For most people, the flip of the calendar from 2022 to 2023 means another celebration of time passing and another year to make the most out of our lives. In the world of intellectual property, January 1st marks a different kind of holiday, if you will. Every January 1st is Public Domain Day – a day when a whole new set of works have their copyright expire and enter into the public domain. This allows artists and Read More

Intellectual property protections give you an advantage over your competitors. If you’re not unique it can be harder to stand out from the crowd. So when you find success through unique means – a unique invention, process, message or branding –  you will naturally want protection. Filing for and obtaining IP protection is just the beginning. Once you get your protection in place, whether it’s a patent or a trademark Read More

Your unique service deserves to be trademarked as much as anything else you’ve worked hard to create.  You need to choose a symbol to safeguard your genius, but which is best? One option is the servicemark symbol SM, which means “service mark”, a trademark for services instead of goods. But these days, the trademark symbol ™ is universally used and recognized for both goods and services. Read on to learn more: A Read More

Patents are a great tool for innovators. They serve as a means to protect your hard work and creativity. If you’re going to use a tool, it’s certainly important to know how it works, right? We hear from clients who don’t truly understand the full scope of patent protection. In general, people assume a patent can only be applied to a specific device or item. They believe the entirety of the object itself will be Read More

FREE DOWNLOAD! Are you ready to take your innovation to market but afraid of the competition stealing your ideas? This free download is a must read for you! Get valuable patent insight you can apply directly to your project today. Click here to get your free download to POWER YOUR IDEAS®. Was this download helpful to you? Please drop the team a IP WORKS LAW a line with any comments or questions you have Read More

Just in time for the 4th of July, a Third Circuit Court of Appeals panel struck down a preliminary injunction that protected a Pennsylvania company, Pyrotechnics Management Inc., from a Romanian competitor, FireTek. Pyrotechnics makes hardware and software used for fireworks displays. Pyrotechnics Management, Inc. vs. XFX Pyrotechnics LLC, FireTek,  3d Cir. No. 21-1695 (June 29, 2022).  Pyrotechnics sued in Read More

Walmart® Maliciously Stole Startup’s Trade Secret Grocery-Freshness System, Says Jury In true David v. Goliath fashion, a jury delivered a definitive victory to San Antonio-s Zest® Labs, a food tech startup that invented the trade secret system. The jury found Walmart® acted willfully and maliciously, entitling Zest® to $50 million in punitive (exemplary) damages in addition to the $60 million in compensatory Read More

AI-Invented Inventions Are Not Patentable, Says Judge In a fascinating case, a Federal District Judge in Virginia has held that an AI cannot be an inventor and therefore cannot patent its inventions. Last week, Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled the current patent law is “crystal clear” – only humans can be inventors. Any expansion of inventorship beyond individual human beings would require an act of Congress. But Read More

USE A TRADEMARK SYMBOL FOR YOUR STARTUP TODAY! We’ve all seen those mysterious symbols next to brand names and logos – TM™, R ®, ©, SM. What do they all mean? Do you need them for your business? The team at IP WORKS LAW have broken down the basic facts for trademarks to empower small business owners. This information is especially important for startups to learn how to use trademark symbols and which symbol Read More

Jury Says Apple Infringed 2012 Patent, Owes $308 Million In Damages – And What This Means For You A federal court jury on Friday, March 19, 2021, found that Apple infringed a digital media patent owned by Texas company Personalized Media Communications and must pay $308 million in damages. The case is Personalized Media Communications, LLC Apple, Inc., Civil Action No 2:15-CV-1366-JRG (Eastern District of Read More