“It’s rather amusing in a way to watch the squabbling going on over various trademarks and who has the right to use them. Not that there isn’t some validity in the whole process, but it seems it has been diluted by the petty infighting one sees today,” said David Alden Erikson, a Los Angeles business litigation attorney. Mr. Erikson specializes in Los Angeles fashion law, Internet law, business litigation, trademark and copyright law.

One first class example of a trademark spat involves the Facebook game company, Zynga. They have made it their mission to get a cease and desist order issued against game creators, Blingville, LLC. The Blingville game is in beta stage development at the moment. And the cease and desist order? Well, this may seem a bit ridiculous, but the order claims that the use of the word “ville” is a violation of Zynga’s trademarks.

“If you’re not too familiar with Zynga and their history, this might make more sense when you find out that they are well known to have copied their competitor’s games, such as Farmville.  FarmVille was a close copy of Farm Town, which came first. Zynga has also been sued over another game called Mafia Wars. The game was originally created by the makers of Mob Wars, and the case just keeps on getting even more interesting,” Erikson said.

In the final analysis, Blingville LLC is not going to take this latest legal insult sitting down. They have chosen to ask for a declaration from the courts that Blingville does not infringe on any trademark. As an added measure, they want legal fees and court costs.

“It’s a case well worth watching, because it highlights how ridiculous trademark infighting has become over the years. You might not recall this, but within the last couple of years, Facebook was going to see about trademarking the term ‘face.’ An endeavor that may well be doomed to failure,” Erikson said.

To learn more about David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law, visit http://www.daviderikson.com.

“This particular case is a prime example of one company trying to ride on the coattails of another,” said David Alden Erikson, a Los Angeles business litigation attorney. Mr. Erikson specializes in Los Angeles fashion law, Internet law, business litigation, trademark and copyright law.

This lawsuit involves a language translation company wanting to protect their trademark against another upstart company that has chosen to use their company name with a slight twist. “The original company name is The LanguageWorks, Inc., which is a foreign translation services company. In Michigan, another company, in the same line of work, has chosen to name their venture LanguageWerks LLC,” Erikson said.

LanguageWorks is asking for an injunction against the “other” company for using a similar and confusing name, as well as statutory damages. The LanguageWorks Inc., has been in business since 1995 and have their trademark federally registered and insist that LanguageWerks is using the confusingly similar name to steal their business; a form of unfair competition, among other things.

“LanguageWorks bases their case on the fact that they have spent years building up their business by offering a quality translation services that are globally recognized. Then, along comes an upstart company in Michigan with a similar name, providing a similar service and confusing people who need translation services. LanguageWorks fully intends to protect their trademark from unauthorized use and wants LanguageWerks to stop selling services that infringe on theirs, recall all of the advertising, pay damages and take down their website,” Erikson said.

Do they have a case? “Yes, the new company is infringing on the LanguageWorks trademark. It doesn’t get any clearer than that. This will be a good case to watch to see what the courts award LanguageWorks over and above their initial requests that the renegade company cease and desist their blatant use of the slightly changed business name,” Erikson said.

Companies that find themselves in a similar situation are best advised to contact a skilled Los Angeles business litigation lawyer and put a stop to any trademark infringement. These types of cases are typically fairly complex, but with the right lawyer, a trademark will be rightfully protected.

To learn more about David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law, visit http://www.daviderikson.com.

If you have spent any time trademark watching, you would find out fairly quickly that if you watch the latest applications for trademarks, you can figure out who is about to introduce what to the marketplace. Likely this is only for serious geeks, but it does have an element of a treasure hunt about it.

For example, in 2010 Hewlett Packard sent in an application to trademark the term “PalmPad.” Not many were too excited about the name that they thought would be given to their webOS tablet. It is hardly catchy and does not really have commercial appeal. Then, along came another trademark application for the HP TouchPad – still not that classy a name, but perhaps a tad better than PalmPad, although that may be arguable in certain circles.

