http://www.avvo.com/search/answer_search?q=Intellectual+Property Avvo.com - Questions containing 'Intellectual Property' http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/duplicating-another-business-24364.html I thinking of starting a coupon business with another person (we would be business partners). We are looking at copying another business here in the Phoenix, AZ area. My partner wants to copy everything about that business except the name. Color scheme, contracts, promotional materials, etc. He wants everything to be the same (except for the business name). The business we are looking to copy is a sole proprietorship and has been running for about 20 years. Can we copy everything about another business? I have serious doubts and do not want any legal problems. My partner wants to copy everything because the other business has been operating successfully for such a long time, that he must have the little details all figured out. Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:14:19 PST http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/clothing-line-trademark-24334.html I'm starting a clothing line called ''GROWN APPEAL" my logo is "GA" but i know that GA is short for the state of GEORGIA, so my question is: Can i still use GA if i add designs to the letters to make it look more towards my clothing line? I have search for my name "GROWN APPEAL " on via the Trademark Electronic Search System ("TESS") and didn't find the exact name, but i did find: "Grown and sexy clothing" "Grown men" "Hoodgrown apparel" "Grown folks Apparel" "SoulGrown" "Cali Grown" How high is the risk of rejection of my name, "GROWN APPEAL" if i apply for a trademark? Alot of my desings will have well know qoutes, such as: "Clock Work" "Catch 22" "Heartless" "The Constitution" Can i still have these designs on my shirts, or would i still have to get approval? ps. But it is really hard to find the author. Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:25:40 PST http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/trademark-rights--infringement-and-dilution-24322.html In March of 2008, my sister and I started an Event Production Company named "The Bearded Ladies Present" in Austin, TX. We plan to produce shopping events where vendors can apply to have a booth, and if accepted they pay us the fee and we invite the public to come and shop from those vendors - basically an upgraded and hip "craft show". We chose this name because (A) we are ladies and (B) our maiden name is "Beard". We also had a logo drawn in our own likeness, each of us sporting a beard. After starting this business, we also decided that having a parent company would be a good idea, so we registered three dba names - "The Bearded Ladies Production Co.", "The Bearded Ladies Present" and "Shop Austin" and we had two versions of our logo - one with "The Bearded Ladies Present: Shop Austin" and one with "The Bearded Ladies Production Co." Several months down the road, we received a "cease and desist" letter from a Screen Printing company (t-shirts, posters, stickers, and labels) also located in Austin, TX whose name is either Bearded Lady Printing, Bearded Lady or Bearded Lady Productions - they have used all three. They claimed we were infringing upon and diluting their trademark rights and that we must quit using any and all versions of our name and our logo (which was drawn in our own likeness). In response to this letter, we offered a compromise where we would "cease and desist" using our parent company name and logo of "The Bearded Ladies Production Co" but continue using "The Bearded Ladies Present". Even though they print and sell items and we produce events and the two are not related, we felt it was an act of good faith and that the words "Bearded Lady" were so commonly used in conjunction with each other they could actually be deemed one word, like the words "hot dog", so therefore, the name we would continue to use (The Bearded Ladies Present) would be different enough, especially in different industries. Also, before responding to them with this compromise we requested to legally reserve the name "The Bearded Ladies Present" with the Texas Secretary of State. At first, their office said it was too close to the already legally reserved name of "Bearded Lady Productions", but we requested they reconsider this initial objection based on our assumption that the term "Bearded Lady" was so common. Upon reviewing our request, the Texas SOS agreed and deemed the words "Bearded Lady/Ladies" frequently used in combination, and therefore considered one word so we could then move forward with our name reservation without consent from the owner of the reservation "Bearded Lady Productions". Some time line information - they filed the dba "Bearded Lady Productions" in 2001 and never did anything else. They contacted us on October 15 and one day before contacting us they reserved the business name "Bearded Lady Productions" with the Texas SOS. We reserved our name "The Bearded Ladies Present" on 10/31/08 after the Texas SOS agreed with our request. We responded to them by certified mail on 11/6/2008. Since then we have received another letter, this time from an attorney who says we are still infringing upon and diluting their trademark. We discovered that on 10/29/08 they registered the following dba's - "The Bearded Ladies Present: Shop Austin" (our event's exact name), "Bearded Lady Presents", "Bearded Lady" and "Bearded Lady Printing Studio". This lawyer also claims they have federal trademark rights, even though they just filed for federal registration on 11/14/08 and it has not been approved. We also filed for trademark registration with Texas on 10/31/08. My basic question is this - we believe that our logo (2 bearded women in our likeness) and our name "The Bearded Ladies Present" as the name of an Event Production Company does not infringe or dilute their logo (1 bearded lady) or name "Bearded Lady Printing or Productions" as the name of a Printing business. Is this correct and should we stand firm? Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:52:30 PST http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-it-a-violation-of-copyright-law-to-copy-a-recor-24296.html I want to offer a service, for a fee, to re-record old record albums and transfer the audio to a dvd or other format. I would anticipate that customers would be individual collectors who have a lot of old albums and don't want to wear them out by playing them. Would it be legal to offer such a service or would it violate copyright laws? Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:29:59 PST http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/do-i-have-to-get-permission-from-the-owner-of-a-bu-24293.html I want to become a professional artist. I want to make paintings of historic buildings in town and sell them at art shows, on the internet, & perhaps advertise elsewhere. I would sell original art and prints. Many of the buildings I'm interested in are privately owned. Do I have to obtain permission from the owners of these buildings if I am going to profit from painted images of the buildings? Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:18:37 PST http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/photo-image-rights-to-images-i-own-23864.html as a professional photographer & sole proprietor of my photo business can i sell my images of celebrities that i have accumulated over the years. Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:47:27 PST http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/free-trademark-search-engine--for-clothing-line-lo-23834.html I used via the Trademark Electronic Search System ("TESS"), to search for my logo before i apply for one. Luckly it was not in the database. But i still want to be possitivily sure Is there other free online database that i can research besides TESS? How similar does two logos have to be for trademark infragment? Can i still open a business and apply for a business license while my logo is pending? Lets say that i was runnng my clothing while my logo is pending, than it comes back denied, what will happen? Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:28:59 PST http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/copyright-infringement-legal-advice-23799.html I am building a website and want to include videos. I have been searching for background music and I have been surprised at the prices charged for licensing. Then somebody told me that they felt any music that was naturally “ in my scene” would be okay as copyright had already been paid. The example he gave was if I were driving in my car, and videoing the journey whilst my radio played in the background, then I am not infringing copyright as it has already been dealt with by the radio station. Is this true? If it is, how far does it extend. Examples….. • If instead of me listening to the radio in my car, what if I was playing a CD that I owned? • What if there is a TV on in the background whilst I video myself and the images on the screen just happen to be not dissimilar to my subject matter? • What if I create a screen capture on my computer whilst capturing my voice with my microphone and I have some of my music playing in the background? Are these all breaches of copyright law or is my friend correct in saying that because they naturally occur in my scene, no copyright has been infringed? There are a gazillion youtube videos that are either breaking the law or they are using this loophole. I am hoping it is the latter. Can you give me any advice on this? Many thanks Rob Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:45 PST http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/trademark-or-patent--23726.html I have shoe accessory I designed (for an existing shoe design on the market) I have a name for this accessory as well as the design. Should I trademark the name and logo or patent the design. I'm doing it myself..no lawyers. I was thinking that someone can patent the same accessory for another type of shoe..so patenting may be the wrong thing to do in my case?? Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:33:10 PST http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/music-publishing-23516.html I want to start my own music publishing company. I have 5 years experience in music licensing (mechanical and sync). What are the legal guidelines for me to start this venture? I am not the artist or writer. I want my own company. Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:12:51 PST