Do I need an attorney to protect my original idea?

In addition to the previous suggestions, yes, you should submit all of your designs and "possible variations" in your provisional patent...

Using our Company name in two different states

Yes, you may have superior rights that can be asserted to stop the other two companies from using the "exact" name, but to answer that question...

The "rights of privacy and publicity" involved here will depend on your state law. Generally, you can film or photograph a crowd without...

Is a discovery motion an exchange of ideas between opposing parties

Umm...False? Seriously, at its heart, the "discovery" phase of litigation is an exchange of information (not ideas per se, though discovery may...

How do I buy the rights to a manuscript/book?

Only your partner (who penned the poems) had the copyright in the work and - absent a will - his heirs now own those rights (the particulars of...

Hi, A company is using our name in their meta-tags.

This may not be applicable given what you seem to have described, but you might consider an administrative domain name dispute proceeding. You can...

Hi i would like to name my company Bounces 4 Us. Do you think it will be a problem with the name because its close to toys r Us

The fact that you raise the question suggests that you might be better off picking a different name to avoid any possibility of becoming embroiled...

I have created an English transcript from a foreign language film. Can I legally sell this? (not film, typed out transcipt only)

No, not without permission of the film owner. If the country where the film was made is a party to a treaty with the U.S., our copyright laws...

Could you please tell me if anything can be done about someone talking bad about you in their book (they did not use my name)

You might have a defamation (libel) case. Under common law, libel generally meant a defamatory writing while "slander" regarding a defamatory...

Federal Firearm Carry Permit

To clarify one point in my earlier response, the bill that was defeated required 60 votes, which, while it had a respectable 58 yea votes, was...