Does a university's Inventions & Proprietary Information Agreements affect commercialization of non-novel ideas?

The short answer is YES, and especially so if the University thinks it does. What you can't really stand in most cases with a startup is to be...

Risk in refiling a provisional patent?

You can file a dozen provisionals or more if you want and base one non-provisional on them all. The key for you if you are disclosing the...

Patent Trolling

What you call "private emails" might very well invalidate your patent if they evidence that the invention was being offered for sale or sold or...

Risk of drafting your own provisional patent when seeking out a licensing deal?

That won't work, pal. Any company is going to save your emails and require you to sign THEIR form, usually called a "Disclosure Agreement" (note...

Is a provisional patent really better than a handshake?

A provisional patent application (quit calling it a "patent", as it's an application not a patent) is not an alternative to a handshake. You need...

Congratulations, starting a film production company is an ambitious undertaking, although with smartphones at 41 megapixels and memories of 64GB or...

Infringer agrees to discontinue use of a common law mark and wants an agreement. What type of agreement would this be?

First, it should be one written by an attorney. Second, it will typically be called something like "Settlement Agreement" or "Transitional...

How do I protect an idea for a website/app?

I will give you a few tips and then point you to a legal guideline in checklist form for other issues you need to consider. Q:"How do I protect...

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Can I use a name for my business already being used in another country?

The question is whether it is used here in the USA, and that may include online if business is done online. For massage therapy, which is...

I am hoping to register a federal trademark. How much will that usually cost?

Fees vary significantly depending on how the attorney and the attorney's staff work, how much business you do with the attorney, and where the...