Trademark law is a little more forgiving for disorganized procrastinators than other areas of law. This is a good thing. First, to qualify the glaring colloquialism, the Trademark Law refers to Title 15, Chapter 22 of the United States Code, otherwise known as the Lanham Act. The Lanham Act sets up rules and standards for examination and enforcement of trademarks. The act also authorizes the director of the Trademark Office to create rules of practice at the Trademark Office. These rules have been codified under Title 37 of the Code of Federal…
 This article is intended as a brief guideline to folks wishing to invest in real estate that is subject to a tenancy. In layman’s term, this means purchasing a residential property that has at least one rental unit. A multi-family property that is occupied by an existent tenant is attractive to some home buyers who are frightened by the long-term mortgage commitment, or rather the possibility of not being able to keep this commitment at some point. First, an owner-occupied multi-family property is a solution for those with little savings,…
I can write my own patent. At first sight, drafting a patent is may be easy. Many inventors have tried their hand at drafting their own patent applications. Some have succeeded, often with mixed results. As a patent attorney, I have assisted those for whom patent prosecution did not work out so well. Some inventors write their own applications. Others recruit cheap freelancers from a plethora of project sites. Often these writers are based in third world countries where the writer is not a native English speaker. The product of these initiatives,…
If you are approached by a family member or a friend and asked whether they may appoint you in their last will and testament as the executor of their estate, you natural first reaction is "What does does mean to me?" In another scenario, you may be faced with a death of a loved one, where you may be the only one required or willing and able to settle financial affairs of the deceased. Whether by choice or by circumstance, you should know what you are getting yourself into. Below are a…
Did you know that the test that determines whether an object infringes a design patent is the observer test? That's right! But what is even more unique is that this test has withstood the test of time in an area of law that is generally associated with innovation and ever changing standards of review. The observer test has been around for close to 150 years! It relies on an ordinary observer to differentiate between the infringing design and the patented design. An who is this ordinary observer? well to some extent it…