Kelly Tech Law

Kelly Tech Law Converting your ideas into patents, brands into trademarks, and turning your creativity into copyrights.

Wishing you and your family a warm joyous Thanksgiving!
11/24/2022

Wishing you and your family a warm joyous Thanksgiving!

In deciding to pick a given U.S. trademark/brand you should be aware of at least two common and very important rules.  F...
11/19/2020

In deciding to pick a given U.S. trademark/brand you should be aware of at least two common and very important rules.  

First, you want to avoid picking a trademark that confusingly similar with a preexisting trademark for similar/related products/services.  

Second, you want to avoid picking a trademark that is entirely or mostly descriptive of your products/services.

With respect to the first rule, if you adopt a trademark that is confusingly similar with a preexisting trademark for similar/related products/services, you might be exposing yourself to trademark infringement (i.e., you could get sued for trademark infringement) and/or the Trademark Office (USPTO) might refuse to register your trademark.  

The best way to minimize you adopting a trademark that is confusingly similar with a preexisting trademark for similar/related products/services is to conduct due diligence clearance searching for those preexisting possibly similar trademarks.  You likely want a U.S. trademark attorney to handle this because there are quarks to doing the searching (e.g., merely searching the USPTO's TESS database can be insufficient for comprehensive clearance); and one needs legal understanding and training to evaluate the found search results, as "likelihood of confusion" is a particular legal test, that goes beyond what those words might suggest.

Continued in comments ⬇️

📸: Nikita Kachanovsky on

Let's talk about U.S. copyrights ...In short U.S. copyrights protect against the unauthorized copying of original creati...
10/09/2020

Let's talk about U.S. copyrights ...

In short U.S. copyrights protect against the unauthorized copying of original creative works.

Creative works are things like music, lyrics, fiction, short stories, novels, artwork, animations, photos, videos, film, character designs, non-functional sculptures, non-functional jewelry, website look and feel, recordings thereof, displays thereof, and the like.

U.S. copyrights come into existence the moment the given creative work is "fixed in a tangible medium of expression" - which historically meant as soon as the creative work was written down, but modernly often means the instant the given digital/electronic creative work file is saved.

So while creation of a U.S. copyright is thus often easy and practically instant, enforcement of a given U.S. copyright may require registering (or at least seeking to register) that U.S. copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Registering an original creative work with the U.S. Copyright Office is often affordable and relatively fast - at least in comparison to seeking a U.S. patent or seeking to register a trademark.

Registering the creative work with the U.S. Copyright Office conveys some strong protections upon the owner, such as the ability to get "statutory damages" and to recover attorney fees if you are successful in suing someone for infringing your U.S. copyright.  The ability to have your attorney fees covered can make obtaining a copyright infringement attorney easier.

Lastly, if you are selling products on Amazon or the like (or plan to), do NOT forget that your product photos and/or product videos are creative works that often may be protected by U.S. copyrights and so should be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office - because one of the first things a competitor will copy will be your product photos and/or product videos.  A U.S. registered copyright can prevent and/or reduce such copying, and/or give you recourse should such copying occur.

📷: Markus Winkler on

Let's talk a bit about U.S. patents.  With respect to protecting your invented product from being copied by a competitor...
10/02/2020

Let's talk a bit about U.S. patents.  With respect to protecting your invented product from being copied by a competitor, the most sought after protective tool is a U.S. patent. 

A U.S. patent gives its owner an optional right to exclude others from making, selling, offering to sell, importing into the U.S., and sometimes from using a product that is described by one or claims of the given U.S. patent for a set period of years.

Notice, however, that the U.S. patent does NOT give the patent owner the right to do these things; rather, the U.S. patent gives the patent owner the optional right to prevent another from doing these things - unless the patent owner gives them the permission to do so.

The end result is that a U.S. patent allows the patent owner the ability to control the U.S. market for the given product described by one or more claims of that U.S. patent - for a set number of years.  And that is why obtaining a U.S. patent is often so highly prized.  Investors often prefer to invest into a company with one or more good patents.

But not all products are patentable.  And patents may be strong, weak, and everything in between in terms of protections they afford.  We will dive into some of these other issues in other posts.

This photo is one of the examples of a product ( ) we patented for our client

You have an idea. How do protect your idea? How do the tools of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets wor...
09/29/2020

You have an idea. How do protect your idea? How do the tools of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets work to protect you?

We’ll dive into each tool in more detail in later posts. For now take note of the following:

🔹Patents - for protecting products, usually something tangible

🔹Trademarks - for protecting your brand

🔹Copyrights - for protecting your Creative works such as screenplays, novels, music, product photos, etc.

🔹Trade secrets - for protecting things like recipes or customer lists

📷: Junior Ferreira on

At Kelly Tech Law, PC we have one singular mission - to zealously protect and monetize your ideas, inventions and brands...
09/28/2020

At Kelly Tech Law, PC we have one singular mission - to zealously protect and monetize your ideas, inventions and brands which may take various forms, from converting your ideas into patents, your brands into trademarks, licensing those rights to produce income, and when necessary suing those who seek to unfairly ride your coattails and infringe upon your hard won IP rights.

We love working with inventors and entrepreneurs in furthering their dreams into fruition. Inventors and entrepreneurs bring an unrivaled passion and energy that is infectious which carries over to the work we do for you. We will do everything within our power, skill, and experience to see your dreams protected.

📷: Scott Graham on Upsplash

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