Nov 13th, 2009
by John Abbott.
Picture the Scene
Our defendant clients had been involved in long-running proceedings involving complex copyright issues. There were 10 parties involved in the proceedings some with cross claims against each other.
The legal issues were numerous and complex and the contentions that would have to be determined in court included: Who was the true copyright owner? Had there been joint authorship? Had there been copying? If so, what was the precise extent of the copying? Was similar ‘look and feel’ enough to establish copying? To what extent did the judgment in Navitaire Inc –v- Easyjet (No3) 1725 (Ch) (2005) ECC30 impact on the issues? The question of the personal liability of directors for any infringements by their companies would also have to be adjudicated as well as some very opaque issues of fact.
Oct 10th, 2009
by Chris Sherliker.
This is a non-exhaustive 50 point checklist designed to help you avoid some very common legal pitfalls and maximise the legal security of your business.
- Make sure that legal ownership assets used in the business are actually owned by the business.
- Get written copyright assignments from designers, authors, software and web developers and appropriate warranties of originality.
- Check the terms and conditions of third party suppliers of services to ensure you legally own any deliverables they create.
- Do not rely on a terminable licence for key business assets; take an assignment or a perpetual royalty-free licence.
NameSearch TM Legal helps you protect your trade marks, business names, product names, logos and brands and is designed as a resource tool for brand consultants, creative agencies, designers, NPD specialists, marketing executives and entrepreneurs.
Well? What is one to think?