Recent Articles

Trademark Office Warns of Unscrupulous Companies Requesting Deceptive Fees

March 19, 2012 22:31

The Deceptive Letters The United States Patent and Trademark Office has just released a warning that unscrupulous companies are attempting to deceive trademark owners into paying unnecessary trademark fees. Using confusing names, like “United States Trademark Registration Office,” these...

The New Business Identity Theft

February 29, 2012 23:51

Identity Theft vs. Business Identity Theft Almost everyone is familiar with identity theft. A criminal obtains your personal information, and uses that information to steal, leaving you to mop up your decimated credit. Business identity theft can also involve criminals using private business...

SOPA and PIPA Are Bad

January 18, 2012 21:13

Update: KCCI just posted a great news story of me, countering arguments by PIPA/SOPA co-sponsor Sen. Charles Grassley. You can watch it here. SOPA and PIPA Are Bad There seems to be some confusion on this issue, so let me make it clear. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual...

SOPA – This New Censorship Bill is a Job Killer

November 17, 2011 20:49

SOPA Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the deceptively named Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Representative Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) introduced the bill on October 26, 2011 as H.R.3261. SOPA expands the Internet censorship provisions of the Protect IP Act, a bill Senator Patrick...

Should I Get A Patent?

November 14, 2011 21:24

What You Say vs. What Your Patent Lawyer Hears Clients ask me all the time, “Should I get a patent?” While that is certainly the most important question an inventor can ask of a patent lawyer, most patent lawyers answer this question incorrectly. A “Can I” patent question is...

The Mobile Patent Wars – Google, Microsoft and Apple

November 07, 2011 18:22

Google “[O]ne of the most effective ways to respond to a threatened patent assertion is to be able to assert patents of your own,” says Google’s patent lawyer, Tim Porter. Porter made that statement in response to a question about why Google was still buying up patents. Despite...

What Inventors Need to Know About The New Patent Law

November 01, 2011 22:43

Touted as a boon for inventors, the “Leahy-Smith America Invents Act,” (AIA) the largest patent overhaul in over a century, is looking more and more like a boon for patent lawyers. So what are the key changes, and how do they affect you. First to file The first-to-file provision of AIA...

The Flyover Effect – Trademarks, Patents and The Rebel Alliance

September 19, 2011 17:19

If you have never heard my voice, or if you have and you are dying to hear me wax philosophic on the wonders of intellectual property law, check out the latest episode of The Flyover Effect – Trademarks, Patents and The Rebel Alliance. Tags: best lawyerIf you have never heard my voice, or if...

Trout Selected by Peers for Inclusion in the 2012 Edition of the Best Lawyers in America®

September 08, 2011 15:13

Brett J. Trout has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the practice areas of Information Technology Law and Patent Law. The Best Lawyers® publication is the oldest peer-reviewed publication in the legal profession. For the past 25 years,...

Vote If You Love Your Lawyer

August 15, 2011 21:49

South by Southwest (SXSW) is a series of three conferences, held each Spring in Austin, Texas. Spread over ten days, each conference focuses on a different discipline: Music, Film and Interactive (Internet). Unlike most conferences, you actually have a vote on who speaks at SXSW. This year, I have...