Never fear, it seems there are several more options that have also been sent in for trademarking, including HP Touchcanvas, HP Duopad and HP Touchslate. These are hardly barnburners, but were evidently prompted by the U.S. Patent Office turning down the PalmPad application. Why did the patent office turn down the application to trademark the name PalmPad?

If you have a good sense of humor or slightly skeptical nature, you will be interested to know that it was turned down because PalmPad was too close to an existing trademark, and that trademark would be Palm. Yes, the very same company that Hewlett Packard bought so it had access to the webOS software so it could ship it off to the market under the Hewlett Packard (or Palm) name. Looks like that went over like a lead balloon with the patent office.

This makes for an interesting conversation when it comes to trademark infringement and why it pays to have potential marks registered. In today’s fast paced marketplace, it is not hard to imagine one company either stepping on another’s toes or inadvertently using something that had no right to use.

International business is complex. IP and trademark infringement is even more complex and expensive. It pays to have a skilled Los Angeles business litigation lawyer with this type of knowledge on hand to answer your questions and keep track of who has what or who shouldn’t have what. It is called protecting your company.

To learn more about David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law, visit Daviderikson.com. Mr. Erikson specializes in Los Angeles fashion law, internet law, business litigation, trademark and copyright law.

Intellectual property, or IP for short, is a rather interesting area of the law, often fraught with strange happenings when someone tries to steal someone other company’s IP and claim it for their own. This is not just a local problem, as in solely based in the United States. You will find IP disputes on a global scale and quite commonly in China.

The latest hot news from China regarding IP infringement involves Huawei, a Chinese equipment manufacturer, which has pointed an irate finger at Motorola for transferring parts of their IP to equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks in the midst of the sale of their telecom equipment manufacturing division. While this might sound pretty straightforward, it is not.

The whole story is rather confusing, but basically it boils down to when Huawei was trying to negotiate a supply agreement with Sprint, someone ostensibly tried to illegally transfer part of Huawei’s IP. No one is particularly thrilled with any of the legal machinations, but somewhere, buried in the accusations and counter accusations, lies a nugget of truth.

The story goes that the European company bought Motorola’s telecom division within the last year for $1.2 billion. Huawei just about snagged it, but was not able to get a U.S. regulatory approval, even though they had a better offer.

It appears that Huawei had been working together with Motorola since 2000 on a variety of projects that included network cores and radio waves. The American company sold Huawei-made hardware under the umbrella of their own name.

While all that was taking place, Motorola and Huawei inked an agreement to keep Huawei’s IP and their technologies a secret, which only makes sense if you want to stay in business and be competitive. The idea behind the agreement was that Motorola was only going to be involved as reseller. What has happened is that part of that IP was woven into the Nokia Siemens Networks buyout without the permission of Huawei.

You are pretty much going to need a pen and paper to figure out who is related and not related to whom if you want to figure this mess out, but suffice it to say that it appears that Motorola may have stepped in it, so to speak. Here is the sticking point though – Motorola did not offer the Chinese company any guarantees that their IP would be guarded and that nothing would be passed to third parties.

On the other side of the fence, Huawei feels they have sustained commercial damage and launched this recent suit to protect their technologies. It is no wonder they did file an IP infringement lawsuit, as they want to protect their research and development. Any company with over 100,000 workers and over 50,000 patents likely has a right to get touchy about someone stepping on their toes.

To learn more about David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law, visit Daviderikson.com. Mr. Erikson specializes in Los Angeles fashion law, internet law, business litigation, trademark and copyright law.

“It’s often helpful if people understand the differences between trade and service marks when they’re running a business. A trademark is protection you get for any device, symbol, name or word that’s original and new. The trademark says the product is protected by trademark law and is the property of the mark owner. An example would be the Nike ‘swoosh’ mark, which everyone recognizes,” said David Alden Erikson, a Los Angeles business litigation attorney. Mr. Erikson specializes in Los Angeles fashion law, Internet law, business litigation, trademark and copyright law.

Although the word “trademark” is most often used to refer to any kind of protected mark, in reality, it is only the mark itself that sets it apart from others and distinguishes from that mark from others. There are actually several types of protective marks that may be applied for and each may have its own area of protection.

