Author Archives: John DiGiacomo

  Many businesses use automated text messaging and direct cellphone calls with customers as a major part of their sales and marketing. However, these direct marketing strategies can be legally risky. Automated calls or texts made to cellphones are regulated by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) passed in 1991. See 47 U.S.C. § 227 […]

  Every business has valuable trade secrets which often make the business successful. Trade secrets can be something exotic like a unique business method, an unusual raw material or a long-held secret recipe. More often, trade secrets are mundane items like customer lists, monthly sales figures, and source vendors. Trade secrets are protected at the […]

  More than ever before, third-party sellers on Amazon are generating higher levels of sales.  In 2018, small and midsize businesses (SMBs) made $1 million more in sales than they had in 2017.  In addition, the number of small and medium businesses operating as third-party sellers skyrocketed.  At first glance, this is a win-win result […]

  If you are considering buying or selling an online business, there are many unique legal and practical issues to consider. Generally, buying or selling a business involves several steps. Often, the first step is the signing of a letter of intent that sketches the major contours of the deal. Then, a purchase agreement is […]

  When trying to protect your intellectual property from infringement, an overseas infringer is one of the most vexing legal problems. Even if the infringer is brought under the jurisdiction of the US courts via one of many long-arm statutes, the assets of an overseas infringer may be difficult to reach if a judgment is […]

    Gift cards are now under scrutiny with respect to whether they must be compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”). See Bloomberg opinion piece here. Among other things, the ADA bans discrimination against the disabled in “places of public accommodation.” In this way, the statute entitles everyone to the “full and equal […]

Following the signing of the first round of a new trade deal with China in mid-January 2020, the Federal government announced plans to begin cracking down on the sale of counterfeit and pirated merchandise on web-based retail platforms. See CNBC News report here. The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued a 54-page report detailing the […]

Trademarks and service marks are essential to every business. A trademark identifies your business as the exclusive commercial source of the goods and services you are providing. That is a significant advantage in a competitive marketplace. This applies with equal force to individuals who are self-employed, particularly those working from on-line platforms trying to build […]

The number of companies or individuals who sell their products on Amazon has increased exponentially in the last few years.  As Amazon has grown in power, so have its sellers.  Total profits continue to sky-rocket and third-party sellers are making millions of dollars every day.  All of Amazon’s third-party sellers, responsible for more than half […]

Do You Have a Us Trademark Registration or Pending Application? Certain international treaties provide some advantages to filing based on your US trademark application or registration. Your international trademark is dependent on your domestic registration for the first five years. Anything that happens to your home trademark registration in the first five years of international […]