Hi Folks, I’ve missed you all so much since our last blog post on Jan. 6, 2017. Defamation: A fairly large part of my practice these days includes Plaintiff’s Defamation cases. I enjoy working with clients hurt by the illegal communications of others. Defamation claims are not addressed by the typical practitioner. They also involve ……
The Power of a Brand – e.g., TV’s
Posted in Licensing, Trademarks, UncategorizedWhat brand of TV would you buy right now? You have only 10 seconds to answer, no Googling or Lifelines. Would it likely be SHARP, SONY, LG, VIZIO, or SAMSUNG? Can you articulate a good reason, apart from price, to pick one of the above over the others? Do you remember in the years 1999-2000 ……
Do We Need a Federal Trade Secret Act (FTSA) ?
Posted in GeneralVery interesting commentary by Stephen Chow above and these are, like most all IP theoretical discussions, thought provoking issues. Thanks also to Eric for keeping us all informed on the FTSA. Some random thoughts below on the hypothetical TST (Trade-Secret-Trolls) and the FTSA itself from the peanut gallery: This issue of latent-trade-secret trolls about to ……
Beware of the FaceBook Support Group Naked License
Posted in General, Injunctions, Licensing, Policy, TrademarksMost people seeing or hearing, “naked license,” for the first time will wonder what does nudity have to do with intellectual property or business? Well, the concept that this term / phrase denotes is likely one of the most basic in IP, and it is limited to trademarks? A quick Google search for “naked” and ……
Startup Branding – Naming Your Product or Business – The “Trademark Spectrum”
Posted in General, Presumptions, Startup Businesses, TrademarksWe should all have a sincere interest in encouraging and assisting startup businesses, particularly those in our local areas. Startup owners are excited, creative, and many times provide useful services, products, and eventually (hopefully) create new jobs. All too often, however, by the time we speak with a startup about Intellectual Property opportunities, they have ……
FaceBook Defamation – WARNING: you may not “like” this
Posted in Copyright, Defamation, General, Libel, Mediation, Policy, Slander, TrademarksIf this title, FaceBook Defamation caught your attention, chances are you already use FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, SnapChat or other social media platforms. Consider this, FaceBook alone claims as many as 968 million average daily users, and over a billion users on busy days. Yes, that is average daily FaceBook use equal to three times ……
Defamation of Character Damages – Can You Recover Without Evidence of Actual Damages?
Posted in Common Law, Damages, Defamation, Libel, Presumptions, SlanderThis post addresses a unique aspect of defamation law, specifically how a plaintiff whose character or reputation has been defamed can recover damages without proof of actual damage to his or her reputation. As a father of three sons, I always got tickled by the Hyundai Sonata commercial depicted above, although I’d bet my former ……
5 (or More) Reasons not to ABANDON the “Duty of Loyalty”
Posted in Confidential Information, ERISA, Fiduciary Duty, General, Jury Issues / Trial, Loyalty, Trade SecretsThis post started as a “5 Things You Need to Know about The Duty of Loyalty,” however, the many lessons to glean from the Western Blue Print case out of Missouri in 2012 covered below caused a title change. So here are 5 thoughts on the often neglected Duty of Loyalty, and reasons why it ……
Ordinary Care, Reasonable Care and The Fiduciary Duty – The First in a Series of “Spectra” Posts
Posted in Confidential Information, ERISA, Fiduciary Duty, General, Jury Issues / Trial, Non-Disclosure Agreements, PolicyWe like to put things in order, right? It helps us understand the concepts and the analytical process further identifies distinguishing characteristics. In the legal world, however, complex concepts are more appropriately placed on a spectrum, rather than a list. Dictionary.com provides a non-physics definition of “spectrum” as follows: “a broad range of varied but ……
Fish Tank Trade Secrets
Posted in Confidential Information, Jury Issues / Trial, Non-Disclosure Agreements, Policy, Trade SecretsI. Background Fish Tank Facts: In September of 2012, our family had plans to host several families at our house to watch the Clemson v. Florida State football game being played in Tallahassee. My wife loves people and entertaining. To create a fun, festive, and pleasant environment for the game, she and the children, while ……
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