“Service marks are like trademarks, but the act to protect and distinguish only services. You may have seen a registered service mark before and not realized what it is or meant. It will look like this: ‘®’,” Erikson said.

The main reason why there are the two marks is that while a company name is a registered trademark, that trademark does not protect the services that company offers. An example would be a writer registering their company name as SpiritualPen, their trade name, and their unique style of expression would be their service mark. Generally speaking, trade names can only get protection if there is a service or trademark registered.

“There are other protected marks that you may consider in the course of your business. That would include a certification mark that protects seals of approval and goods from specific sources. Another mark is the collective mark, usually used for goods made collectively by a group of people/owners. In other words, the group would use one company name and a collective mark for their branding and to protect their work,” Erikson said. This is not an exhaustive list of all the various marks that could be used to enhance a business, as there is also trade dress and product configuration.

The simplest thing to do when starting a business is to figure out what protection is needed for the brand and services, then call a skilled Los Angeles trademark and copyright lawyer. It is one call that will make a world of difference on how a business is run successfully. The ultimate goal is to cover all the bases legally and know protection is in place. Better safe now than sorry later if something is missed along the way.

To learn more about David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law, visit Daviderikson.com.

Less than ethical individuals in business who wish to make a quick buck by selling perfume smell-alikes will find an almost instant market. Consumers do not much care about whether the scent of a perfume is dead on and a classy brand name if they can get a reasonable facsimile for a fraction of the cost. Hence, knockoffs are very real threat to the perfume industry because their pockets are being picked by cheap smell-alikes.

“How is it possible to make a perfume smell-alike when perfume has such a singularly subjective appeal to people based on the notes in the original? Perfumes have three notes: the top, middle and bottom note. The top gives the user the first impression, the middle note comes to life when the top note begins to wear off and the bottom note, which emerges last, is the base scent that carries the whole perfume,” said David Alden Erikson, a Los Angeles business litigation attorney. Mr. Erikson specializes in Los Angeles fashion law, Internet law, business litigation, trademark and copyright law.

The notes will last for different periods of time on everyone, as each person’s skin will handle the scents differently. What that means is the very uniqueness of perfume is based on unpredictable, in tangible elements and are virtually impossible to trademark. While the making of the perfume is fairly straightforward, the various combinations to make the scent the right signature is tricky.

“The thing is, once the perfume has been made, it is easy to make a copy. Furthermore, the smell-alikes don’t even have to use the same ingredients to get a similar scent. The stink in the perfume industry is that the copycats don’t invest millions in research and development or branding. All they need to do is have the original chemically analyzed, toss some similar ingredients together and bingo, they are in business,” Erikson said.

The bottom line is that perfume makers are losing money to unethical upstarts who are reverse engineering their original products and cutting into their profits. It is not just the scents being copied; it is the colors, packaging and bottle shapes being borrowed and subtly changed to skirt the law.

“Speaking of the law, unfortunately, it’s not illegal to make or sell smell-alikes. This relates to the fact that making perfume is done with technical knowledge and mixing chemicals properly and this is not considered to be a tangible form of expression, hence there is no copyright protection,” Erikson said. What do countries do to get on top of this illegal trade? They usually deal with it though trademark infringement or unfair advertising.

“When referring to trademark infringement, we are referring to the packaging, as fragrance can’t be trademarked,” Erikson said. “Instead, the focus is on how the perfume is packaged, as in trade dress and the elements that make it distinctive, such as bottle shape, color, applicator, etc. These are trademarks.”

The law in this area is constantly changing and mutating to try and deal with issues like this, but still, perfume companies are having trouble protecting their market. It will be interesting to watch many of the more recent cases filed in this area, to get an idea of what the courts will do to get a handle on this issue.

To learn more about David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law, visit Daviderikson.com.

Without getting too confusing and technical, there are several searches that may be made to check for copyright infringement of a work or picture. You can do your own searches or have a Los Angeles copyright and trademark lawyer do them. There are trademark searches to find out if a potential new mark is already registered and patent searches to see if an invention is really new and capable of being patented.

