Provisional Patents - Gallagher & Dawsey Co, LPA
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Transcript Provisional Patents - Gallagher & Dawsey Co, LPA
IP Pitfalls
The role of the general business attorney
in IP
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
IP Pitfalls
IP renewals and maintenance fees
Provisional patent applications
Managing Disclosure
Inventorship
Valuation of IP
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
IP Pitfalls
Litigation preparedness
Licensing
IP Budgeting
Trademarks
Copyright
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
Copyrights:
None!
But is it in term?
www.copyright.gov
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
Patents:
U.S. Design – None (14 year term)
U.S. Utility – None while pending
Foreign – Many require maintenance for
pending applications (e.g., Canada) and may
have different schedule for issued patents
than U.S.
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
U.S. Utility Patent Maintenance:
3 to 3.5 years after grant
7 to 7.5 years after grant
11 to 11.5 years after grant
Six months grace period with late fee
(i.e., patent expires at 4, 8, or 12 year mark)
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Client call
“I forgot to pay the maintenance fee!”
“You forgot to pay the maintenance fee!”
or worse;
or the very worst;
“The G-d--- patent lawyers forgot to pay
the maintenance fee!”
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
Make sure you understand who is
responsible for paying these fees.
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
Revival
“Unavoidable”
“Unintentional”
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
Revival
All good things must come to an end – no
revival for “unintentional” failure to pay
maintenance after 24 months
Expired patent is public domain prior art and
can never be patented again
All good things have limits – intervening rights
may be established
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
Trademarks
“Renewals”
Must still be in use in commerce
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
U.S. Trademark Renewal Schedule
Six years after first grant
Ten years after grant
Every ten years thereafter
Can be paid up to one year in advance
Six month grace period with late fee
Can be renewed indefinitely
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
Trademarks
“I forgot to pay the trademark renewal fee!”
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
“I forgot to pay the renewal fee!”
Six month grace period?
No revival
But can reapply
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
Tips
Don’t rely on your patent attorney
Don’t rely on USPTO notification
Don’t pay without thinking
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Renewals and Maintenance
Before paying:
Think
But think slowly
Abandonment is generally irrevocable
There may be alternatives
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Provisional Patents
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Provisional Patents
“Short Form Patent”
“Poor Man’s Patent”
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Provisional Patents
35 U.S.C. § 112(b)
Purpose – Harmonize U.S. and
International law and simplify patent
process.
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Provisional Patents
Simplify? Yes, since:
Inexpensive
Shorter, as only drawing “as necessary to
understand” and no claims are required
Satisfies priority date and statutory bar
requirements like a utility patent
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Provisional Patents
Simplify? No, in that:
Not examined
Can never mature into an actual patent
Will only support priority for a later filed utility
patent if it is “enabling”
Vanishes in one year
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Provisional Patents
Good Reasons to Use:
One desperate throw of the dice
So much disclosure, so little certainty
Multiple PPA’s can be consolidated into one utility
application
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Provisional Patents
Good Reasons to Use:
Fast moving technology
Upcoming disclosure
Extend patent pending period
Test marketing potential
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Provisional Patents
Bad Reasons to Use:
Being a cheapskate
Poorly conceived invention
Vague marketing plans
Enrich patent attorney
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Provisional Patents
Things to Watch For:
One year passes quickly
Triggers foreign filing deadlines
Doesn’t toll the statutory bar deadlines unless a
utility application is timely filed, e.g.:
Item on sale 12/02
PPA filed 6/02
Utility must be filed by 6/03 to ever patent item
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Provisional Patents
Tips:
Provisional should contain more disclosure rather
than less
The more your Provisional Patent Application looks
like a utility application, the more it will help you.
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Managing the tension between disclosure
and confidentiality
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Managing Disclosure
Novelty
Things that are not new cannot be patented
So what is “new?”
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Novelty
35 U.S.C. § 102(a)
“known or used by others in this country”
Or
“patented or described in a written publication in
this or a foreign country”
Before the Date of Invention
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Novelty
35 U.S.C. § 102(b)
“patented or described in this or a foreign” country
Or
“in public use or on sale”
More than one year prior to the date of filing
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Key Events
“patented”
“described”
“in a printed publication”
“in public use”
“on sale in this country”
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Quiz:
Can your client trigger a 102(a) event?
