This page includes original materials that we have developed in the course of our work that may be useful to you, as well as external links to websites we have found to be worthwhile.

E&A materials:

Basics Of Trademark Law

The ABCs, with a few other letters thrown in, too.

Building A Brand Portfolio

Business-oriented analysis of the pros and cons of various strategies for developing or acquiring trademark rights.

Compliance With Antitrust, Intellectual Property And Trade Regulation Laws

Practical, plain-language guidelines for folks in the field. These were written with the retail sector in mind, but for the most part apply to any industry.

Sweepstakes And Skill Contests - The Basics

Find out what's involved in lawfully designing and conducting a prize promotion.

Victor/Victoria: The Changing Face Of Trademark Dilution

Prepared for the Annual Meeting of the Intellectual Property Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, held on April 11, 2003, in Cary, NC. Both a practical analysis of the Supreme Court's treatment of the federal law that provides enhanced protection for famous trademarks, and a policy-oriented discussion of where the law should go.

Use Of Surveys And Survey Experts In Trademark Litigation: Strategy and Tactics For The Litigator

Prepared the ABA Intellectual Property Section's seminars on Practical Tips On Trademark Litigation, conducted at four different different locations around the country in 2001 and 2002. In-the-trenches advice on working with survey experts.

Intellectual Property Issues Inherent In Online Commerce: Traditional Trademark Law Meets The New World Of Domain Names, Metatags, And Search Engine Keywords

Prepared for the Doing Business Online seminar sponsored by Law Seminars International on October 5 and 6, 2000, in Charlotte, NC.

Identifying Potential Antitrust Issues

Prepared for Current Issues Facing Corporate Counsel, the Annual Meeting of the NCBA Corporate Counsel Section, on May 12-13, 1994, in Southern Pines, NC. A concise and fairly comprehensive antitrust primer, though it obviously lacks cases and developments from recent years.

Effective Use Of Discovery In Trade Regulation Cases: Proving (Or Contesting) Market Power Claims

Prepared for Practice Pointers For Avoiding And Trying Trade Regulation Cases, sponsored by the North Carolina Bar Foundation on March 31, 1995 in Greensboro, NC. Also a few years old, this paper provides a helpful framework for analyzing and proving market power issues in antitrust cases, and also has some useful model discovery papers.

Links:

The website for the United States Patent and Trademark Office provides basic information about patents and trademarks and includes searchable databases of the patent and trademark records and applicable forms for registration and maintenance of trademarks: www.uspto.gov

The website for the U.S. Copyright Office similarly provides basic information about copyrights, as well as applicable forms: www.loc.gov/copyright/

To obtain information about the European Community Trademark and to search the database of applications and registrations, go to: http://oami.eu.int/

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website provides information about numerous international treaties and agreements related to intellectual property, including the International Trademark Registration processes of the Madrid Agreement and Madrid Protocol: www.wipo.org/

The International Trademark Association (INTA) is a not-for-profit worldwide membership organization of trademark owners and advisors. It's mission is to protect and advance the importance of trademarks as essential elements of international commerce. INTA shapes public policy, advances practitioners' knowledge and educates business, the media and the public on the significance of trademarks. The INTA website can be found at: www.inta.org/

Do a trademark knockout search or order a comprehensive trademark search at www.nameprotect.com/. The comprehensive trademark searching is a fee-based service, and in our experience is the best and most cost-effective of the search companies.

The Federal Trade Commission, www.ftc.gov, is responsible for enforcing U.S. antitrust, consumer protection and trade regulation laws. Among many other resources, the FTC site posts rules and guidelines on such subjects as advertising, antitrust, franchising, labeling, telemarketing, debt collection and online privacy, as well as a large collection of industry-specific advertising and labeling guides.

Find out whether or not an internet domain name is available for registration, or who owns an existing domain name registration at http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois.

NSI's databases don't include government or military sites, nor do they include any domains not under NSI's jurisdiction, such as the "country code" domains. For a site that claims to search all those domains globally, try http://betterwhois.com/.

Access the latest information about domain names from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) at www.icann.org/

Keep up with what is going on in the field of sweepstakes and promotions at the website for the Promotion Marketing Association (PMA) at www.pmalink.org/