding and intellectual property attorney to assess your risks.
answered on Aug 1, 2019
What are they for? Fair use exceptions allow news outlets, artists, comedians and such to use copyrighted material on a limit basis for their stories or acts. It does not allow for commercial mass production. So, if you are a comedian, and you want to have one such logo for a bit, it’s fine. If... View More
answered on Jul 16, 2019
If you use images of Waldo and other recognizable features of the books, then yes, it would infringe the copyright. Getting permission might be difficult to track down the owner. The book publisher might have the rights, or the author might have retained them. Use the Find a Lawyer tab to retain... View More
answered on May 15, 2019
Short answer is that I do not know without looking. Eventually, you may want a patent attorney to help you. I am not sure whether you are looking to obtain a patent or just want to be clear of the patents for others. The searches for these two questions overlap but they are not exactly the same.... View More
For example, a site to where a User can search a specific section of a cemetery/gravesite or the entire cemetery as a whole and looks for certain groups, people of interest and whatnot?
answered on May 10, 2019
I'm not aware of any such patent and a cursory search of the available databases don't turn up any such patents. (though there was an interesting one which incorporated video into a gravestone!) However, this doesn't tell us if one exists either in the US or in other jurisdictions.... View More
Our products were sold exclusively by a large fortune 500 company under a trademarked brand name. They have recently stopped selling our products in lieu of creating their own line. I'd like to know if, in our marketing, we can say, [our product name] has been sold by [their company name]... View More
answered on Apr 22, 2019
Use the Find a Lawyer tab to retain a local intellectual property attorney to review all the facts of the situation and advise you if the large company might take any action against you if you do that.
I co-designed a map for my business that helped with navigating an area...then had an organization go to the designer i paid to tweak the map a little, and put it out as their own. I have some questions.
answered on Feb 14, 2019
If your written agreement with the designer did not also assign the copyright to you, then the designer still own the copyright in the map design, even though you paid the designer for it. An assignment of copyright must be in writing, otherwise, the designer retains it. If the designer still... View More
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