Author Archives: John DiGiacomo

When a business files for bankruptcy, all of its assets, including any and all intellectual property and licensing rights to IP, become subject to the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court. In simple terms, all assets go into the bankruptcy “estate” and are subject to the control of the court. The purpose of a bankruptcy is […]

In various parts of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the development and deployment of various contact tracing applications that are designed to help mitigate contagion risks and facilitate medical intervention. There are many variations in how the apps work, but, generally, the idea is that the software uses geo-location and user-provided data to […]

Federal trademarks are governed by the Lanham Act. See 15 U.S.C. §§1051 et seq. Among the rights granted to trademark owners by the Lanham Act is the right to exclusive use of one’s trademark. If another uses one’s trademark without permission or authorization, the owner can sue for trademark infringement. The Lanham Act invests federal […]

The coronavirus pandemic has caused unexpected interruptions for many businesses, including some complete shutdowns. Some businesses have had to suspend certain business activities in order to maintain business integrity and to help keep their employees and customers safe. This means that businesses may have had to stop using their trademarks in commerce. Is your trademark […]

Hiring (or converting) employees to work from home is really not that different than hiring an employee to work in a standard employment circumstance. A work-from-home employee is entitled to all the protections of federal and state labor laws. For example, the applicable labor laws related payment of wages and overtime apply with equal force […]

The fact that employees are increasingly required to work from home does not obviate a company’s legal requirement to have reasonable company policies and procedures to safeguard consumer data and to protect sensitive company confidential information. Indeed, the dawning era of widespread work-from-home employment necessitates enhanced cybersecurity since there are enhanced data security risks associated […]

Given the surge of employees now working from home and the uncertainty of how long the current circumstances will persist, it is essential for every business to have good policies and procedures for work-from-home employees. If your business does not already have such policies, these should be established as quickly as possible. Good policies can […]

Copyrights are among the most valuable and important types of intellectual property. A “copyright” is a property right that exists for original artistic works. Books, songs and movies are common examples of artistic works that are protected by copyright law. Generally, low-level copyright protection comes into existence when the original artistic work is completed. Among […]

There are three main legal theories that might be applicable in a pandemic situation like COVID-19 which would allow businesses to defend against lawsuits for breach of contract. These are: Force majeure provisions in the contracts Doctrine of impossibility/impracticability and Doctrine of frustration of purpose Here is a general summary of how these provisions and […]

Trade secrets are important and valuable assets for any business. In general, a trade secret is information that the owner has taken “reasonable measures” to keep secret and that has commercial value from the fact that information is secret. The information/data can relate to almost anything including information about Finances like the company’s profit and […]