🚀 go-pugleaf

oj@cs.cornell.edu (Orlando Johnson) writes:


>Anyone know of an ftp site that has how to information for software 
>copyright and/or registered trademark ?

I do not find a problem with do it yourself copyrighting, especially
since we joined the Berne Convention. However, my suggestion is to
contact an Intellectual Property (IP) attorney if you are trying 
to register a federal trademark. Registration of a federal Trademark or
service mark has a number of traps for the unwary. Since it shares
the PTO with patents, prosecution of trademarks is more akin to
prosecution of patents than registration of a trademark. Your best
bet is to find a patent attorney in your yellow pages. Patent attorneys
almost allways also are experienced in registering trademarks.

Bruce E. Hayden
Attorney at Law
(303) 758-8400
bhayden@csn.org

In <bhayden.720252678@teal> bhayden@teal.csn.org (Bruce Hayden) writes:

>oj@cs.cornell.edu (Orlando Johnson) writes:

>>Anyone know of an ftp site that has how to information for software 
>>copyright and/or registered trademark ?

>I do not find a problem with do it yourself copyrighting, especially
>since we joined the Berne Convention.  However, my suggestion is to
>contact an Intellectual Property (IP) attorney if you are trying 
>to register a federal trademark.  Registration of a federal Trademark or
>service mark has a number of traps for the unwary.  Since it shares
>the PTO with patents, prosecution of trademarks is more akin to
>prosecution of patents than registration of a trademark.  Your best
>bet is to find a patent attorney in your yellow pages.  Patent attorneys
>almost allways also are experienced in registering trademarks.

You can use Copyright Office form TX.  The fee is $20.  But you must
include a deposit, and the correct deposit for software is different
than for, say, registering a book or musical work.  You might want to
consult an IP attorney at least for the first few copyright registrations,
and then maybe do the rest yourself.

From your post, I cannot figure out why you did not also ask about
patenting the software.  Have you made the conscious choice not to
pursue patent protection?

Carl Oppedahl AA2KW  (intellectual property lawyer)
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY  10112-0228
voice 212-408-2578     fax 212-765-2519

oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes:

>From your post, I cannot figure out why you did not also ask about
>patenting the software.  Have you made the conscious choice not to
>pursue patent protection?

Maybe he/she is writing something that is copyrightable but not patentable.
Maybe he/she doesn't want to hand some lawyer K$ for a silly patent
application.
Mabye he/she doesn't believe in software patents.

From the original posting, you have ***absolutely*** no idea what the
software is. Why are you suggesting that it the person try to patent it?
The vast majority of commercial software is not patentable.

>>Paul Hoffman
-- 
||  Why qoute someone else?  ||

In <Bwx0xq.JqH@iat.holonet.net> phoffman@orac.holonet.net (Paul E. Hoffman) writes:

>oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes:

>>From your post, I cannot figure out why you did not also ask about
>>patenting the software.  Have you made the conscious choice not to
>>pursue patent protection?

>Maybe he/she is writing something that is copyrightable but not patentable.

Maybe.  I was just asking.

>Maybe he/she doesn't want to hand some lawyer K$ for a silly patent
>application.

Can't argue with that.  But not all patent applications are silly, right?
For all we know this patent application would not be silly.

>Mabye he/she doesn't believe in software patents.

Could be.

>From the original posting, you have ***absolutely*** no idea what the
>software is. Why are you suggesting that it the person try to patent it?

No, of course I have absolutely no idea.  That's the whole point, the
person posting the original message did not describe it, which I think
is actually pretty smart.  Better to wait and only spill the beans 
_after_ taking whatever protective steps make sense.

Why misquote me?  The original poster asks for help on several forms 
of protection for his software, and I observe that he did not mention
patent protection.  Then I ask if that was a conscious choice.
I certainly did not suggest that it be patented, nor did I opine that
it would be patentable.


>The vast majority of commercial software is not patentable.

I agree that the vast majority of commercial software is not patented.
But I think many items of commercial software represent things that
could have been patented if the author/inventor had applied for a 
patent.


Carl Oppedahl AA2KW  (intellectual property lawyer)
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY  10112-0228
voice 212-408-2578     fax 212-765-2519

oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes:

>Why misquote me?  
I didn't mean to misquote you. In fact, I don't think I misquoted you,
given that I had my editor include your remarks. If there was a mistake,
I apologize for the software I use :-).

>The original poster asks for help on several forms 
>of protection for his software, and I observe that he did not mention
>patent protection.  Then I ask if that was a conscious choice.
Ah. I didn't get that feeling from the way you stated the question. To me
it sounded like a suggestion.

>I agree that the vast majority of commercial software is not patented.
>But I think many items of commercial software represent things that
>could have been patented if the author/inventor had applied for a 
>patent.
I find that statement intriguing. Examples, please (if you can do so without
violating confidentiality). Are you saying that they could be patented under
the spirit of the patent law or simply due to the incompetance of the
patent office?

>>Paul Hoffman
-- 
||  Why qoute someone else?  ||