The Essence of the Patent Law

As a general rule, patents are associated with things and processes which are vital to the world the only exception though are innovative designs. Patents also allow the creator of some inventions to preclude others from making use of it commercially without the permission of the creator. It is possible to acquire patent on technologies used in arts. Nevertheless, the exceptions to the general rule are on product designs. It is thus theoretically potential to acquire design patent on the purely ornamental aspects of design while also having a copyright on same design.

Patents convey to the creator the right to exclude others from using or producing the formers creation for a limited time. A patent for an invention is an award of a property right to the inventor. It is given by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A new patent may last up to 20 years from the date of application in the US. In special cases, it may start from the date of an earlier filed application. The application is subject to maintenance fees. It is also noteworthy to know that patent grants in US are only effective within US, its territories and possessions. If you want your patent grants to have extensions or adjustments, you can avail of the same under certain circumstances.

There are three types of patents. They are: a) Utility patents which may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers a machine, vital process, composition of matter, article of manufacture or any useful improvement thereof; b) Design patents may be granted to anyone who creates a new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture; lastly c) Plant patents may also be granted to anyone who creates or discovers at the same time asexually reproduce any distinct and new variety of plant.

What is vested by the patent is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import but the right to EXCLUDE others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing said creation or invention. If the patent has already been issued, the patentee must enforce it without the assistance of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The gist of this statute is to grant authority to protect discoveries and creations. In order to be patented an invention must be novel, useful, and not of an obvious nature. Now, the creators/inventors can shun their worries about having works copied or used without their permission.
For additional information and comments about the article you may log on to http://www.attorneyservicesetc.com

Google Patent Application Highlights

The recent patent application filed by Google details numerous items the search engine uses to rank web pages. The specific application is summarized as:

A method for scoring a document, comprising: identifying a document; obtaining one or more types of history data associated with the document; and generating a score for the document based on the one or more types of history data.

The patent application sheds significant light for those pursuing search engine optimization with Google. Patent applications can be difficult to understand, so following are highlights that you should consider for your SEO efforts.

Update Your Site

Updating your site is important when it comes to maximizing your rankings on Google. In addition to the manipulation of keyword density and meta tags, the patent application reveals that Google places significant value on how often your content is updated. The more often you update, the timely and relevant your site will appear to Google. In turn, this leads to higher rankings.

To appease mighty Google, consider the following plan of action:

1. Update pages frequently,
2. Add new pages to your site,
3. Interlink the new pages with others on your site, and
4. Add new pages on a weekly basis instead of all at once.

When Google returns to the site, you want to make sure that there is new content. The high rankings of blog sites are evidence of this approach.

Googles Looking at Your Domain

In a new twist, Google claims that it analyzes the number of years of domain registration as part of the ranking process. The application suggests that domains that are registered for longer periods of time are given more value because such a commitment shows the site is not a fly-by-night jump page. It is recommended that you extend all domain registrations for as long as possible as part of your search engine optimization efforts. It is difficult to tell how much the registration process impacts the ranking process, but every little bit helps.

Google claims that it also digs deeper into domain names to evaluate the legitimacy of the site. Factors in the evaluation include the web host and the who is information. According to the patent application, Google maintains a database of hosts that facilitate spamming of the Google search engine. While such hosts are not detailed in the application, pray to God that you are not using one. You should evaluate your host if your optimization efforts are not producing results.

If your search engine optimization efforts for Google are failing, the patent application may provide answers. Talk about a perfect E-book!

Halstatt Pires is with http://www.marketingtitan.com - an Internet marketing and advertising company comprised of a search engine optimization specialist providing meta tag optimization services and Internet marketing consultant providing internet marketing solutions through integrated design and programming services.

Intellectual Property - Trade Mark Infringement - Figurative Community Trademark

In the case of Sportwetten GmbH Gera v the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (?OHIM?) (2005), it was held that the registration of a Community trade mark was not contrary to public policy or public morality.

On 11 January 1999, OHIM published a figurative mark incorporating the word INTERTOPS in respect of Class 42: bookmakers and betting services of all kinds.

Sportwetten GmbH was the proprietor of the trade mark INTERTOPS SPORTWETTEN, registered in Germany in respect of the same types of services.

On 17 May 1999, Sportwetten lodged an application for a declaration of invalidity concerning the INTERTOPS registration. The application was rejected by OHIM and Sportwetten appealed to the Court of First Instance.

Sportwetten contended that:

▪ registration infringed Article 51 of Regulation No 40/94 read together with Article 7 (1) (f) and (2) because the proprietor was not licensed to offer or advertise in Germany the services in respect of which the mark had been registered; and ▪ the INTERTOPS trade mark was contrary to public policy or to accepted principles in Germany and other Member States.

