Final Project: Reasoning of the Law

1.       What is the process someone has to go to for product licensing?

One would search for the owner of any existing trademarks and contact them regarding its use, then try to negotiate a deal.

1.      Can two high end designers sue each other for having similar designs released at the same time?

Yes.  The inquiry will focus on who can show he had the idea first in time and whose evidence will best establish that the design originated with which high end designer.  The success on the merits of the case will largely depend on who put it into the stream of commerce first, sold it to a distributor, etc.

My lawyer has been in the law profession for over 15 years.  In between those 15 years she had practiced many different sectors of the law and worked with many different lawyers and has made plenty of connections. At the time of the interview Madeline had a few co-workers in the office that were licencing specialist and were more then happy to help with my questions about product licensing.  Immediately I knew I could trust every answer they  responded. When I was asking the questions I was afraid they were going to judge me for the lack of questions I came up with.  On the contrary they were actually very helpful and quite patient, even when they couldn't quite understand the question at first.  

" A Patent must be file by it's true inventor or inventors."

Patent, Copyright & Trademark pg.175

" A copy right gives the owners of a creative work the right to keep others from unauthorized use of the work."

Patent, Copyright & Trademark pg. 197

"When all copyright rights are transferred unconditionally, it is generally termed an "assignment."

Patent, Copyright & Trademark pg. 199

" The original design of a toy or an item of furniture can qualify for copyright protection if it is created for expressive rather than functional purposes"

Patent, Copyright & Trademark pg. 203

" In order to prove that a work was copied, sold, or performed without authorization, the copyright owner must demonstrate that the person accused of infringement had a reasonable opportunity to view or hear the copyrighted work and that the two works- the inf-ringer's and the copyright owners- are substantially similar."

Patent, Copyright & Trademark pg.209