Own Argument and Opinions

For our fifth and final part of the final project, we were asked for our own argument and opinions on the reasoning of the law, rule of the law, and if we thought it was fair or not.

“Trademark law consists of the legal rules by which businesses protect the names, logos, and other commercial signifiers used to identify their products and services.”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 379)

I personally feel that we as people require laws. Every certain law is in place for a reason. To protect people from physical, emotional, and finical harm. Without these laws and rules in effect, the world would not be what it is today. I am thankful for all these trademark, patent, and copyright laws, because my future as a music producer and performer drastically depends on this protection.

“Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on competing or related goods and services.”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Pate 446)

For example. If I spent three or so hundred dollars trademarking my logo and name “Bionix”, and then spent years producing music and touring for free to gain a fan base of 100,000+ people. So that I could come out with an album and sell it on ITunes or Beatport, now that I have the fan base to do so, but I have some other person or company out there using the same name and logo to sell their music. It would consequently, steel my fans and money. Now with the knowledge of trademark infringement, I could take this person to court and sue them for all the profit that they had made off using my name and logo, and recover my fans back.

Rule of Law

For part four of our final project, we were asked to present the “rule of law” that coincides directly to the questions that we asked our lawyer and the answers that were given by them.

When I asked Keith how I would go about policing a trademark infringement. He said that it would be in my best interest to employ a professional "watch" organization to review trademarks being published for opposition in the Trademark Office and notify you of similar trademarks. This answer brought great insight to me, because I had no idea there were services like this. Hiring such agencies to help protect your trademark is crucial to your protection. “As a general rule, and infringement will be deemed deliberate if it begins after the mark in question has been federally registered, because the infringer is deemed to have notice of the existing mark”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 412)

When I asked Keith how trademark damages are calculated. He said that it depends on the amount of financial damage done by the infringing company or competitor, and yet again he was completely correct. “Profits reaped by an infringer as a result of a copyright infringement are one possible element of monetary damages a court may require the infringer to pay the copyright owner. Defendants profits will only be awarded where these profits exceed the amount of profits lost by the copyright owner as a result of the infringement”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 318)

Then when I asked him, upon owning my own studio, what documents should I have my employees and myself sign prior to work. Keith’s reply was that I should most definitely hire a attorney that specializes in drafting up licensing and zoning documents, and make it a priority of doing so. “You will complete this process by paying the fees, authorizing your electronic signature, and validating all applications and documents.”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 507)

Reasoning of the Law

For part three of our final project, we were asked to describe the reasoning of the law, as described by the lawyer that we interviewed.

When I sat down and called Keith on Friday, I went over some audio production questions that would be possibly relevant in my future. Here I will state some of my questions and then follow them with the answer that I had received.

Q:        Lets say I Trademark my Producing / DJ name. After it has been accepted through USPTO, and I find someone else or some other company that has been using my logo and name to steal my fans and make a profit for something that they did, how can I go about policing a trademark infringement? “Trademark law confers the most protection to distinctive names, logos, and other marketing devices.”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 380)

A:         If you can afford it, employ a professional "watch" organization to review trademarks being published for opposition in the Trademark Office and notify you of similar trademarks. These organizations spend the entire day scouting both online and in-store markets to make certain that your trademark is protected

Q:        After I police this trademark infringement, how are the damages calculated.

“Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trade mark or service mark on competing or related goods and services”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 446)

A:         Actual damages are equal to the amount of financial damage done by the infringing company or competitor. You may also be able to recover the defendant’s profits and attorney’s fees. If you are awarded statutory damages, the court will award you a judgment and order the defendant to pay it.

Q:        When I start up my own studio one day, what documents should I sign, and have my employee’s sign, prior to work.

A:         After presenting this question to Keith, there was not a whole lot of information he could give me on the topic, since it was quite far from his field. However, he said I would most definitely need to hire a specific intellectual property lawyer that deals with either the production industry or the entertainment industry to put together the proper zoning and licensing agreements.

The Questions

On the second part of our final project, we were asked to describe the questions that we would be presenting to the lawyer that we would be interviewing, and why these questions are important to us, and the individual field of study that we are in.

“Intellectual property laws came under intense scrutiny with the popularization of the internet at the end of the 20^th century. The ability to transform documents, movies, MUSIC, and other expressions into digital copies suddenly made near-perfect copying possible for everyone.” (Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 7)

Here is a list of some of the questions that I presented to Keith at the interview I did with him on Friday.

-       Lets say I Trademark my Producing / DJ name. After it has been accepted through USPTO, and I find someone else or some other company that has been using my logo and name to steal my fans and make a profit for something that they did, how can I go about policing a trademark infringement?

-       After I police this trademark infringement, how are the damages calculated.

-     When I start up my own studio one day, what documents should I sign, and have my employee’s sign, prior to work.

-     When I have a studio and I happen to hire a tracking engineer and if I per chance hear that he/she has been recording bands on the side in my studio for personal profit, using my equipment, what kind of recourse do I get, and do I have any grounds for legal action since it was my equipment and property?

-     If one day I want to sell my studio, yet I want to retain my employment there , the loyalty of the bands I work with, and exclusive rights to working with said bands, yet the company I sell my studio to fires me and breaks the agreement we had upon sale, what action can I take?

“If you are concerned with a creation of your own, you’ll first need to know what form (or forms) of intellectual property applies to it.”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 8)

Legal Authority

“Intellectual property laws, along with court decisions and regulations, establish rules for the following activities: selling or licensing of intellectual property, resolving disputes between companies making or selling similar intellectual property products and services, and the registration and administration of intellectual property.”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 5)

For part 1 of our final project, we were asked how I made contact with the person that I chose, how I found them, and why I feel that they were a good choice for my project.

The lawyer I decided to interview is Keith Hawkins. He is part of the Associate General Counsel at United Health Care of Nevada, and oversees the entire legal department at the company.

I was able to get referenced to him, because he works closely with my mother at the company, I talked to her about the project and we both felt that he would be more then able to help me with some of the questions that I had to present.

Since UHCN is primarily a insurance company, Keith deals with a lot of Intellectual property issues concerning the copyrighting and protection of the companies important insurance documents that are constantly changing and requiring update.

At first, I was skeptical about asking some of the questions that I had written down. Because, he deals mainly with insurance copyright and protection, and a lot of the questions that I would be asking were going to be dealing with that of audio production. However, after talking with Keith for a few minutes, I felt comfortable that he would be able to answer most of what I had, and to my expectations, he did not disappoint.

“Intellectual property laws consist of several separate and overlapping legal disciplines, each with its own characteristics and terminology.”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 5)