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Recent Articles from Peter Lemire
SupCo trademark game-changer
A recent decision by the Supreme Court will have attorneys and business paying more attention to what are known as “adversary proceedings” before the United States Patent and Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (TTAB). Adversary proceedings are basically mini administrative trials that are conducted...
Kick-starting the new year
When meeting with clients, we often explain to them that securing intellectual property rights of inventions or products is an important step of the process, but it is just the start and sometimes is the easiest part of bringing a product to market or starting a new business venture.
Maximize your business’ value
The law once said that to file an application for a United States federal trademark registration, an individual or a business had to actually be using the mark in interstate commerce. That individual or business must have actually sold the goods or services to someone in another state, or their sa...
A forgotten right the government can’t take away
No matter your particular view of the underlying case, the situation with the Redskins is a good example of the public’s misperception of trademarks, how trademark rights are accrued, and why trademark registrations can carry more benefits in the eyes of the public than those actually conveyed und...
Hazy times for Colorado’s marijuana businesses
Many businesses are dealing with the impacts of Colorado’s foray into recreational marijuana. Often, this uncertainty is focused on how the new laws and regulations will be implemented. While compliance with the Colorado regulatory framework is often the first priority of companies associated with...
The perils of third-party IP policy shifts
A client recently gave me a head’s up about some new developments in YouTube’s Content ID System that was causing an uproar in the gaming community and with others who […]
The murky law of fair use
In our practice, we deal not only with the enforcement of intellectual property rights, but we also do a fair amount of defense of accused infringers. One of the surest […]
A fool’s bargain: Part 2
(Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts. Read Part 1.) In the first part of this article, I discussed what trademarks are, what they protect and what factors […]
It’s not always best to follow the leader
A few months ago, I attended an intellectual property conference where the head IP counsel for Twitter discussed its new Innovator’s Patent Agreement, or IPA. A few of the panel […]
Can you keep a secret?
Sometimes keeping quiet about a new product, service or venture can be difficult. While it may be difficult to fight the urge to tell everyone on the street all about […]
Hey, that’s mine!
At some time or another, anyone who produces a product or commercializes a copyrightable work will inevitably run into the situation where you see your products being resold by someone that is not you or one of your direct distributors. Oftentimes, this becomes an issue for a business because of t...
The $64,000 innovation question
Yahoo made some waves last month by issuing an edict that it was discontinuing its telecommuting program. While many in the techno press panned the decision as backward thinking, Yahoo’s rationale is actually quite interesting. Yahoo’s reasoning was not based on efficiency, productivity or emplo...
