Welcome to IPWatchdog.com
My name is Gene Quinn and I am a US Patent Attorney and the President & Founder of IPWatchdog.com, which is dedicated to providing a free, reliable and easily understandable resource on intellectual property law and related topics for industry professionals, businesses and individuals. We have been on the Internet continuously since October 1999, and since that time our site has been a trusted resource on intellectual property for over 3 million unique visitors who have come here for information and news.
In November 2008 the IPWatchdog Blog became indexed by Google News and if you search Google, Yahoo or MSN for information on patents, trade secrets, antitrust law, trademark law, trade secret law and confidentiality agreements IPWatchdog.com is likely to appear in the top 10 results. We are proud of what we have accomplished over the years and thank you for making our site one of the top sites in our industry.
IPWatchdog for Industry Professionals
The IPWatchdog Blog primarily provides insight and analysis to keep industry professionals informed on recent cases and the latest news relating to patents, trademarks, copyrights, technology and innovation. We pride ourselves on the fact that we do not have a typical blog. Virtually all of our posts are really articles that discuss issues that matter to attorneys and other professionals intimately involved in the intellectual property world. When you are looking for more than just the facts and would like some analysis and opinion the IPWatchdog Blog is for you.
IPWatchdog for Beginners
For beginners and those new to the field we have numerous pages of information aimed at explaining basic intellectual property concepts, why you would want to consider obtaining intellectual property rights and how to go about obtaining worthwhile protection without getting scammed. You might also find the IPWatchdog Blog interesting, particularly our Inventor Information category, and you should definitely visit our Inventing Page.
If you take some time to browse through IPWatchdog.com you will find detailed information on all aspects of intellectual property law, as well as invention marketing, including discussion of why you should have intellectual property law protection for your business and how to obtain the various forms of intellectual property, including how to obtain a trademark, how to obtain a copyright and how to obtain a patent. Additionally, before you consider doing business with an invention promotion or submission company please read The Truth About Invention Submission Companies.
Most Recent Blog Posts
Written by: By Gene Quinn | Posted: Tuesday, January 6, 2009 @ 6:40 pm | 0 Comments
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) fired MediaSentry, the Recording company it used to help it gather evidence for mass lawsuits it filed against people it claimed were illegally uploading copyrighted music. It would seem that the RIAA is finally coming to its senses and realizing that the way forward is not to use scare tactics or sue, but perhaps to accept the new technologies and maybe even embrace them.
Written by: By Gene Quinn | Posted: Monday, January 5, 2009 @ 4:08 pm | 0 Comments
Popeye the Sailor, one of the most recognizable of all comic book characters, has recently fallen into the public domain in Europe, which means that anyone can use the image of the popular cartoon character throughout the European Union without having to pay royalties. Of course, as with virtually any intellectual property news story the popular press did not get all of the facts straight, although for the most part they seem to have gotten the highlights mostly correct, which is a step in the right direction.
Written by: By Gene Quinn | Posted: Sunday, January 4, 2009 @ 8:04 pm | 2 Comments
So far no one knows who President-Elect Barack Obama will appoint to be the Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, a position known in the industry as the Director of the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Right about now the appointment of a new PTO Director is likely the farthest thing from Obama's mind given that recent reports suggest that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has withdrawn his nomination as the Secretary of Commerce. Richardson's decision to not seek Senate confirmation and remain the Governor of New Mexico allegedly stems from the fact that he is facing a federal ...
Written by: By Gene Quinn | Posted: Saturday, January 3, 2009 @ 4:34 pm | 5 Comments
On Monday, December 22, 2008, Gatehouse Media, Inc. filed what can only be charaterized as a ridiculous and frivolous lawsuit against the New York Times alleging copyright infringement by the New York Times because one of the papers owned by the Time, namely the Boston Globe, was linking to original articles owned by Gatehouse Media. The complaint filed by Gatehousealleges that the Boston Globe is infringing its copyrights by taking the title of the article along with the first sentence of the article and posting them to its website. Gatehouse acknowledges in the complaint that if someone visits the Boston Globe page in question, their ...
Written by: By Gene Quinn | Posted: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 @ 5:47 pm | 3 Comments
It is that time of the year when everyone makes their resolutions, most of which are sure to be broken almost immediately in most cases, particularly when the resolution deals with losing weight or exercising. Not to be deterred, I have made both of those resolutions myself and I am cautiously optimistic about the likelihood that I will stay the course and make it happen this year. Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, so all of us who are making resolutions likely know the reality ...
Written by: By Gene Quinn | Posted: Sunday, December 28, 2008 @ 9:30 pm | 0 Comments
It seems hardly possible that we are about to enter 2009 without any meaningful patent reforms having been enacted by Congress or successfully advanced by the United States Patent & Trademark Office during calendar year 2008. Many are scratching their heads and wondering how this could have happened, but not me. If you stop and actually look at what has been going on in the patent industry there is no great mystery why the US continues to live with a broken patent system and there is little, if any, real hope that things will change during 2009. Whether the tech ...
