The instance-and-expense test is a legal standard commonly employed by courts to determine whether a product was a work made for hire. Work done by employees within the scope of their employment will generally be deemed made for hire. However...
trademark law
intangible property
Intangible Property is a property without a physical existence. Examples of intangible property include patents, patent applications, trade names, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, trade secrets.
Some intangible...
intellectual property
Intellectual property (I.P. or IP) is a type of property encompassing the products of original human thought. Common examples of intellectual property include: the contents of a book, designs of an invention, computer software, company logos...
know-how
Know-how refers broadly to any non-public information that individuals or companies acquire regarding how to or more easily use something in a business. The term is extremely broad and its nature depends on the knowledge being discussed....
Lanham Act
The Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051 et seq., was enacted by Congress in 1946. The Act provides for a national system of trademark registration and protects the owner of a federally registered mark against the use of similar marks if such use is...
Lapp test
The Lapp test is the standard used to determine whether a likelihood of confusion exists between two trademarks. Under the Lanham Act, liability for trademark infringement is based on a finding that the use of one trademark causes a...
likelihood of confusion
In a trademark action, the court considers whether one’s use of the trademark creates a likelihood of confusion with an already existing trademark.
Lower courts generally assess the likelihood by considering multiple factors such as: the...
mark
A mark is a shorthand term referring to trademarks, service marks, collective marks, and certification marks. A mark may be a word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof. See 15 U.S.C. § 1127 for explanations of the different...
piracy
In legal usage, piracy can mean either:
1) crimes such as robbery, kidnapping, or similar violent and destructive activities on the high seas. The trial and punishment of such pirates may be under international law, or under the laws of the...
principal register
Set out by federal statute 15 U.S.C. 1051, it is the primary list on which trademarks that meet certain federal filing standards are placed. To have a trademark placed on the principal register, the owner must pay a fee and file their application with...