Author Archives: mwillee

 

Disney is taking a more relaxed attitude toward intellectual property protection. One of the problems with modern internet technology, such as YouTube, is that it has granted people more power to engage in copyright infringement and intellectual property theft. Filmmakers, for instance, have often found themselves running ragged chasing down instances in which unauthorized clipsContinue reading “Disney’s Relaxed Attitude Concerning Intellectual Property Protection”

Last week’s Taking the Scary Out of Startup series discussed culture as a touchstone. Not only do we have wonderful Trakers who support our culture, but we would not be where we are today without our advisors. And just like identifying your intellectual property (IP) and creating your IP strategy, you can never start tooContinue reading “Taking the Scary Out of Startup: Why Startups Succeed, Part 5”

The world is moving faster than ever and it has become increasingly difficult to keep business secrets, regardless of the continued importance of keeping major pieces of your intellectual property (IP), like trade secrets, secret. So how do you accomplish this?

Chances are you or someone you know has purchased and assembled furniture from IKEA. It’s a Herculean task to attempt solo, and if you undertake it with a friend or loved one, your relationship may not survive the strain. Those of us who have come out the other end of the building process sweaty andContinue reading “Blogging + IKEA = Intellectual Property Infringement”

Previously on our Taking the Scary Out of Startup series, we discussed the importance of company formation. Plan & focus Planning and focusing are two words that we try to use every day at Traklight. Not only in the big picture context of starting with the exit as the end goal and working backwards, butContinue reading “Taking the Scary Out of Startup: Why Startups Succeed, Part 9”

A scandal that rocked the world half a decade ago is finally drawing to a close. UK Prime Minister’s former Director of Communications, Andy Coulson, was found guilty of conspiring to hack phones from 2000 to 2006 while he was the editor of News of the World, a subsidiary of News Corp. But News CorpContinue reading “Don’t Get Sued for Copyright Infringement Despite Fair Use”

The world of copyrights has been an endless well of information and complex issues that never stay out of the courts. And out of all business entities that take those issues to the courts, the entertainment industry has been there countless times. While that has never really ended, could there be a new watchdog groupContinue reading “RightsCorp: A Possible Solution to Online Copyright Infringement”

Previously in our Intellectual Property (IP) Best Practices series, we introduced step one to maximizing your IP: Identify. Please check back every Monday for the next part in this series.   Once you are done identifying your intellectual property, the hard part begins. As much as we would all love a magical wand that, with a flickContinue reading “IP Best Practices: Protecting Intellectual Property, Step 2”

Time and time again, we’ve discussed that your intellectual property (IP) is an invaluable aspect of your business. As more and more tech startups gain prominence, a significant issue needs to be addressed regarding protecting your IP: should software be protected by copyright or patent? For years, companies believed that copyrighting software was the logicalContinue reading “Protecting Your IP: To Copyright or Patent? That Is the Question.”