Can your client trigger a 102(b) event?
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Important ramification of “described” and
“before the date of invention”
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
35 U.S.C. 102 §(a-b) events:
Absolute deadlines
NO reprieve, renewals, late fees, exceptions,
excuses, appeals, second chances, or places
to hide!
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Client call
“I think there may have been some
disclosure of this about a year ago.”
Response:
When
Where
What
To Whom
Then call your patent counsel
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Grow the belief within your client’s
company that disclosure can have
important IP consequences
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Special problem with technology clients:
Understand and sympathize with the
difference between the cultures of science
and the law on disclosure
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Somebody (not the sales organization)
needs to review and approve upcoming
disclosure
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Upcoming sales or disclosure?
Great !
Avoid “enabling” disclosure
But be careful – no uniform standard for
enablement
Can’t avoid enabling disclosure?
Remember the one year statutory bar
But there may be dire foreign patent effects
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Upcoming sales or disclosure?
Provisional Application
Utility Application
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
“But we don’t have all the kinks worked
out yet!”
Help your client manage “experimental
use”
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Experimental Use
Judicial exception to “public use”
Must be experimental use designed to test the
invention's utility
The more it looks like a science experiment, the
better it looks
Not market testing
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Managing Disclosure
Defensive Patent Practice
SIRs
Defensive Publication
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
35 U.S.C. § 111
Application must be made by “the inventor”
Who is the inventor?
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
No easy black letter definition
One who has contributed at least one
important feature to the invention
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
Inventor:
Doesn’t have to do it all
Don’t have to make equal contributions
Doesn’t have to work simultaneously or in
same locale as other inventors
Must be more than a technician
Must name all inventors (35 U.S.C. 102(f) and
37 C.F.R. § 1.45)
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
What your clients will do:
Not understand “true inventorship”
Try to name non-inventors for political or
business purposes
Omit true inventors who have left the
company or who they don’t like
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
Intentional failure to name true inventors
is fraud if known by:
any inventor
each attorney or agent
every other person substantially involved
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
Penalty: DEATH
(that is, death for the patent)
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
With such severe penalty, a little slack is in
order:
While all inventors must be named, all
inventors don’t have to sign application
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
Dead, or legally incapacitated
Executor or guardian may sign
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
Refusing or can’t be located:
Must make diligent effort to locate
Must petition patent office with facts
If petition granted, assignee may file in the
inventor’s name
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
Corollary:
What does this tell you about when to get
assignments executed?
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
Corollary to Corollary:
All streets don’t run two ways - while all
inventors must file for patent; any one
inventor may dispose of rights without the
consent and without accounting to the other
inventors! (35 U.S.C. § 262)
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
Corollary to Corollary to Corollary:
Now, what does this tell you about when to
get assignments executed?
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
Remember that employment may end
before patents are filed
Specify that end of employment does not end
responsibility to assign and to cooperate with
patent activities
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Inventorship
Accidental failure to name true inventors:
Not fraud
Corrections may be made by petition after
filing
But remember that accidental ( i.e., “without
deceptive intent” (37 C.F.R. § 1.48)) is not the
same as non-malicious
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Valuation of IP
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Valuation of IP
The secret is that there is no secret – the
value of IP is whatever someone else is
willing to pay
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Market Valuation
Measurable only on loss or sale
Hard to Assess, Speculative
ImClone, Erbitux
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Cost Valuation
“Replacement Cost?”
IP Cost often skewed form real value
“New Coke”
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Income Valuation
Possibly the best system for going
concerns not selling their IP
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Pitfalls of Income Valuation
Have you maximized value?
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Pitfalls of Income Valuation
IP has a limited, and sometimes difficult to
assess, life
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Pitfalls of Income Valuation
Copyrights; Term essentially indefinite;
but:
Computer Software?
“Nick at Night”
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Pitfalls of Income Valuation
Trademarks; nominally indefinite, but:
Enron
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Pitfalls of Income Valuation
Patents:
20 year term, but:
Is the market cycle different from the patent term?
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Pitfalls of All IP Valuation
What are you valuing?
IP is only part of the enterprise
The current R&D problem
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Valuation
IP is not a lifetime commitment!
Selling
Transfer to Holding Company
Spin Off
Donation
Abandonment
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Valuation; Market, Cost and
Income Methods
www.patentvaluepredictor.com
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
Before trouble hits, help your client
prepare
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
No one can infringe an expired patent!
