There is art and then there is stuff. Art is copyrightable. Stuff is not. The Copyright Act refers to stuff people use (rather than just look at, listen to, or read) as a "useful article." Useful articles are generally not copyrightable. The design of clothing, furniture, automobiles, cell phones, speakers, and anything else which is useful (and typically not considered "art") is not entitled to copyright protection.

There is no requirement that you must actually use a trademark prior to filing a trademark application. However, prior to obtaining a rademark tregistration you must demonstrate to the trademark office that you are using the mark "in commerce" which can be regulated by Congress.

So what exactly is required to demonstrate that you are using a trademark "in commerce"?

A band is a business. Like any business, the band members should agree upfront how the business is going to be run, how revenues will be distributed, and what happens if one or more members leaves the band.

Organizing and putting down in writing the rights of each band member is far easier and less expensive then waiting for a dispute and "lawyering up" for an expensive lawsuit.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbor provisions protect websites from liability for material posted by their users. For example, if one of your users posts a copyrighted picture on your company’s help forums, the DMCA safe harbors will protect a compliant company from copyright infringement claims and monetary damages. This limited liability, however, only kicks in if the provisions codified under 17 USC § 512 are followed to the letter.

If your company has an interactive website, online community, message board, or blog comment section, it is critical that your business verify that it is in compliance with the DMCA safe harbor requirements. Failure to strictly comply with the DMCA safe harbor provisions can substantially increase your company’s liability for the actions of its website users.

Most countries in the world, with the notable exception of Canada, employ the International Trademark Classification System, adopted as part of the Nice Agreement. This system classifies trademarks in forty-five (45) broad categories of goods and services. When filing a trademark application, you must identify which class or classes of goods or services you wish to cover and pay a separate filing fee for each class. Because the trademark office reviews each class of goods independently, it is typically advantageous to file a separate application for each class sought. (That way if one class is rejected or requires further review, the other classes will not be held up and the applications will register faster).

Republishing news articles on your company’s website or in its newsletter is a great way to economically obtain fresh content which may be of interest to your customers.

Business that want to reprint news articles, however, must obtain the correct copyright permissions prior to publication. Not taking proper steps before republishing articles can lead to a demand letter with the threat of litigation -- or in some cases (e.g. Righthaven) a lawsuit without warning. Without question, it is less expensive to clear copyright permissions ahead of time rather than attempt to clean up copyright infringement after the fact.

Time and time again, small business owners get hit with a cease and desist letter from another company they have never heard of -- often located in another state. The out-of-state company demands that the local company change its name or face a federal trademark infringement lawsuit.

Now the small business owner is faced with two very expensive choices-- fight a federal lawsuit or rebrand its products and services after using them for years.

The Strength of Nevada's Liability Protection

Nevada corporations and limited liability companies have arguably the strongest personal liability protection in the country. The reason is that in 2007 Nevada became the only state to limit creditors' remedies against corporate shares to "charging orders."

Trade dress is generally defined as the "total image" of a product. When a customer walks into a store and sees shelves of nearly identical products, "trade dress" is what distinguishes one product from another. Trade dress includes the size, shape and color of the product and its packaging. In another words, "trade dress" allows customers to pick out their favorite brands or distinguish brands. For trade dress to be protectable it must not be a functional part of the product and must distinguish one brand from another in the eyes of consumers.

Originally, trade dress was limited to product packaging (i.e. "dressing"). Now, however, the law of trade dress has been expanded to include the performing style of a professional wrestler, restaurant décor and even a restaurant's menu.

Can Trade Dress be federally registered?

Yes. Trade dress which is inherently distinctive, such as an arbitrarily design on packaging are typically entitled to federal trademark registration. Trade dress which is not as arbitrary, such as color, need a showing of “secondary meaning”, that is that consumers in the marketplace recognize that particular color as a source identifier.

When serious wine experts pick out a bottle of wine, they know exactly what they are looking for, possibly down to the barrel number. The rest of us are not so encyclopedic when shopping. We use vineyard names and brands as cues to quality based on prior experience. We also use branding to decide what we have tasted before and what we have not when looking for something new.

For a vineyard, wine branding is as much of an art and science as wine making. And the competition relies and obtaining speedy protection. It's no surprise that numerous wine trademarks are filed every week at the United States trademark office. Reviewing just the filings from May 2, 2011 until May 6, 2011, the following trademarks were filed for wine: