NFL to allow Super Bowl in Churches?

The last time Peyton Manning was leading the Indianapolis Colts on a championship run, the NFL clamped down on the ability to watch the big game in churches. The NFL sent letters to churches informing them that airing the game would be a violation of the NFL’s copyright and trademark rights. However, last year the NFL called a reverse and allowed viewing in churches under certain conditions.

So what’s the NFL’s policy this year? Unless we hear otherwise, we have to assume that the NFL is sticking to last year’s policy that churches can air the Super Bowl without violating copyright laws. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something that would suggest otherwise.

So start planning those parties…Go Colts!

Social Media – The Effects of Tracking & Selling Online Activities – TechPoint Event 2/5/10

One of the greatest advantages digital marketing offers is the ability to customize and personalize messages based on the recipients’ likes and dislikes. Marketing in the new social media landscape, however, brings with it new challenges of walking the fine line between quality promotion and invasion of privacy.

Our expert panelists will share their views and best practices for developing effective social media marketing platforms utilizing behavioral tracking and personalized content.

Speakers:

David Wong, Attorney, Barnes & Thornburg
Chris Baggott, CEO/CoFounder, Compendium Blogware
Mike Bloxham, Director, Insight & Research Center for Media Design, Ball State University

Date: February 5, 2010

8:00 a.m. Registration and continental breakfast
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Presentation

Click here to register.

Hope to see you there!

Northwest Indiana SBDC hosting Intellectual Property Workshops

The Hammond INnovation Center, 5209 Hohman Ave., is hosting a new workshop series for small business owners. The Smart Start Workshop is an early morning workshop, held in partnership with the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center, that helps entrepreneurs get a head start on their business.

The workshops will begin with the two-part series, “Jump-Start Your Business with Intellectual Property,” presented by Cook Alex Intellectual Property Law.

Thursday, January 21 – Copyright and Trademark for Small Business: Learn about how these aspects of intellectual property law apply to your business, what is and is not covered both locally and internationally and the best ways to protect your intellectual property.

Feb: 18 – Patents for Beginners: This dedicated workshop will cover what you need to file a patent, when to move on a patent, how patents protect your invention and where to get help.

Cost is $20 per session. The workshops start at 7:30 a.m. and a breakfast will be included. Reservations and payment are required by 3 p.m. the previous day. To reserve a spot, call (219) 750-1200 or e-mail innovate@calumet.purdue.edu. Reservations can also be made online by visiting www.nwisbdc.org, clicking on calendars, workshop, the event and following the link.

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Situs Inc. v. Situs Realty

Indianapolis — Texas-based Situs Inc. has filed a federal lawsuit in Indianapolis claiming Situs Realty in Greenwood is infringing on the name the two real estate companies share. Talks have failed to find a settlement to their joint claims to the name.

The Houston-based company claims to have used the Situs name for 25 years.

However, Keith Stark, president of the Greenwood company, said he applied for and received a federal trademark on the Situs name in 2007 and that the Texas company failed to object at that time.

Situs trademark abstract:

More to come.

Source: Indy Star

What Could Have Been Entering the Public Domain on January 1, 2010?

Current US law extends copyright protections for 70 years from the date of the author’s death. (Corporate “works-for-hire” are copyrighted for 95 years.) But prior to the 1976 Copyright Act (which became effective in 1978), the maximum copyright term was 56 years (an initial term of 28 years, renewable for another 28 years).  Under those laws, works published in 1953 would be passing into the public domain on January 1, 2010.

This includes:

• Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451
• C.S. Lewis’s The Silver Chair (the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia)
• Walt Disney’s Peter Pan
• H.G. Well’s The War of the Worlds
• From Here to Eternity (starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, and Donna Reed)

Click here for a full discussion and additional works.

Source: Center for the Study of the Public Domain

Embracing Social Media: What, How, Why Not – TechPoint Event 1/8/10

Twitter and Facebook:  How young adults are shaping tomorrow’s business—and why it doesn’t have to just be young adults.

For the last few years social media has set the Internet on fire, dramatically changing how teenagers and young adults interact, and now the ways in which corporations are forced to do business. But as the digital landscape now changes to include a generation unfamiliar with such technological advances, it leaves most questioning what they have to contribute. Join us for this first of our three-part series where you’ll be introduced to the rapidly changing world of social media and what you (and your business) can do to include it in your marketing and development strategies.

Speakers:

Kelli Schmith, Marketing Strategist, Karmic Boom

Date: January 8, 2010

8:00 a.m. Registration and continental breakfast
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Presentation

Click here to register.

Hope to see you there!

U.S. Patent Office Announces Program for Accelerated Review of Green Technology Patent Applications

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently launched the Green Technology Pilot Program to accelerate the development and deployment of green technologies, help create green jobs, and promote U.S. competitiveness in the clean technology sector. In the press release announcing the Pilot Program, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, David Kappos explained, “Every day an important green tech innovation is hindered from coming to market is another day we harm our planet and another day lost in creating green businesses and green jobs.”

According to its own statistics, the USPTO takes on average 30 months to issue an initial office action for green technology patent applications and approximately 40 months to make a final determination on the patentability of such applications. In the normal process, applications are taken up for examination based on their filing date. Recognizing that over a three and half year wait is too long in the green technology sector, the Pilot Program provides a mechanism for green technology patent applications to be advanced, out of turn, to examination without having to pay any additional fees or provide any additional examination support documentation. The USPTO estimates that this Pilot Program will reduce the examination time of these applications on average by one year.

The Pilot Program broadly defines the term “green technologies” as technologies that pertain to environmental quality, energy conservation, development of renewable energy resources, or greenhouse gas emission reduction. Despite this broad definition, the USPTO currently requires that a patent application be classified in one of 79 specific U.S. patent classifications outlined in the Pilot Program to be eligible.

The Pilot Program only applies to non-provisional utility applications filed prior to December 8, 2009 that have yet to be examined. Applications that are either filed after December 8, 2009 or already being examined are not eligible for the Pilot Program. The Pilot Program is set to expire on December 8, 2010 and the USPTO only guarantees that it will accept the first 3,000 petitions to make an application special under the Pilot Program. Thereafter, the USPTO will evaluate whether the Pilot Program should be extended based on the USPTO’s workload and available resources. Thus, time is of the essence for those wanting to take advantage of the Pilot Program.

While there are limitations on the number and type of claims that can be included in the application and a requirement that an applicant waive its right to object to a restriction requirement, the Pilot Program does provide an inexpensive mechanism to expedite the examination of a green tech patent application. Such an expedited examination can prove beneficial to those looking to enforce their patent rights as quickly as possible and/or those looking for funding options.

Source: Inside INdiana

The Official Notice of the Pilot Program can be found at 74 Fed. Reg. 64666 (Dec. 8, 2009) and the USPTO Press Release for the Pilot program can be found at www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2009/09_33.jsp.

New Tech High – Innovation in Education – TechPoint Event 12/4/09

Indiana is mired in the middle of the pack in high school graduation rates, with I-STEP scores stagnant or declining.  In today’s knowledge-based economy, there is no greater challenge facing our state than improving the educational achievement and attainment of our young Hoosiers.

New Tech High is an innovative model that’s helping students learn in a new way and preparing them for 21st century careers.  Indiana is a national leader in implementing the New Tech High program, with six schools currently participating and another 22 on the way.  Learn more about how this technology-focused, project- and teamwork-based curriculum is bringing hope to those who aren’t reaching their full potential in the traditional classroom.

Speakers:
Scott DeFreese, Academic Dean, New Tech High @ Arsenal Tech
David W. Dresslar, Executive Director, Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning, University of
Indianapolis

Date: December 4, 2009

8:00 a.m. Registration and continental breakfast
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Presentation

Click here to register.

Hope to see you there!

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Vision Center Northwest, Inc. v. Vision Value

Vision Center Northwest, Inc. v. Vision Value
No: 3:07-CV-183 RM (November 3, 2009)
U.S. District Court, N.D. of Indiana
Before: Miller

TRADEMARK; ABANDONMENT (Where a trademark owner’s only use of a mark for ten years was in a white pages listing, that mark is deemed abandoned.)

Opinion (Miller): Plaintiff operated a vision business under the name Value Visions by Dr. Tavel, until 1996, when plaintiff changed its name to Dr. Tavel. Defendant changed its name to Vision Value in 2007, and Plaintiff promptly sued for trademark infringement. The parties both moved for summary judgment. Defendant contended that Plaintiff abandoned the Value Visions mark as a result of more than ten years of nonuse. Plaintiff contended that it used the mark in the white pages during the entire ten year period. The court held that Plaintiff’s white pages listing was not bona fide use, and that Plaintiff brought forth no other evidence to show use or intent to use. Accordingly, the court held that Plaintiff had abandoned the mark and granted summary judgment for Defendant.

Source: Willamette Law Online [Summarized by Anthony Halderman]

For full opinion:
2009 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 103680
2009 WL 3669647

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Norwood Promotional Products v. KustomKoozies

Court Case Number: 1:09-cv-01378-LJM-JMS

File Date: Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Plaintiff: Norwood Promotional Products, LLC

Plaintiff Counsel: Jonathan G. Polak, Keirian A. Brown of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Defendant: KustomKoozies, LLC, Steve Liddle

Cause: 15:1051 Trademark Infringement

Court: Indiana Southern District Court

Judge: Judge Larry J. McKinney

Referred To: Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson

The Amended Complaint (excerpts below) contains five (5) counts: 1. Trademark Infringement, 2. Federal Trademark Dilution, 3. Unfair Competition, 4. Breach of Contract, and 5. Corrective Advertising Damages.

Please leave a comment if you’d like a copy of the full Amended Complaint.