Here are three key ideas for selecting and protecting your company’s trademark:
(1) choose a distinctive mark that is not descriptive,
(2) conduct clearance so that you will not infringe, and
(3) seek registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
There are a number of things software providers can be doing right now to reduce problems with customers in the coming weeks and months.
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In addition to blogging here at internetcases I am a co-host of the TWiT Network’s weekly show This Week in Law. This past week my co-host Denise Howell was out, so I held the reins, talking with panelists Spencer Waller, Ryan Radia and Lisa Borodkin in This Week in Law Episode 247. We really got into some of the nuances of the Comcast/Time Warner deal, and also talked about privacy (including the recent decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Court about cell site location information), trademark law, terms of service, and mobile devices on aircraft. This Week in Law Episode 247 is embedded below. I hope you’ll tune in each week to hear us discuss the most recent developments in law and technology.
I hosted This Week in Law Episode 150 back in February of 2012. Be sure to check that out.
Most Friday afternoons you can find me on This Week in Law. We record at 1pm Central and the video is available live here, archived here, and audio is available here. This past week was lots of fun talking with Fred von Lohmann from the EFF. Host Denise Howell always does a great job, and I also enjoyed talking with guest Jeff Richardson. Hope you’ll tune in from time to time.
Had a great time as a guest in Episode 82 of On Digital Media last night with John Federico, Steve Hatch, Chia-Lin Simmons and Ken Gellman.
We talked in depth about the recent Facebook terms of service bruhaha and the announcement of the Kindle2.
Please listen below (or click through if you’re seeing this in a feed reader).
Room 214, a Boulder, Colorado based “search marketing and social media agency” produces the weekly Capture the Conversation podcast. My buddy Kris Smith hosts the show, and last week he invited a hipster friend of ours, Mike Marusin and me on to talk about new media, RSS, blogging and other exciting stuff. Check out the show here.
Shownotes:
This episode is the return of the Internet Cases Podcast after a one year sabbatical. I talk about the practicalities of video-sharing sites’ use of “fingerprinting software” to filter out content that may infringe copyright. A mechanism to automatically filter out infringing content would, naturally, cut down on the number of infringing works online and would alleviate the burden of video-sharing sites in complying with massive DMCA takedown notices.
Thanks to Kris Smith for the new audio equipment.
Room 214 is doing some great things with podcasting.
Thanks to Blandy who created the music you hear in the show, and who made it available under a Creative Commons license.
Colette Vogele has launched a new podcast called Rules for the Revolution. It’s very interesting. I recommend it. The first episode is available here and is an interview with Mia Garlick of Creative Commons, and covers the fundamentals of licensing under the Creative Commons framework.
Colette Vogele, a talented San Francisco lawyer and expert on all things legal as they relate to podcasting, was recently interviewed on Podcast 411. [Listen here (about 27 MB)] She covers some interesting topics such as obtaining releases from podcast guests, copyright issues relating to Creative Commons, and some of the intricacies of music licensing.
We also learn from the interview that Colette will soon be launching her own podcast called Rules For the Revolution. I’m looking forward to that.
The long-anticipated Podcasting Legal Guide is now available. Written by Colette Vogele and Mia Garlick, it lives up to its stated purpose of “[providing] you with a general roadmap of some of the legal issues specific to podcasting.” It is very interesting to see such a well thought out application of traditional legal principles to the brand new and untested issues that arise from podcasting.
What’s more, the PLG has been released under a Creative Commons license. What else would one expect from such forward-thinking authors? I enjoyed meeting Mia at last week’s Blog Law and Blogging for Lawyers Seminar, and have worked with Colette as opposing counsel in a rare matter dealing with podcasting. I assure you, they know what they’re talking about.
