“Wow, this arugula, golden beet salad with pecan dust and goat cheese mousse sure looks delicious. I’m guessing the world will think so, too!” Restaurant diner whips out smart phone, adjusts plate and table settings appropriately, and takes a series of pictures—with the flash, without the flash. Diner then opens Instagram, applies the appropriate filters and image adjusts, and posts with #foodporn. Seems all too common and altogether harmless, right?

Recently, several news stories—from the Eater to the New York Times—have covered disgruntled chefs and restaurant owners who’ve instituted photography policies or outright photo bans, many citing that it disrupts other diners, ruins the ambiance, or takes up too much time, thus lengthening wait times for those in line for a table. Others simply claim that the process of photographing food is simply too circus-like: “There are even those who stand on their chairs to shoot their plates from above,” reports the New York Times. “‘We get on top of those folks right away or else it’s like a circus,’ [Chef David] Bouley said.”

Continue reading “To #Foodporn or Not to #Foodporn: Chefs, Food Photography, and IP”

Disney has been known to aggressively protect its intellectual property (IP) in the past and the latest IP issue involving mouse ears is no different. People familiar with electronic dance music (EDM) are no stranger to the music of DeadMau5. Joel Zimmerman, the man behind the mask, is an established producer from Canada that has been performing and selling records for over 10 years now. He has trademarks over his mouse themed logo, known as Mau5head, in over 30 countries.

Continue reading “Disney And DJ Locked In Trademark Dispute Over Mouse Logo”

Last week’s Traklight on Forbes series gave some Words Of Wisdom From Entrepreneurship Coach Francine Hardaway. Check back every Thursday for more content. Thanks for reading!

Continue reading “Forbes Update: INBOUND14 And Intellectual Property”

For social media fans, Twitter is a great tool for staying informed on the latest news, sharing your personal adventures with your followers, or getting in fights with strangers (maybe that last part isn’t so great). And because Twitter has become a huge platform, with 271 million active monthly users, third parties are quick to integrate themselves with the site to try and take advantage of the huge market it offers. Just about every blog and news site you’ll read offers you the ability to post a story to your Twitter feed. Sites like Bit.ly offer link-shortening services so that you can share without running into the 140-character limit, and platforms like Instagram and Vine allow you to share what you’ve uploaded with them to your Twitter account. Unfortunately, due to a trademark scuffle, that list of apps will drop by one by the end of this month.

Continue reading “TwitPic Learns a Trademark Lesson the Hard Way”

Previously on our Taking the Scary Out of Startup series, we introduced the concept of having healthy skepticism.

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Have Focused Fun!

Traklight is the second startup for me but the first I have founded. That being said, it is no different than other places I have worked in that fun at work is mandatory. However, I am not your twenty-something founder and I have no time for negativity or passive aggressive behavior any more than I have time for people who just think a startup is a place to hang out all day.

Continue reading “Taking the Scary Out of Startup: Why Startups Succeed, Part 20”

Previously in our Traklight Trakers Series, we introduced you to Chris Platt. Today’s feature is Erik.

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When we interviewed Erik for this internship position, we did a little research to review his social media posting skills (as an intern with Traklight, you must possess an understanding of social media so that you can write social media posts for various platforms as required). Obviously, we liked what we saw. But after many Batman posts, we dubbed him, “Batman.” Oh, and did we mention that he has a SWEET Batman sticker for his MacBook Pro? 

Continue reading “Meet Erik, Traklight’s Intern”

As a small business owner, you have a lot on your plate. It’s safe to say that marketing, accounting, and legal all fall under your bailiwick. Your legal obligations alone can range from contract negotiations to submitting corporate filings.

Continue reading “A Beginners Intro to Protecting Intellectual Property: Trademarks”

Guy Kawasaki was not only inspiring but funny. He politely asked if Microsoft was a sponsor and if Hubspot ever wanted them to sponsor the event and then trashed the ugly black PCs. (Sorry to all the Trakers with PCs instead of Macs!) 

The top ten lessons from Steve Jobs to Guy were as follows:

Continue reading “Mary’s Recap of Guy Kawasaki at INBOUND’14”

Intellectual property theft could be called a silent killer as much as those who have high cholesterol or blood pressure. While that analogy might seem strange, the theft of intellectual property (IP) can meansomeone stealing your IP without you even knowing it after storing it on your hard drive. Once you find out you’ve had something stolen online, there usually isn’t any way to reverse it, and things like a trade secret may be in the hands of your competition or unknowns overseas.

Such is the case with many businesses around the world that lose billions of dollars every year to IP theft. But as the National Crime Prevention Council reminds us, you have ways to prevent your IP from being stolen.

Continue reading “Intellectual Property Theft: From Trade Secrets to Non-Protected Media”

Last week’s Traklight on Forbes series introduced the connection between INBOUND14 and Intellectual Property and the best way to prep for an educational conference. Check back every Thursday for more content. Thanks for reading!

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The process of fundraising for your startup can be a stressful experience. Check out Mary’s latest Forbes article for some tried and true tips and tricks to help smooth out this process a bit.

Mary tells a tale of an “interesting” experience she and a team member had when seeking funding from angel investors, and offers these tips in the form of five different lessons that she learned at that event.Continue reading “Forbes Update: 5 Tough Lessons From Fundraising”