Having been an academic all my life, legal business matters were not of high priority. More recently, intellectual property (IP) issues became more important, as I’ve had to copyright my books and, thanks to patent lawyer extraordinaire, Leighton Chong, trademarked the term, Blue Revolution.
Yesterday I received this spiffy six-page portfolio from the United States Patent and Trademark Office with all the doodads, indicating that I was lord over the Blue Revolution (U.S. Trademark Registration 3,617,283, for a decade, which can be renewed in the ninth year). Also yesterday I received two envelopes from Slovakia and Austria seeking sums exceeding $2,000 to protect my trademark in their country. To accommodate all 194 countries, that would probably cost me something close to half a million dollars.
There are three IP protection mechanisms: copyright, trademark and patent. A copyright preserves original works of authorship, the latest measure being the 1976 Copyright Act. You can trademark a word, name, symbol or device for use in trade. Legislation was passed in the mid-90’s to clarify dilution and infringement. A patent provides property rights to an inventor, and is good for 20 years from the date of filing that application. Copyrights are easy, trademarks need some evidence and patents can take time and money.
Yesterday I received this spiffy six-page portfolio from the United States Patent and Trademark Office with all the doodads, indicating that I was lord over the Blue Revolution (U.S. Trademark Registration 3,617,283, for a decade, which can be renewed in the ninth year). Also yesterday I received two envelopes from Slovakia and Austria seeking sums exceeding $2,000 to protect my trademark in their country. To accommodate all 194 countries, that would probably cost me something close to half a million dollars.
There are three IP protection mechanisms: copyright, trademark and patent. A copyright preserves original works of authorship, the latest measure being the 1976 Copyright Act. You can trademark a word, name, symbol or device for use in trade. Legislation was passed in the mid-90’s to clarify dilution and infringement. A patent provides property rights to an inventor, and is good for 20 years from the date of filing that application. Copyrights are easy, trademarks need some evidence and patents can take time and money.
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While obtaining the services of someone like Leighton would be best, you can proceed on your own. IP is big business these days. Seven thousand attended just the National Trademark Expo this past weekend in Alexandria, Virginia.
My blog of April 17 reported on patents, including the effort by Leighton Chong and Dan Bent to better position Hawaii in this field. You can go to Leighton’s blog for more information on this and other IP matters.
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Whoops, the Dow Jones Industrials sunk 184 to 8285, as weaker than expected retail sales spooked investors. World markets also almost all fell. Gold dropped a buck to $926/toz and while crude oil actually traded for $60/barrel yesterday, it settled to $58/bbl.
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My blog of April 17 reported on patents, including the effort by Leighton Chong and Dan Bent to better position Hawaii in this field. You can go to Leighton’s blog for more information on this and other IP matters.
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Whoops, the Dow Jones Industrials sunk 184 to 8285, as weaker than expected retail sales spooked investors. World markets also almost all fell. Gold dropped a buck to $926/toz and while crude oil actually traded for $60/barrel yesterday, it settled to $58/bbl.
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2 ความคิดเห็น:
In regard to your 52nd posting for the Huffington Post, I can only comment on the item of my main interest - automobiles!
I like the idea of fuel cells using methanol, but don't think we will have the infrastructure for decades to support re-fueling stations, etc. I can't imagine why the auto industry can't make a small gasoline engine (fuel efficient) that's only purpose is to drive an alternator big enough to continually re-charge a simple lead-acid battery that powers the electric motors for the drive wheels. This could be an interim powerplant until technology catches up.
Your interim solution is, actually, the hybrid auto today. It could be more efficient, and will, over the next decade. But, our national government selecting the plug-in electric car over the direct methanol fuel cell vehicle is akin to the farm lobby screwing up the world with ethanol. The electric power industry is powerful, and they had a lot to do with killing the fuel cell transport program and focusing ground transportation on batteries. The stupidity is that the U.S. has no commanding patents for the lithium battery, which will be the last battery. The Chevy Volt will use a South Korean battery, which is licensed from Japan.
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