Author Archives: John DiGiacomo

U.S. companies that conduct business abroad or that are interested in expanding into international markets should seriously consider the benefits of filing for international trademark protection on the valuable trademarks associated with the business. Having international trademarks in place can help protect the company’s brand, identity and products from being confused with those of competitors […]

One of the most useful and valuable assets a company can possess are intellectual property (IP) rights. IP rights are intangible assets that can be leveraged just like physical assets because they have value. IP rights take many forms including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, brand, goodwill, etc. When a company possesses a multiplicity […]

One of a company’s most valuable business assets is intellectual property (IP) rights. They are integral for protecting the company’s position in the market and can have immense value if they are properly obtained, managed, and enforced. Periodically, companies should conduct IP audits to understand what rights they have, the scope of protections that they […]

Today at Namescon I had the pleasure of watching three of my esteemed colleagues, Nat Cohen of Telepathy, Inc., Jason Schaeffer of Esqwire.com, and Zak Muscovitch of DNAttorney.com, examine three of the most shocking UDRP decisions of 2016. These decisions involved overreaching trademark owners, extraterritorial trademark rights, and panelist conflict of interests. In listening to […]

GameStop is the most recent potential victim of cyber data breach, and the company recently hired a leading security firm to conduct an investigation into allegations that the company’s website was hacked and that customer data and credit card information was stolen. According to reports, a third party found data available for sale on a black […]

One of the toughest things about being a new and struggling startup is that funds can be incredibly limited, so you have to carefully assess how to use the precious resources you have most effectively. All too often, startups forgo obtaining intellectual property (IP) rights on valuable technology, iconic designs, as well as the company […]

International commerce is a huge business, but one of the challenges involved in conducting international business is that different countries may have different laws concerning privacy and the handling of personal data. Many companies in the United States conduct business in Europe, and Europe is well known around the world for being avidly in support […]

The Stored Communications Act, which is codified at 18 USC 121, sections 2701-2712, is federal law that governs the conduct of electronic communication service providers and the voluntary and compelled disclosure of the contents of private electronic communications. The purpose of the Stored Communications Act is to protect privacy of electronic communications that are not […]

Revenge porn is the posting of explicit photos or videos of another person without his or her permission, commonly by exes or a significant other. These videos or photos may have been consensual at the time they were taken, but once they are posted without one party’s permission, liability can ensue. Is Revenge Porn a […]

Earlier this month, I published the following article on Practical Ecommerce about the European Union’s GDPR and how it could effect e-commerce stores. You should read this article. You should take it seriously. I’ll admit it — we lawyers are risk averse. We tend to prepare clients for the terrors in the night that may never come. […]