The Court of First Instance dismissed the appeal and confirmed that:

▪ it is the trade mark itself, not the circumstances relating to the conduct of the person applying for registration, that is to be assessed in order to determine whether the mark is contrary to public policy or accepted standards of morality for the purpose of Article 7; ▪ consequently the fact that the INTERTOPS proprietor was prohibited from offering betting services in Germany did not have the effect of rendering the trade mark itself contrary to public policy or principles of morality; and ▪ therefore there was no grounds for which the decision should be annulled and therefore the application for a declaration of invalidity was denied.

If you require further information contact us at enquiries@rtcoopers.com or Visit http://www.rtcoopersiplaw.com or http://www.rtcoopers.com/practice_intellectualproperty.php

? RT COOPERS, 2005. This Briefing Note does not provide a comprehensive or complete statement of the law relating to the issues discussed nor does it constitute legal advice. It is intended only to highlight general issues. Specialist legal advice should always be sought in relation to particular circumstances.

Full service commercial law firm based in the City of London intangible property, intellectual properties, intellectual property, intellectual property law, intellectual property escrow, intellectual property laws, intellectual property attorney, intellectual property definition, intellectual property issues. intellectual property agreement, managing intellectual property, intellectual property attorneys, world intellectual property, intellectual property litigation, intellectual property contract, trademark, copyrights, infringement, copyright, copyright law, copyright protection, copyright laws, trademark search, copyright notice, copyright infringement, trademark symbol, trademark law, trademark attorneys, trademark lawyers, legal patent, patents law, patent laws, patent lawyers, trademark laws, legal trademark, patent law, european patent law, patent infringement law, biotechnology patent law, uk patent law, trademark infringement law

Visit our websites at http://www.rtcoopersiplaw.com or visit http://www.rtcoopers.com/practice_intellectualproperty.php

Trademark Searches

Why Every Web Business Needs One Trademark Searches

Why are Trademark Searches Necessary? HERE IS A TYPICAL STORY.......

About Trademark searches. You are up and running with your new Web based business. You have invested money and time developing your site and your online marketing program. Then, to your surprise, you receive a certified letter from a company in Washington State telling you that they own the name of your company and that you are to immediately cease and desist from all infringing activities. The letter goes on to cite a laundry list of bad things that the company is going to do to you if you do not immediately cease and desist.

Unfortunately this is a very common story. This situation can be avoided by performing a trademark search before you invest money in your business or domain name.

WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN SO OFTEN ?

The reason this situation occurs so often is that most people do not realize that simply owning a domain name and registering the name through the InterNIC does not necessarily confer the right to use that name for commercial purposes on the Internet or otherwise. It must be kept in mind when selecting a domain name that the InterNIC procedures and Trademark Law are two separate and distinct matters. Both must be considered when starting a web-based business.

REMEDIES FOR TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT

Remedies for trademark infringement range from (1) granting of an injunction prohibiting use of the infringing name, (2) seizure and destruction of infringing items which can be must broader in scope that the simple web page itself, (3) suit for damages based upon loss of profits to the owner of the name, your profits from the use of the name, value associated with dilution of the name, and other damages, (4) possible punitive dames that can far exceed the amount of damages actually suffered, and (5) possible attorney fee award. Each of these can haves disastrous effects on your business.

Trademark Search - MILLION DOLLAR ADVICE

Before using a domain name, every company that wants to create an Internet presence needs to perform a federal trademark search to assure that the name does not infringe on the rights of another party. Failure to get a trademark seach can lead to disastrous results as described above. Receiving a letter like the one that is described above will quickly make you wish that you had taken the precautionary step of performing a trademark search before resources are expended on your web presence.

TYPES OF TRADEMARK SEARCH

Trademark Search of Trademark Office. Simple Trademark Search. Several online companies offer online trademark searches of the trademark office records to determine whether your name infringes upon a registered trademark of another party. You can perform a trademark search of the trademark office database on your own. There is no need to pay for a trademark search of the trademark office database. I would argue that these free or bargain price trademark searches of the federal trademark records do you little if any good. Sure, they will tell you if your name infringes upon a party that has received a registration of a federal trademark. But that is all that type of search will tell you.

Understanding the limitations on this type of trademark search requires a brief description of the nature of trademarks and the trademark procedures. One key misunderstanding that a lot of people have about trademark law is that federal trademark rights DO NOT come into existence when a trademark application is filed and a registration is received. The reality is quite to the contrary. Trademarks rights arise upon use of a mark in interstate commerce. That means using the mark in connection with a good or service across state lines. State trademark rights can attach upon any use in connection with goods or services and do not require use in interstate commerce.

So it is obvious that there are loads of people out there who have valid claims of state and federal trademark rights who have never filed a trademark application. These people would not be found by searching the records of recorded trademarks in the federal trademark office. I would venture to say that there are more people out there who have claims that they have trademark rights that have not filed trademark applications than those that have actually filed applications. For this reason, in order to get meaningful results from a trademark search it is vital that common law sources also be checked. This type of search goes to a number of different business sources to search for conflicting names and gives you much more meaningful results that a simple trademark office search. In fact, prior to filing a federal trademark application, it would be negligence for any party to simply rely upon a search of the trademark office records. There are just too many potential parties out there that would not be picked up in this type of limited search.