Back to the copyright searches. Copyright protection is Johnny-on-the-spot when it is first created. In fact, just about anything with some component of creativity gets copyright protection – restaurant menu designs, website designs, etc. However, federal registration for copyright is another can of worms entirely. They are easily searched because the government has a complete list.

But it is virtually impossible to discover all non-registered and copyrighted images. In other words, if someone does not register his or her copyrighted material, it will not be found on a search. You can imagine the potential for infringement. If you have written or created a brochure, file it and forget about it, no one will ever know you did it, even though you had copyright protection from the minute it was created.

While this may seem like a huge legal problem, you should know that copyright infringement typically needs proof of access to the original work and evidence of copying. No access, no copying, no infringement. It is like you playing around with a design for a work shed for your yard. That design may look just like one another guy in another town is trying to draw. That does not mean you copied it, because you did not have access to it.

This is why copyright searches are viewed as being dangerous, because to search is to access information. What if you did perform a search for non-registered copyright images and registered copyrighted images and happened to find something very similar to your shed design? You have now accessed a similar work. If you build your shed and use ideas from the work you found, you may well be infringing on another’s copyright. Put another way, even if you do a search, it does not avoid the infringement issue.

Thus, if you did copy your work shed design from a work, it follows you would know about that other work and you would not need to do a search. If you did not copy your design from something else, you will risk becoming informed of something similar by doing a search. Once you have done that, you are at risk to be sued for copyright infringement.

Confused? Join the crowd. Copyright law is convoluted and does not get much easier. Really, to get a good grasp on what you need to know, talk to a Los Angeles copyright and trademark lawyer. It is time well spent and may save you a lawsuit.

To learn more about David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law, visit Daviderikson.com. Mr. Erikson specializes in Los Angeles fashion law, internet law, business litigation, trademark and copyright law.

It goes without saying that large companies these days have an enormous amount of intellectual property behind them. It is what made them the success there are today. The most valuable thing for any company, but the larger ones in particular, is their brand and IP value. This leads to an interesting question. How much more do you think a company would be valued at if they actually invested more in IP registration and identification? It is food for thought.

For those major players on the block in the corporate world, such as BMW or Coke, they have gone to the trouble to clearly identify, maintain and keep their IP rights secure. It is obvious these efforts have played a big part in their successes as well. IP rights affect their operations, their appeal to current and potential investors, the ability to choose certain partnerships and increase the business value for a merger or sale.

What is the attraction here? What is more important than fixed assets? The answer is information. Information is more valuable now than actual physical property. Information has the added benefit of being a highly tradable asset when it is protected by IP laws, etc. This is what increases the value of a company and this is why you need to have even a passing knowledge of how IP works and why you need to make sure it is legally protected.

Still in the dark? Here are some of the areas you may create IP in, beginning with trade secrets. Trade secrets protect proprietary information, such as what is in the Coke formula, how do they run their company and what systems do they have that makes them successfully competitive? IP also comes in the form of trademarks that protect parts of your general brand. E.g. names, pictures and slogans.

Copyright is a very big part of IP and acts to protect things like recordings, pictures, books, documents and videos. There are of course exceptions to every rule and if you do not understand how IP works, then it is usually best to discuss your concerns with a competent Los Angeles trademark and copyright lawyer. You may also want to ask about inventions, processes and types of ideas, an area that deal with industrial designs and patents. It is a big and confusing world out there and knowledge is power for your business.

Where do you start? The first thing to do is identify what you currently have for IP in your company. If you are not certain how to do that or what to do and what classifies as IP, make that call to an experienced Los Angeles trademark and copyright lawyer and find out. Once you know what you have, the next step is tracking and managing it and registering it. While that may sound simple, it is not always that easy to do. That is why a good IP lawyer is worth their weight in gold, not to mention the fact that with the right legal advice, your business will be worth its weight in gold.

To learn more about David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law, visit Daviderikson.com. Mr. Erikson specializes in Los Angeles fashion law, internet law, business litigation, trademark and copyright law.

