If you are a designer or creator, there is a good chance you’ve owned hundreds, if not thousands, of copyrights during your career. For creative professionals working on a contract basis, those copyrights will typically transfer to the person or company who paid for them. However, it is not always easy for a creator to know the value of their […]
How intellectual property is relevant to NFTs NFTs have exploded in recent years and many questions are emerging around how trademarks can be used as a strategy to protect NFT brands. We’ve completed this guide to help NFT users navigate through the trademark waters. What is a trademark? Federally registered trademark protection is always important when it comes to protecting […]
America’s biggest universities are starting to make plans for the metaverse and Web3. In June, Arizona State University filed seven new trademark applications, which claim the school will soon begin offering: NFTs of event tickets. NFTs of campus landmarks and scenery. NFTs of sports highlights (video and audio). “Virtual goods” such as clothing that can be worn in virtual environments. […]
The metaverse provides a unique opportunity to offer virtual goods and services in a realistic 3D digital environment. It literally creates a new world for growing your brand and your business – not just for existing products, but for innovative new goods and services tailored specifically to a 3D environment. As businesses commit to providing goods and services in the […]
A lot of people have asked me lately: can I protect the name of my NFT project with a trademark? Absolutely! Despite being a new technology, our “old” laws still apply. Obtaining a trademark registration on your NFT project is a great way to protect yourself in the marketplace. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, seem to be on the top of […]
When filing “proof of commercial use” with the USPTO, the USPTO requires applicants to use a word, phrase or symbol as a trademark- not just as a part of ornamental design. If the USPTO examining attorney believes that the proof of use (called a “specimen”) is “ornamental” then they will refuse the application on the grounds that the specimen fails […]
I have a “heads up” for anyone that has filed a trademark application recently: In a completely unforced error, the United States Patent & Trademark Office may have just exposed your email address to scammers. If you receive an email related to your trademark (that is not from the attorney who filed your application), be very suspicious of it and forward […]
Recent trademark filings made by Lamar Jackson (the star quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens) provide a great lesson in how to select unique trademarks. On May 13, 2022, Jackson filed two trademarks for a new restaurant that he plans to open. The first filing is for the name of his restaurant: “PLAY ACTION” The second filing is for the restaurant’s slogan: “YOU […]
The “idea” of the metaverse isn’t new – the term was coined in a science fiction novel in the early nineties and the idea of a persistent, virtual world has seen many iterations over the years. However, with recent improvements in VR technology, not to mention a pandemic keeping people socially distant, the dream of the metaverse looks ready to […]
Small businesses are looking to get in on the ground floor of the metaverse, just like industry giants Walmart®, Nike®, and McDonalds®. The difference is, that the big companies have the resources to guess where the metaverse is headed and the manpower to research what the metaverse actually is. So how can a small business stay on the cutting edge and […]
A rapidly growing number of the world’s most dominant and iconic brands have begun to realize that while they may own trademark registrations for their existing goods or services in the traditional marketplace, they do not own similar registrations for the metaverse. As a result, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of trademark filings to cover “virtual goods” […]
A recent study found that companies who file the most trademarks become more valuable than their peers. Specifically, the study found that the stock performance of companies filing the most trademarks each year (relative to their total assets), had stocks that performed better in the next 12 months than companies that were not as active with new trademark filings. I promise […]