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Getting a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can be a long process. As soon as you file an application, you receive correspondence from the U.S. PTO that an attorney will be assigned to your application in 3 months. Once an attorney is assigned to the application even the most basic conflict-free application can take another 3 – 6 months. In a digital age, where brands are so valuable this archaic process is slowing down innovation and investment. Hopefully, aut

If you are a music fan, you will enjoy HBO’s 4-part documentary the “Defiant Ones” about music producer Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. You’ll also learn some pretty interesting business lessons from the rough and tumble music industry. The experiences of Dr. Dre. and Iovine provide some fascinating examples of perseverance, crisis management, flexibility, and integration of technology. When Iovine wanted to sign Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails to his label he called the president of the recor

Selling on Amazon can potentially become a nightmare. With the wrong paperwork, you might have little to almost no power to change your product details and even to change faulty information written by other sellers. How to protect your brand on Amazon To protect your brand, Amazon came up with the Amazon brand registry. The Amazon brand registry is available to anybody that sells products on their websites. Any brand with a registered trademark can register for this. To be admissible you nee

Waterbury — On April 1st, I was sworn in to the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont by Chief Judge Christina Reiss. It was an honor for me to be sponsored by my friend Dave Berman who is a partner at McCormick, Fitzpatrick, Kasper & Burchard in Burlington. Dave and I started our law careers together as judicial clerks to the Justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court in the 2004-05 session. I’ve been admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts for ma

Waterbury — On March 1st, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Vermont health care law in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual. The law in question required all health insurers to provide de-identified health data to Vermont Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) to enable the GMCB to help manage the state’s health care system. Liberty Mutual objected to this requirement to turn over data arguing that it managed health plans for companies that self-insured under the federal Employee Retirement Income Securi

Dave was intereviewed on WCAX regarding a health care wellness initiative he is involved in: http://www.wcax.com/story/28773722/at-issue-economic-and-health-benefits-of-yoga#patent #trademark

WHAT IS THE SUPPLEMENTAL TRADEMARK REGISTER? After seven months, you receive a letter from the USPTO examining attorney assigned to your Trademark application, informing you that, “Your mark has been accepted for the Supplemental Register.” Sounds promising, but what on earth does that mean? What is the Supplemental Register? The Lanham Act (the U.S. Trademark Act) provides for two Trademark Registers: the Principal Register and the Supplemental Register. The Princ

Protecting your business trademark should be top of your 2017 resolutions: If you’re wondering whether protecting your brand with a trademark is important, here are some key facts to consider. First, what exactly is a trademark/service mark? According to the USPTO “A trademark/service mark is generally a word phrase, symbol, or design or a combination thereof, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods/services of one party from that of another.” Key here is that a trademark pro