trademark

Do Pets Have a Right of Publicity in California?

Is there a right of publicity for animals? More specifically, do pets have a right of publicity in California? These may seem like silly questions at first glance, but the answers could be very important if you have a pet with a social media presence. These days, it is not uncommon for people to create social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest where they post daily photos of their pets. These accounts can be incredibly popular and often gain hundreds or even thousands of followers.

Damages Available in Right of Publicity Claims

You may have worked very hard on your public image, especially if you use that image to generate revenues through a brand or persona that you publicize online. When someone takes your carefully cultivated image without permission, they are stealing your hard work to make money for themselves. Moreover, their actions could be causing significant harm to your image by associating it with a product or service that you do not want to be associated with.

What Is a Trade Secret?

It is vital for any business owner to know the answer to this question: “What is a trade secret?” Sometimes, a company’s intellectual property assets are valuable precisely because information about those assets is not generally known to the public. These are considered “trade secrets,” and both California and federal law afford businesses with legal protections for their trade secrets. These laws recognize that when a company loses its proprietary information due to theft or infringement, the results can be disastrous.

What Is the Defend Trade Secrets Act?

Trade secrets protect the things that make a business unique, and trade secrets themselves are protected by both federal and state laws. California trade secret lawyers are often asked, “What is the Defend Trade Secrets Act?” The Defend Trade Secrets Act is a federal law that applies to any trade secrets related to products or services used in interstate commerce. The statute also applies to trade secrets used internationally.

The Benefits of Trademark Registration

Trademark protection is extremely important because it ensures that a company’s brand doesn’t get tarnished by misuse, and that customers don’t get outright stolen by a competitor due to unauthorized use. While common law trademark rights afford a certain level of protection since ownership of a mark is established the moment that mark is used, the best way to ensure that your trademark is truly protected in both the short term and the long term is to register it with the U.S.

What Is Trade Dress?

If you are a business owner, you may know about the various options you have for protecting your intellectual property rights, such as trademark, copyright, and patent rights. Depending on the nature of your business, another IP right that you might possess is trade dress. What is trade dress? In the broadest terms, trade dress refers to the visual appearance of a product or service, or its packaging, that lets consumers know the product’s source.

Best Defenses to Trademark Infringement Claims

A trademark is supposed to provide protection against infringement by a company that misleadingly uses another company’s slogan, logo, or design to confuse consumers about a product’s origin. But it is sometimes the case that a trademark infringement claim is brought in bad faith by a plaintiff who either misunderstands the law or who is trying to make a quick buck.

Copyright vs. Trademark vs. Patent

“Intellectual property” covers a wide range of business assets, such as books, screenplays, photos, movies, computer software code, inventions, and formulas. Copyrights, trademarks, and patents are the main types of intellectual property. Federal law provides strong protections for the creators of original works, inventors, and licensors of IP rights, but the law is complex.