Senate Bill Cracks Down On Online Infringement

Hello!

Last week, Senator Leahy along with a host of other co-sponsors, introduced SB 3804: Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act. This Bill gives the Attorney General authority to seize domains of infringing websites if it is proven the sites are totally dedicated to Intellectual Property infringing activity. The Bill defines infringing activity as: websites that provide access or offer for sale unauthorized copies of copyright protected material or any website that sells or distributes good or services bearing a counterfeit mark in violation of a trademark's owner exclusive right to use the mark. Specifically this Bill is targeted to websites that sell counterfeit goods for luxury items such as designer purses, watches, jewelry and shoes.

This Bill also gives Internet Service Providers (hosting companies, domain registrar, etc.) the right to shut down the infringing site and provides immunity to the ISPs for doing so. The Bill also allows the Attorney General to prevent a website that is non-domestic from conducting business in the U.S. and prevent the importation of infringing goods and services. The Attorney General will also keep a list of infringing websites or domains available to the public via online.

Results?

As evidenced, Intellectual Property Infringement is rampant on the Internet. Intellectual Property owners spend considerable amounts of money defending their Intellectual Property through DMCA take down requests, cease and desist demand letters, TROs and IP Internet Monitoring Services. However, sometimes these efforts may stop infringers for a moment, but if they are highly organized, they re-group and infringe again. This is particularly relevant when it comes to counterfeit goods. This bill allows the Attorney General to combat online infringement at the source.

The Bill has been referred to Committe and should be up for a vote soon.

Do you think this is a step in the right direction in stopping online Intellectual Property Infringement?

Trade Secrets: What Are They and How To Protect Them

Hello!

There are several forms of intellectual property that a business may own. They are trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. On this blog I mainly discuss trademarks and copyrights. Recently, I have been advising clients on protecting valuable trade secrets. As a result, I am going to explain what are trade secrets and give practical tips on how to effectively protect them.

A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable to the public.

Some examples of trade secrets are:

1. Formula for the soft drink, Coca-Cola
2. Business processes
3. Marketing Strategies
4. Food Recipes
5. Computer Algorithms

In addition, the trade secret must be of an economic advantage over a business' competitors or customers. Lastly, the owner of the trade secret must take reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy.

Reasonable efforts to protect a trade secret is key in maintaining intellectual property rights in the trade secret and in pursuing those who steal the trade secret for economic gain. Here are a few tips on how to protect trade secrets:

1. Require all employees, vendors, contractors, business partners, etc to sign non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements regarding the confidentiality of any trade secrets.

2. Implement adequate security measures to protect the secrecy of the trade secret. This may include keeping the trade secret under lock and key; using code words; restricting access to a select few individuals; restricting access to trade secrets by using programmable access passcards, computer fire walls, multiple level password protection, and secured intranets.

Once again, taking reasonable measures to protect trade secrets is key when pursuing a claim for "trade secret theft". If it is proven that the owner of the trade secret did not implement an adequate security system to protect trade secrets, then the trade secret loses its protection.

I welcome your thoughts!

How To Protect Your Intellectual Property Online

Hello!

Welcome Back! I hope everyone is having an awesome day! Today I am going to discuss how to protect your intellectual property on the internet. Here are a few practical tips and tools you can implement right now to ensure your intellectual property is not stolen.

1. Include a section or link on your website that clearly states the terms of use when someone wants to use your material. See the examples below:

For Copyrights

All Content on Site X are protected by U.S. Copyright. This site is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You are free to site or quote material on this site if you first obtain our permission and if you properly attribute the material back to Site X.

For Trademarks

Site X's name and logos are all registered trademarks of the X company. All Rights are Reserved. You must obtain our permission before using or displaying any of our registered trademarks.

2. Watermark your copyrighted images. A watermark can contain an image across the photo with your copyright notice or the name of your site.

3. Do keyword searches of your trademarks and be vigilaint about contacting infringers and demanding they remove your intellectual property from their sites immediately.

4. For as little as $249.00 per trademark, use a company like Mark Trend to track and monitor possible and actual trademark infringement on the internet. Using a montioring service like Mark Trend will save you money and most imporantly time. They do all the work for you.

I hope this information was helpful. If you have any questions, please leave a comment.