Seattle Copyright Attorneys & Lawyers

What is Trademark vs. Patent?

A trademark protects a symbol, name, word, logo, or design used to represent the manufacturer of goods. A patent gives property rights to an inventor for a new product, preventing others from making an identical product. Many companies use both to protect intellectual property, although the two are not interchangeable.

What sets a trademark apart from other legal protections is that it only covers a single mark. That protection might be part of a logo, a symbol, a phrase, a word, or a design. But a trademark does not extend any protection to the products manufactured by the company that owns it. Another business or person can legally produce the same goods or o

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Pirates Beware! ISPs are cracking down on illegal downloads.

In the face of widespread online file sharing, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as AT&T, Cablevision Systems, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon are implementing a “six-strike” plan to educate and eventually prevent pirates from downloading material.  You read that right—there are six strikes. The system is intended to target peer-to-peer file sharing websites, and not online lockers, such as Dropbox, or email attachments.

After the first offense is detected, the Internet subscriber will receive an email alert from their ISP saying that the subscriber account may have been used for “online co

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Updated November 12, 2020:

What Is a Patent and What Is a Copyright?

Patents, typically utility patents, and copyrights are both types of intellectual property that grant rights to creators and inventors and protect their work from being exploited without their permission but differ in the type of property they protect.

Protecting Your Ideas

Business success hinges on ideas. Without an original idea, a business will struggle to turn a profit. But what happens when another business steals that idea? What protects a business from other people trying to take its money-making products or strategies and turn them into their own? Most companies have two options: patents or copyrights. Choosing between applying for

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Updated November 4, 2020:

What Is Trademark Permission?

Trademark permission allows a company or individual to legally use a trademark held by another person or business. Getting trademark permission from a trademark holder can help your company increase sales, generate brand awareness, and increase positive customer associations with your product or service. But if done illegally, using someone else's trademark puts you at serious risk for legal trouble.

Trademark permission, also called licensing, exists to allow others to use a trademark, a word or mark that exclusively identifies one person or company as the source of a product or service. When granting proper permission, the trademark owner can take advantage of other benefits as well. Perhaps these benefits come in the form of profits for every item sold under the trademark permi

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What Is Software Forensics?

Software forensics is a branch of science that investigates computer software text codes and binary codes in cases involving patent infringement or theft. Software forensics can be used to support evidence for legal disputes over intellectual property, patents, and trademarks. 

Digital forensics and computer forensics are both tools used to recover computer files. Digital forensics tries to find files that are the same, and software forensics examiners focus on function.

Software forensics is especially important in patent and trade cases. In these cases, someone might have copied another person's code, but rewritten that code in a way to hide the theft. A digital forensic examiner may not have the tools or capabilities to prove a crime occurred. If you need help,

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