Continue reading “The Sherlock Holmes Copyright Debate: How it Could Affect a Media Business”

This is a guest blog written by Michael Ibberson, a writer based out of Toronto, Ontario. He covers the most up to date news and information in regards to crowdfunding for the CrowdClan blog.

It goes without saying that crowdfunding offers an amazing opportunity for innovators, entrepreneurs, and artists to raise funds for a project online. With that said, crowdfunding is by no means free money; in order to be successful, a lot of work must go into the campaign. For those interested in crowdfunding but have no idea where to begin, this is the post for you!

Continue reading “Step-by-Step Crowdfunding: How to Turn Any Project into a Smashing Success”

“Man Capturing a Photo of a Piano Player” (CC BY 2.0) by MusicOomph

If you’re in charge of composing boat loads of content on a regular basis, you understand the stress of coming up with content that is original and your own to avoid infringing on other’s copywritten or trademarked materials. As someone who has the responsibility to share new content amongst our social media platforms, blog, etc., I can empathize with you! The temptation of simply copying and pasting an image from a quick Google image search into your blog to spice it up, or the allure of using someone else’s music as a part of your grand idea to come up with a viral video campaign, can be frighteningly easy.

I’m here to tell you – don’t do it! You have more than a handful of available resources at your disposal, but these well kept secrets can be hard to come by.  That being said, I thought I would share a few of my favorites with you! Enjoy!

Continue reading “A Few of Our Favorite FREE Resources to Help You Avoid IP Infringement”

Growing up in Wisconsin, there are a few things that are inescapable:

Continue reading “Pabst Blue Ribbon – Official Beer of Crowdfunding?”

I had the honor of sitting on the “Women in Entrepreneurship” panel in late December at an Arizona Technology Council Startup Connect AZ event with some very impressive entrepreneurs and professionals. This panel was very different from one that I moderated a month earlier in November. My panelists were for the most part younger than the women on the recent panel. And although that November group was also all female, we discussed mistakes we had made and startup lessons we’d learned without addressing the differences between men and women. 

While it was interesting to discuss some of the themes and questions around the differences between men and women, I found the interaction with other panelists most valuable. At one point, I shared my technology missteps and when I  them as more than one error a fellow panelist told me that making the same mistake twice was negligent on my part.  Ouch!

Continue reading “Men Are From Mars, Women Might Be Too…Or At Least Me”

Last night, the New Year New Business open house event hosted at CEI by Traklight and AZBIA was a smashing success. Arizona has a wealth of incredibly rich resources that can help you get your idea off the ground.  The event proved to be a great educational evening for not just the entrepreneurs and small business owners who attended (or watched the livestream), but for myself as well! That being said, I wanted to recap a couple of key points I found helpful (and hope you do too!)…

1. Russ Yelton (President and CEO of NACET) & Joann McMaster (President of AZBIA), discussed some wonderful AZBIA resources that are definitely worth looking into whether you’re just starting out, or want to stay up to date in the ever-changing world of entrepreneurs.
2. Mary Juetten (Founder and CEO of Traklight) emphasized making sure you have a strategy is a key to protecting you IP; any my favorite, regarding infringing on anothers’ IP, “If there’s a bike without a lock, it doesn’t mean you can take off with it!”
3. Juliet Peters (Founding Parter of Becker Peters, PLLC) discussed, with great enthusiasm, a wide range of topics from working with co-founders, to outsourcing/in-house developments, to advisory boards, even providing a few online resources at the end of her presentation (so check out the slides!)
4. Ron Kisicki (registered Patent Attorney and Partner with Woods Oviatt Gilman, LLP) briefly reviewed the provisional patent process, emphasizing that “the goal is to get the stake in the ground to be the first to file” and that “the date you publically disclose in the U.S. is the starting point for the filing grace period (1 year).
5. Ruth Carter (Owner and Attorney of Carter Law Firm, PLLC) clarified the difference between something that is trademarked, and something that is registered. In layman’s terms, a trademark means the company hasn’t registered the trademark, they’re just notifying you they want it. And registered means they have exclusive rights. According to Ruth, it means “don’t even think about using it or I will lay the smack down on you!”

Continue reading “AZBIA and Traklight Join to Provide Invaluable Business Resources”

This blog was originally written for Lewis Roca Rothgerber on December 20, 2013 by Shane Olafson. Shane Olafson is a partner in the Lewis Roca Rothgerber’s Intellectual Property and Litigation Practice Groups.

Continue reading “What’s the Big Deal About Trademark Registration”

We recently had a discussion in an attempt to clarify when a startup transitions to becoming a young company. Our amazing Evangelist Michael Witham did some research and found no cut and dried definition. Based on my day yesterday, I believe it is when you have something I would call “bench strength.”

Trace back to Monday morning. I was on a call with a potential business partner when I found out my red-eye to Boston was cancelled. So much for my planned schedule; I had a full day of meetings in Phoenix, a full day of meetings in Boston, and a flight sandwiched in the middle.

Continue reading “Bench Strength”

What I learned about IP before I started at Traklight?

Continue reading “Meet Kelly, Our Engagement Success Specialist”

Intellectual property and 3D printing don’t get talked about often, mainly because 3D printing is still growing into a mainstream activity. But with 3D printing starting to become more accessible to businesses and homes, what kind of intellectual property issues might develop that your business will need to protect or analyze?

Continue reading “Intellectual Property Issues with 3D Printing”