Some days one really wonders what the world has come to and what ever happened to the way things used to be made. “They used to make things that would last longer than we do. Now products almost self-destruct within several months, prompting people to buy more. Prime example, plastic zippers. They do not last for more than a month and it’s too expensive to replace them at a dollar an inch. People just throw stuff out and buy a new coat, etc.,” said David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law. Mr. Erikson specializes in Los Angeles fashion law, Internet law, business litigation, trademark and copyright law.

And speaking of throwing things away when they give up, in what could be a truly sad case, Gibson Guitar Corp. is suing WowWee (who thinks up these names?) the maker of Paper Jamz paper guitars. They allege WowWee is deliberately infringing on their trademark. Other entities were also taken to court, such as K-Mart, Target and Amazon; companies that contributed to trademark infringement by continuing to sell these products. “The suit also pointed a direct finger at eBay for not responding to and assisting Gibson with their preliminary calls for information,” Erikson said.

These paper guitars, first shipped to market last year, are incredible mimics of the Gibson guitar designs. The lawsuit is asking for a temporary restraining order that would ban the sale of this product. In the suit, it is alleged that WowWee made very unambiguous and explicit comparisons between their product and Gibson’s guitars.

Cited as an example in the case, Gibson indicates that the PaperJamz Rock Style 6 guitar in Series 1 is virtually identical to a Gibson SG and that their Rock Style 1 comes very close to looking like the world famous Gibson Les Paul. The comparisons do not stop there, as evidently the WowWee website also features a video in which the main actor cannot tell the difference between a Paper Jamz and a real Gibson. “While that might stretch the imagination a bit, the point is clear, in that the WowWee video is attempting to confuse the consumer,” Erikson said.

The PaperJamz guitars are a faint and far cry from the real Gibsons, but their pricing, at $24.99, is highly attractive to many. Made of cardboard, these Gibson wannabes use some highly sophisticated technology and are able to produce three modes like a real guitar: Rhythm, Play and Freeplay. Touching different points on the fret is possible and one may actually strum over the guitar string image.

“This is an interesting case and would be well worth watching the battle between new technology and traditional craftsmanship. Many would root for the real deal, but the whole case may very well be up in the air for now,” Erikson said.

To learn more about David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law, visit http://www.daviderikson.com.

If you are on the verge of trying to corral all of your intellectual property (IP), because it is time to manage it adeptly and wisely, you need first need to know just what you are dealing with in the first place. If you do not really know what intellectual property is, you are going to have a problem. You need to at least have some basic knowledge before you move forward.

Intellectual property is any work created by a person or company. This may include, but is not exclusively confined to, the areas of trademarks, designs, copyrighted materials of literature, music, pictures, music and inventions. The area is actually quite vast and many things that may be seen to be intellectual property may not be. It depends on a variety of qualifiers. When in doubt, consult with legal counsel for a determination of what is and is not intellectual property.

If it helps any, there is a standard definition of what IP is that has been created by the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO. That definition, in short, is that IP relates to information that may be included in tangible objects at the same time in an infinite number of copies at various locales worldwide. The IP is not in the copies, but in the information contained within them.

Thus, if you follow the WIPO definition, copyright protection of IP safeguards against copying of information and patents protect the method of creating a product. This may well be as clear as mud to you, and don’t feel badly. This is a confusing area of the law. Yes, even those lawyers that practice IP law for a living have their moments over definitions and what they mean.

There is one thing that people do not realize about IP; that an idea is not a form of IP. It becomes IP when work is done on it. For example, jotting down an idea and roughing out how to accomplish the desired end result. The more work you do on that idea, the more of an IP it becomes. The more ideas that get fleshed out, the larger one’s IP portfolio may become and time management becomes an issue. So does keeping abreast of all the legal ramifications of the various properties. This is what an IP lawyer is born and bred to do, provide advice. When you are stuck and cannot figure things out, speak to the attorney. It is the best investment you will ever make.

To learn more about David Alden Erikson, Attorney at Law, visit Daviderikson.com. Mr. Erikson specializes in Los Angeles fashion law, internet law, business litigation, trademark and copyright law.