7 minute read
Your Business and Intellectual Property: If You Own It, Protect It
by ROX Media
BIZ Economy, Finance & Business Your Business and Intellectual
Property: If You Own It, Protect It
by Kevin P. Fitzgibbons
In today’s world, to varying degrees we are all working artists using just the technology at our fingertips. Corporations, entrepreneurs and private individuals can quickly form companies and create literary, visual or auditory works that may evolve into tomorrow’s brands. Within these new formations is intellectual property that may be worth protecting.
“Intellectual property” is a work or invention that is the result of creativity whereby the originator may apply for a patent, trademark or copyright. While the patent process is too complex to discuss here, the protections gained through trademarks and copyrights are relatively easy to acquire.
Trademarks
A trademark is a type of intellectual property recognizable in items such as a design, symbol, mark, word, slogan or phrase, and it identifies products or services associated with a company or brand. For example, Nike has three separate trademarks for its symbol (the “swoosh”), slogan (“Just Do It”), and the name Nike. As the registered owner of a trademark, the owner retains rights to use – and prevent others from using – the name or mark.
Several years before the late Steve Jobs founded and could trademark “Apple Computer,” the Beatles had formed and trademarked “Apple Corps” as their holding company. In 1978, Apple Corps sued Apple Computer for trademark infringement. The case settled, with Jobs promising that Apple would never get into the music business. In 2003, Jobs broke that promise when Apple introduced iTunes. Five years of costly litigation later, Apple Corps and Apple Computers settled, and Apple Computer took over all trademarks related to “Apple” and licensed various trademarks back to Apple Corps.
You may never start a venture of the magnitude of Apple Corps or Apple Computers, but if you have created a business or service, you can minimize risks by registering your name and other representations as trademarks.
Copyrights
Similar to trademark law, copyright law encourages creativity and innovation, allowing originators to benefit financially for a term of years.
Whether writing articles, books or plays; creating music, art, sculpture or photography; or producing computer programs or processes, originators of intellectual property can look to copyright registration for further protection of their rights.
Most originators believe a work is automatically copyrighted and protected from acts of infringement the instant the work is completed. They are technically correct; according to the U.S. Copyright Office, the copyright generally originates the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
However, it would be a mistake to believe that full protection is achieved without taking the action of registering the work.
A registered copyright creates a public record of the ownership of the work and, through registration, can prevent misuse of your work. Registering your work proves prima facie that you created the work when you say you did. Without a prior registration, the date of creation can be contested; with registration, the burden of proof is on the infringer (not you) to demonstrate they created their work before, or independent of, your creation.
Should an infringer reproduce aspects of your work without your permission, the court will look to see if the work was registered prior to the infringement. If the work was not registered, the court will limit the infringer’s profits as actual damages. Conversely, if the work was registered, the copyright holder is entitled to statutory damages of up to $150,000 per willful infringement, and the court is authorized to award statutory damages plus the copyright holder’s attorney’s fees and other incidental costs of litigation.
The benefits of federally registering trademarks and copyrights are substantial and virtually limitless. If you have created property that has potential value, don’t delay in gaining the protections to which you are legally entitled.
To learn more about these benefits and begin the process of protecting your work, contact intellectual property attorney Kevin Fitzgibbons at the Fitzgibbons Law Offices (520-426-3824 or kevin@ fitzgibbonslaw.com).
Pinal County Press
Nikola Reaches Agreements as Building Coolidge Plant Continues
Nikola Corp. and Rig360 Service Network announced in April they will join forces to provide 65 service centers for Nikola’s heavy-duty zero emission trucks throughout the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest.
Additionally, Rig360 will provide a dealer network for Nikola’s BEV (battery-electric vehicle) transport trucks and hybrid hydrogen fuel-cell/electric vehicles and their associated products.
Rig360’s existing service locations are ideally situated near major cities and intersections of the U.S. highway system for easy access for drivers and companies, Nikola said in a statement.
“RIG360 is a premier network of dealers that are committed to the highest levels of service support,” said Nikola Energy and Commercial President Pablo Koziner. “These dealers will provide Nikola customers with market leading sales and service while helping them maximize operational efficiencies and vehicle uptime.”
Rig360 operates seven regional dealerships that have been providing service to long-distance truck drivers for an average of 75 years, including Thompson Truck Source and MacAllister Truck Center.
Nikola and Rig360 will finalize distribution networks and agreements to support the BEV Tre vehicle, expected to debut later this year.
Also in April, Nikola signed a letter of intent with European vehicle manufacturer IVECO and OGE, an owner and operator of a pipeline network, to create a business structure for transporting hydrogen from production sources to fueling stations in Germany.
Trial production of BEV Tre trucks is scheduled to begin at Nikola’s Coolidge factory in the fall of 2021. Installation of manufacturing equipment is expected to begin in May, as work on the roof over the steel skeleton is finished and construction crews move on to the siding and concrete floor.
Nikola reached an “innovative” electric rate deal with APS in January under which it estimates that under the rate structure it will be able to deliver hydrogen at market-leading prices and within the ranges required for Nikola to offer competitive lease rates for its truck customers.
LUCID… continued from page 17
making its luxury Lucid Air sedan for the market later this year, a target that was rolled back from early 2021 after encountering supply-chain issues and other delays.
“We won’t be able to start delivering Lucid Air this spring at the level of quality we insist on providing,” Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said in a statement shortly after the merger agreement was confirmed.
The company is taking reservations on its website and at six Lucid Studios. More are coming soon, including the first Arizona location at Scottsdale Fashion Square. Prices for its four Lucid Air trims range from $69,900 to $161,500, with the most expensive versions expected to be shipped first.
Pinal County Press
Mural Coming to CG Railroad Underpass
The long-planned beautification of the Gila Bend Highway railroad underpass, strategically located between Casa Grande’s downtown and industrial park, is moving forward.
A colorful tile mosaic mural will be installed on the weather-beaten, 90-yearold structure described as an eyesore by many residents, while the rest is repainted with images of saguaros, ocotillos and other symbols of desert life.
The images are based on comments and drawings from nearly 400 residents who attended several community meetings. Local artist Lisa Swanson, who designed the mural, said the images reflect “how they saw our community in the past, today and in the future” at the April 5 City Council meeting.
The council unanimously approved a $281,000 contract with Ellison-Mills Contracting to fashion a concrete arch over the mural on the middle panel of the overpass bridge, add surface and decorative painting, metal accents and $14,000 worth of landscaping, the last of which will be donated to the city.
“Sacrificial paint” that can be removed, then repainted in cases of graffiti will be used on the overpass, though members of the city’s CG Mosaic Creative Communities Team said there have been virtually no cases of graffiti being drawn on top of local murals.
Committee member Regis Sommers said the gateways to the Tucson area have been greatly enhanced by murals and other public art pieces, and the underpass mural will send the message that “we’re a classy community just like Tucson, just not as populous.”
Other partners on the project include the city’s arts and humanities commission, Casa Grande Main Street and the BlackBox Foundation.
City Councilman Dick Powell echoed the comments of others at the meeting that the project would help residents who have been struggling with the effects of the pandemic feel more hopeful about the future.
“This will put a little sparkle in people’s lives and let them know that things are better,” he said.
Installation of the mural and other improvements is expected to begin in June and be complete within 90 days.
Photos Courtesy of City of Casa Grande
More news on page 84…