Check for maintenance payments
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
Get rid of prosecution drafts
Yours, your patent attorneys, and the
inventors and assignees
Festo
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
Protect invention disclosure forms as
attorney client work product:
In re Spaulding Sports Worldwide, Inc.
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
Cleanse “fraud” issues
True inventorship
Ongoing duty to disclose
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
Identify and Evaluate Infringers
Actual, Contributory, and Inducers
Collectable?
What do you want?
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
The post-1981 Era
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
Pre-1981
Patentee had to prove patent valid
Preliminary injunctions rare
Damages usually set as lost royalties
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
Post – 1981
Patents have presumption of validity
More “realistic” damages
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
Today:
Some companies run infringement
enforcement practices out of their patent
portfolios that are multi-million dollar profit
centers
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
If your client is a potential plaintiff:
Don’t be too fast to threaten suit
You might precipitate a declaratory judgment
action
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
First step in plaintiff’s analysis:
Consult patent counsel
Patent attorney v litigators
The vast majority of accused infringement will
never go to trial; most will probably never go to
filing of a suit
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
If your client is a potential defendant:
Watch out for the buccaneers of the plaintiff’s
bar
Check that patent is prima facie valid
Don’t be too fast to settle
Demand a detailed claim comparison, and review it
with competent counsel, before considering
settlement.
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Litigation Preparedness
What we do first:
Compare your client’s broadest claim with the
infringing device
Device must have all elements of claim
Additional features don’t save infringer
Only one claim needs be infringed
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Exclusive and Non-exclusive
Federal exception
Consider some middle ground licensing
Some licenses are better than owning!
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Sublicensing and Assignment
Concerns with Exclusive
Concerns with Nonexclusive
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Fees
How and when paid
Minimum
Termination
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Confidentiality
An ongoing concern
Confidentiality manager
Involve individuals
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Support
Consider the costs
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Relationship
Is it a joint venture?
Warranties
Indemnification
Insurance
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Trademark Licensing
Trademarks differ from patents
Requirement to keep in use
Quality control
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
ADR?
Complexity
Consider excepting IP from ADR
Preserve ability to seek injunction
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Antitrust
Nature of IP will always make this a difficult
area
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Hotspots to Beware
M&A
Package Licenses/Tying Arrangements
Competitive efficiency
Market power
Resale Price Maintenance
Grantbacks
Expired Patents
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Generally “Safer” IP Antitrust Areas
Refusal to license
Territorial and Field-of Use Restrictions
Time/Quantity Restrictions
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Licensing Pitfalls
Infringement Issues in Licensing:
Who has standing to enforce?
Who pays?
Who recovers?
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Budgeting Pitfalls
Remember to budget it!
Learn basic patent procedure so that you
can supervise outside counsel
Foreign protection is both inexpensive and
very expensive
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Trademark Troubles
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Trademark Troubles
Applying for a trademark is easy – tens of
thousands get rejected every year
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Trademark Troubles
Trademarks can be as valuable for
products as patents, at 1/20 the cost
Crock-Pot
Hula hoop
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Trademark Troubles
Trademarks are the only effective means
of protecting certain types of IP
Brand recognition
Service Businesses
Good-will
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Trademark Troubles
“actual use” v “intent to use”
“specimen”
Class system
Domain names
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Trademark Troubles
Getting is not keeping in trademark law
Failure to use in commerce
“Naked” licensing
Genericide
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Dawsey Co., LPA
Copyright Pitfalls
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Copyright Pitfalls
Copyright is born the moment a work is
“fixed” in form
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Copyright Pitfalls
Buying the work without buying the
copyright
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Copyright Pitfalls
Websites
© your client’s website
Make sure your client, and not the website
developer, owns the copyright
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Copyright Pitfalls
Fair Use
Commercial use is the most limited of all “fair
use”
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Copyright Pitfalls
Statutory Damages
Available only to federally registered
copyrights
Columbia Pictures v Krypton
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
Copyright Pitfalls
Because of the availability of statutory
damages, copyright can have the biggest
dollar for dollar payoff of any form of IP
protection
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA
The Bottom Line
We may do the formal IP work, but your
client looks to you for guidance and with
trust!
Copyright 2003, Gallagher &
Dawsey Co., LPA