The Law Offices of H.W. Pfabé

Sometimes, you Patent something because your goals are to do or make exactly what is in that Patent. Other times, however, you Patent something that you DON’T want to do.

A recent Patent awarded to Amazon is a perfect example of this.

THE PATENT

On May 30, 2017, Amazon was awarded U.S. Patent #9,665881, titled “Physical Store Online Shopping Control.” The claims at the end of the Patent, which tell you what the Patent actually protects, describe a method of intercepting a customer when that customer is in a brick-and-mortar store and decides to go online to shop for a better deal.

Checking out products in stores while comparing prices online is a common practice. It has its own name: “Showrooming.” ...

When starting a business, there are a lot of things to keep in mind. One question that many small businesses tend to overlook is that of where they should incorporate. Some just incorporate right in their home state. Others say “I hear a lot of companies are based in Delaware. I’ll do that.” However, as of May 22, 2017, the Supreme Court has given businesses some more to think about.

WHAT HAPPENED?

The members of the US Supreme Court rarely all agree. In fact, that’s part of the point. They come from different backgrounds, with different political beliefs, and decisions are made by a majority. Sometimes those who are more liberal end up happier with the decisions, and sometimes those who are more conservative do....

Sometimes you see things at the store, and they just bother you.

I’m not referring to rude shoppers or to products endorsed by celebrities whose only claim to fame is being a celebrity (though those bug me too). Since this is an Intellectual Property blog, I’m referring to Labeling and Marketing.

I recently came across a body and face wash, made by one of the leading (and largest) brands in the field. Looking at the back, right at the top, in very LARGE letters, it proudly proclaims “PATENT FILED TECHNOLOGY” (the picture is at the top of this article, edited to remove the brand name).

Why does this get under my skin? Because this means NOTHING.

Well, almost nothing.

WHY?

To begin with, and this is being nitpicky, I know: A ...

To begin with, I am about to provide a warning about Online Legal Services, which provide a direct source of competition to my Law Firm.

So, obviously, you have every right to read this with a healthy amount of skepticism. Of course I’m going to make the competition sound bad, right? Of course I’m going to try to make them sound scary, right? Come to me. Only I can Protect your Ideas and your Business!

As I said, I write this knowing that you’re likely to be skeptical, and you have every right to be. In fact, I think that’s a good thing! However, I always try to educate my Clients on the Legal Matters we’re discussing, so that they can make the right choice for themselves. The same applies here.

I have recently had MULTIPLE poten...

Another short post today, about an issue that made headlines earlier this week. While crowdfunding inventions is a fantastic way to get investments that allow inventors to bring their ideas to market, some Chinese companies now appear to be scouring Kickstarter, looking for products to copy and beat the original inventor to market.

What Happened:

Yesterday, in a rare bit of journalism not focused on taste testing Japanese Burger King® squid ink Whoppers®, or comparing who has the best drive-thru chicken nuggets, Business Insider published an article about an entrepreneur, Yekutiel Sherman, who came up with an iPhone® case, called StikBox (http://www.businessinsider.com/china-copycat-culture-selfie-stick-yekutiel-sherman-2016-10 ). Th...