It should be kept in mind that there is no search available that can give you 100% guaranteed results that there is no one out there that is doing business under your selected name. But relying on a simple trademark office search is unacceptably risky. Additionally, running a comprehensive trademark search can help you establish that you used good faith and any infringement is purely innocent if a party later crawls out of the woodwork and alleges infringement.

Sure, comprehensive common law trademark searches are more costly, ranging anywhere from $275.00 per search to $700.00 per search. But web-based businesses should factor this cost into their start-up expenses. It is perhaps the most important money that you will spend in terms of avoiding legal risk and expenses.

Article provided by DigiLaw Publishing, Inc. offering web development and technology agreement form document and resource packages at www.weblawresources.com

Traffic Isn't Where It's At!windsong

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. Only the author may edit. If you must edit, please don't publish. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated but not necessary.

TRAFFIC ISN'T WHERE ITS AT!! by: windsong

You've heard it before. You need to get traffic to your site. Promote, promote, promote. Thats what you get from all the promoters and marketers on line. Is this really true?

You want to market online. So you have built your site and submitted it to the search engines. You have placed classifieds and FFA's. You are continually promoting, and this is good. You DO want to bring traffic to your site. But it needs to be targeted traffic. What does that mean? It simply means that all the traffic you bring to your site should be potential customers. But everyone is a potential customer, you say. Wrong. You want to pull new traffic from those people who are already interested in what you are selling. However, all this new traffic to your site isn't worth anything unless they:

1. Stay at your site, instead of clicking away. 2. Return to your site often. 3. Buy your products or services.

Now you ask, "How do I keep 'em at my site?" and "How do I keep them coming back?" and "How do I get them to buy my products?" Well, actually its easy. There are a few things to consider. People out there in cyberspace are looking for information. They are looking for whatever they can get for free. They are in a hurry. They have no patience whatsoever. So how do you design your site to meet the needs of these surfers?

First off, you've heard the old saying, "content is king". This point can't be stressed enough. I have been to sites that claim to have content. They have tons of banners and maybe a link to an article or two, or some links to the sites of their friends. That is NOT content. Articles are great, but have them (more than one or two) on your site. Links to other sites can be good, but you need to be sure that they are relevant to the theme of your site. If not, you are going to lose that surfer before he/she has a chance to see what you are offering.

Offer things on your site that are free. These should be things that have actual value to your visitors, ie: a free internet marketing course, free E-books, free internet access, or free email accounts. You get the idea. The more the better. However, be sure that these are quality freebies. Nobody likes cheap and sleazy stuff. It may take a little effort on your part, and some negotiation with other webmasters, but will be worth all your efforts. You will be building a rapport with these surfers. They will remember where they got that terrific freebie and come back looking for more.

If your site is well laid out, and easy to navigate, in other words, user friendly, and you have more things on your site than what they have time for, chances are they will bookmark your site and will return at a later time. The more often they return, the greater the chances are that they will purchase one of your products or services. But remember this: the content on your site must be interesting enough for them to want to return. If they don't see anything that looks interesting they will click away and you have lost them forever. So the first and formost thing is to choose content carefully. Be sure that it is relevant to the theme of your site. If your site is geared around health related products, then DON'T have resources geared towards web design. It just won't fly.

Keep graphics to a minimum. Remember that these surfers are very impatient. They want a page to load fast. Graphics slow it down considerably. If you use images on your site, be sure to optimize them. You can reduce most graphic files to about 1/2 their size. This does not affect the size of the graphic, just the file. Some graphics optimizers can be found at: http://marketing-resources.com/utilities.html

If your main page is lengthy and takes a while to load, you may need to break it up into 2 or more pages. Be sure each page in your site has links to ALL the other pages. Make navigation easy. This will encourage surfers to check out all of your site, or at least the areas that they came there for in the first place. Then, hopefully, they will bookmark it as a useful resource. But you must have content that they will want to come back for.

How do you find content for your site? Easy. Surf the web. Spend some time searching out useful sites. The internet is an educational experience. Get out there and explore. Use it to your advantage. You will soon have a site that people want to go to. Keep them coming back. Many of them will buy your products or services. Keep updating your site so it never, ever becomes stale. Keep those surfers happy. See you at the bank!

windsong is the webmaster/publisher at: http://marketing-resources.com/

Learn what you need to know about designing your site! Subscribe to windsong's free e-zine: All About Web Design!(tm) Send a blank email to: mailto:AllAboutWebDesign-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Download a free ebook, "Web Design Course" here: http://marketing-resources.com/design.exe