JGPC Law Legal Blog Topics for Small Business and Startups

What Do IP Attorneys Do and When Do You Need One?

Written by JGPC Business Law on September 30, 2017.

Ideas, creative inventions and processes, and trademarks are what help give you an edge over your competition, and it is your intellectual property (IP) attorney’s job to ensure these assets continue to provide you benefits and advantages for years to come. Your IP attorney’s mission is simple: to help you take advantage of intellectual property laws in the United States and wherever else your business conducts commercial activity so that your products or services are distinguished from competitors...

Legal Risks in Do-It-Yourself Crafting and Alterations

Written by JGPC Business Law on September 20, 2017.

Someone recently asked about the legal implications of altering something yourself, such as piece of furniture, of selling the altered furniture in person, of selling the altered furniture via the Internet, of making a copy of the furniture, of instructing others on how to perform these alterations. In the current vernacular, some people call these efforts, a hack or a “mod” (as in modifying) or a “dup” (as in duplication). Whether a person may hack, mod and dup an object depends on whether the...

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How to Properly Describe An Invention for Your Patent Application – Part 1 of a Multi-Part Series

Written by WSI Consultant on May 29, 2017.

By Author: Gerald R. Prettyman, Patent and Intellectual Property Attorney Writing and applying for a Patent is a trade-off. In return for the inventor having a monopoly for making, using, offer to sell and selling the invention, the patent application must describe the invention so that (1) the Patent Examiner will sufficiently understand the invention to determine whether the described invention qualifies for a patent, and (2) after expiration of the patent, the public knows how to make and use...

What are the Benefits of Patent Pending Status?

Written by JGPC Business Law on April 24, 2017.

It is well-known that patents can provide useful protection to a California business’s ideas and inventions. Even if you or another business owner are not completely clear on what specific protections and remedies are available to you as the holder of a patent, you generally know that a patent protects you from competitors or others who attempt to steal your ideas or inventions for their own gain. Less known, however, is whether “patent pending” status holds any benefit to a business owner in...

Software Patents and Alice in the Looking Glass

Written by JGPC Business Law on April 21, 2017.

Author: Gerald R. Prettyman, J.D., LL.M. The public tends to believe the purpose of the Patent Office is to issue patents. The facts paint a different conclusion. Typically, very few patent applications get approved for a patent on first examination. Saying 1 in 10,000 would not be far wrong. Most patent applications achieve allowance (approval for a patent) through the talents of a patent attorney. Overall, the final average of typically above 50%. Then there is software. Until 1981, the Patent...

Is That a Patent, Trademark or Copyright?

Written by JGPC Business Law on February 23, 2017.

Gerald R. Prettyman, J.D., LL.M. If you wouldn’t know a patent if one bit you[1], you are not alone. Most of the public doesn’t know the difference, and there are lawyers who are uncertain of the differences. Today, though, you are lucky enough to have this article in front of you to learn the difference. Bear in mind, however, this is just an overview. If you want to know more, refer to the footnotes. Patents First – a patent provides a patent owner with the exclusive right to exclude...

Patent Attorneys Protect Your Company’s Investments

Written by JGPC Business Law on February 10, 2017.

When you acquire a new headquarters for your business or a valuable, tangible asset to help your company grow, you naturally (and wisely) take steps to protect that asset or property with insurance and security. Many business owners, though, fail to take similar measures to protect their intangible assets. Ideas, songs, slogans, and trademarks may not seem like “assets” in the traditional sense of the word, but for many companies, these items, their intellectual property, out value their tangible...

Patent Ownership is Not Based on The Date of Postmark

Written by JGPC Business Law on January 20, 2017.

The Postmark Is Dead No, this article is not about the Post Office. Rather, this article is about inventors needing to file a patent application to protect an idea. The title refers to the notion that a person could prove inventorship and a date of invention by documenting the idea and sending the document through the Postal Service with the postmark as proof of the date of invention. The Patent Office hasn’t publicized whether a postmark proof ever worked, but between 2000 and 2010, only one...

How to Register and Protect Your Trademarks

Written by JGPC Business Law on September 27, 2016.

Registration is Essential to Protecting your Good Name and Reputation Protecting your business’s intellectual property is a task best handled by a knowledgeable and experienced California trademark law firm. A trademark (sometimes referred to as a service mark) includes any word, sign, symbol, or device that is used by one business to distinguish its goods and/or services from another business. Registering your trademark is essential to protecting your company’s good name and reputation. The...

What is Copyright Infringement?

Written by JGPC Business Law on July 26, 2016.

Copyright infringement can cost a business owner or the creator of a copyrighted work dearly. Not only does the owner or creator of the work now have to contend with attempting to sell or use his or her work in a marketplace that also contains the unauthorized reproduction, but the owner or creator is at a distinct disadvantage in that he or she has invested the time and resources into creating the copyrighted work and needs to recoup these costs whereas the competitor is not in such a position....

Category: Patents and Trademarks