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Part 1 in our series on patentability searches covers how to begin preparing for a search, including creating a word ladder and choosing a search engine.

In light of the recent announcement that Speak Now (Taylor's Version) will be released this summer, this article provides an update on the "Taylor's Version" trademark applications.

Artificial Intelligence has become an increasingly popular topic of conversation lately, particularly with the recent widespread use of chatbots. This article provides an initial exploration of how AI-powered chatbots may impact intellectual property.

This first in a series of articles on patent searching provides an introduction to the different types of patent searches and how they are used.

The fourth article in this series on copyrights covers copyright infringement, including how to prove it and some of the available remedies.

The third article in this series on copyrights covers some of the common issues that arise when registering and enforcing copyrights, including ownership issues, time limits, and the Fair Use exception.

This second article in our series on copyrights dives deeper into the benefits of copyright registration and provides an overview of the registration process.

The first in a series on copyright law, this article provides a high-level introduction to copyrights. It explains what types of works can be copyrighted and some of the benefits of pursuing protection through copyright registration.

The end of the year is a time for many celebrations, including Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Eve. This article features several festive patents related to each holiday, as well as the Winter season more generally.

Intellectual property (IP) may not be the first thing you think of when you think about Halloween, but trademarks, copyrights, and patents have all been used to protect various ideas and inventions related to the holiday.

There is much confusion surrounding Ms. Taylor Swift and what moves she’ll make next regarding her album re-releases. Do her trademark applications hold the key to determining which album will be released next?

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the “ADA") passed prior to the popularization of e-commerce, it's important to consider the standards outlined by the ADA when setting up your website to ensure accessibility for all potential customers. Failure to meet ADA standards can result in legal action, in addition to lost sales.

The second article in the PCT series focuses on the timing of each major step in the PCT process, from filing the parent patent application to sending the PCT application to each designated country or regional office.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT, is a popular path for pursuing patent protection in more than 150 member countries. The first article in this series will provide a brief overview of the PCT and some of the benefits of using the PCT, rather than direct national filings, to pursue foreign patent protection.

Public disclosure of an idea or product without having IP protection in place can cause serious issues for your startup company, including potential theft of your idea or product and losing your opportunity to later apply for a patent. The timing of both your public disclosure and filing a patent application is of the utmost importance and should be discussed with an IP attorney or agent as soon as you plan to publicly disclose your idea or product.

We know that there are many aspects to consider when forming your startup company, and we encourage entrepreneurs to also invest in protecting their intellectual property. Obtaining IP protection may seem like a daunting, and expensive, task to take on in an already busy and cash-strapped time, but there are several ways to make IP protection more affordable than you may expect.

Trademarks, trade dress, and design patents each provide different types of legal protection and for different durations of time. In some cases, having multiple, or even all three, types of protection for a single design can be advantageous for the rights owner.

Trademarks, trade dress, and design patents are each exclusionary intellectual property rights that protect non-functional aspects of an owner's business operations and product lines by giving the owner legal rights to prevent others from using them. While each of these routes to protect an owner's intellectual property is somewhat similar and overlapping, differences exist. Each intellectual property right will be discussed here and then compared and contrasted with one other.

The goal of this article is to briefly acquaint individual inventors, particularly first-time inventors, and businesses that have little experience with the patent process, with several aspects of the business side of owning IP, as well as to refresh these concepts in the minds of those more experienced with business matters.

In an effort to address the issue of copycat products, Amazon established two options for IP rights owners to combat infringement of their IP: the Amazon Brand Registry and the Neutral Patent Evaluation Procedure. This article will focus on the Neutral Patent Evaluation Procedure.

In an effort to address the issue of copycat products, Amazon established two options for IP rights owners to combat infringement of their IP: the Amazon Brand Registry and the Neutral Patent Evaluation Procedure. This article will focus on the Amazon Brand Registry, and a follow-up article will discuss the Neutral Patent Evaluation Procedure.

A design patent is granted to an inventor who creates “any new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.” The protection for a design only applies to its ornamentation, regardless of whether that ornamentation has a practical use as well. In any case where an invention has a practical use and an original ornamentation, we encourage the inventor(s) to seek both design and utility patent protection. Unlike plant and utility patents, design patents are only valid for fifteen (15) years from the filing date (increased from fourteen years of protection on May 13, 2015).

At the most basic level, any patent (utility, design, or plant) is an intellectual property right that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing an invention using that patent for a period of time. Utility patents are typically related to inventions or discoveries of a utilitarian nature, and protect the functional aspects of the invention or discovery. In contrast, design patents are granted for the ornamental features of an invention and do not protect any functional aspects of the invention.

It’s a pity, so many developers of great new consumer products never reap the full benefits of their hard work because they delayed applying for a patent until it was too late. Protection begins as soon as a patent application is filed. Accordingly, it is crucial to file an application once an inventor conceives the product idea and definitely by the time the product reaches the final stages of development. Filing a patent application is a must before releasing a unique product on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or other crowdfunding platforms. When preparing a budget for launching a product, it’s critical to account for the cost of acquiring a patent, which includes hiring an experienced intellectual property attorney with a track record of success.

File history estoppel is, like the doctrine of equivalents, an equitable doctrine developed over the years by the federal judiciary in its consideration of patent infringement cases. File history estoppel prevents patent owners from alleging infringement (either directly or under the doctrine of equivalents) on the basis of an unclaimed element, or elements, of a patented invention, where the allegedly infringed element(s) were surrendered during patent prosecution.