You’ve heard people talk about intangible assets and why it’s important to protect your intellectual property (IP), as well as why you should protect it from the time you have the idea (not after you get into business). Have you ever asked yourself, “So what? Why is it important to me as a small business owner?”

Here are some examples of recent cases and how protecting their IP helped them make a case for what was originally theirs:

• Why It’s Important to Own the IP Rights to Your Work: Marvel vs. Kirby
  
• Add Trademarks to the “Trill” List
• Eminem and Iggy Azelia out for Blood: Copyright Infringement

If I still haven’t gotten your attention, here are three reasons why you should consider securing that IP:Continue reading “3 Reasons Why You Should Protect Your Intellectual Property”

So you have successfully created your first music album and you want to start generating some money from it with music royalties. Royalties come in different forms. As the owner of the intellectual property in the music you have created, you can create different streams of income by licensing different rights to your licensees. Here is an intellectual property summary on the difference between the three main types of music royalties:

Continue reading “Intellectual Property for Musicians: Types of Royalties in Music”

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, “Nothing is constant, but change.” This applies markedly to the fashion industry. Style is a constantly evolving phenomenon. We laughed at the clothes our parents wore but it’s not long till our children start mocking the clothes we wear. Each generation etches its own signature in the ebbs of time but one product has stood out amongst the rest. Something that our grandparents wore while playing basketball, our parents wore while being rebels and listening to punk, and something most of us have worn at some point in our lives. 

Continue reading “One Shoe to Rule them All: Converse All-Star’s Trademark Dispute”

This is a guest blog by Paul Niemann that was originally published on MarketLaunchers.com, a resource for inventors to build their own web page. Plus, it can be seen by companies who search MarketLaunchers.com’s invention database for new products.  

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Why were Xerox, Monopoly and Pepsi initially considered failures?

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”  

Chester Carlson, Charles Darrow, and Caleb Bradham. You might not recognize their names, but you know their products. And there’s a lesson in this story for every inventor…Continue reading “Xerox, Monopoly, & Pepsi: A Motivational History Lesson for Inventors”

Last week’s Traklight on Forbes series was an Interview with Digital Agency ONE400 on how to start small and have a big impact with your business. Check back every Thursday for more content. Thanks for reading!

If you’re a regular Traklight blog reader, you may be wondering why we didn’t have our Forbes blog update for you yesterday. Neverfear! It was well worth the wait: We are officially announcing an existing new collaborative project that’s been dubbed, The Legal Tech Toolkit (LTTK). We will continually be adding to this resourceful list of legal tech companies and intend for it to help you build your legal business.

Continue reading “Forbes Update: CodeX Demo Event on Legal Technology”

Since the dawn of recorded history (or at least since the advent of cable news), there has seemingly always been a looming existential threat poised to bring an end to humanity. Plagues, wars to end all wars, ska music…all have come and gone and seen civilization still standing. Nonetheless, there is a cottage industry built around the end of the world, with movies, books, and TV series all speculating as to the manner of our collective demise.

The most recent furor is over the ebola virus, with worldwide attention pinballing across the globe as each new case arises. And while an experimental vaccine exists, it may be left in the laboratory due to an intellectual property (IP) dispute.

Continue reading “Intellectual Property Rights And Your Impending Doom”

If you’re scared about showing your unpatented invention to anyone, then you should know that there’s a provision in patent law that allows you to disclose your invention for experimental use without it violating the novelty prong of patentability.

Continue reading “Testing Inventions in Public Without Ruining Your Patent Chances”

If intellectual property (IP) was a rock band, then a patent would definitely be the lead singer. This is not to say they are better than other forms of IP, just the face of it, and an important one if applicable to your IP. An investor is more likely to be impressed with an IP portfolio with patents than without.

Continue reading “Prioritized Patents: Do They Only Help Companies like Google?”

We are two today! This is the second anniversary of coming out of beta with our first self-guided questionnaire, ID your IP. Not to be confused with the date of our first website launch (Dec 2011), first IP Vault product (April 2012), our re-launch of our completely re-factored platform (March 2014). I am sure there are other milestones to recognize…

Continue reading “Happy Birthday Traklight: Into the Terrible Twos*”

At Traklight, we share a lot of intellectual property (IP) horror stories (my vote is to set up a campfire and roast marshmallows over it next time).

There are countless examples — these are just some of our most recent submissions. Hold on to your loved ones, and brace yourselves.

Continue reading “Intellectual Property Horror Stories”