When it comes to the term “infringement”, most people understand that it as one of those technical legal terms, but few actually understand what it means. Michael (Mike) Steel and Igor Ozeruga of the Tarolli Law Firm hosted RIoT’s latest Virtual Lunch & Learn session to help the RIoT Community better understand what infringement of Intellectual Property (IP) means.
Mike began the conversation by giving an overview of the Tarolli Law Firm and describing the work he and Igor provide in regards to patent and trademark drafting services. With over 30 attorneys that hold masters degrees and above, you will find experience in every realm of the tech world at Tarolli Law.
As we jumped into the presentation, we quickly learned there are four main types of IP: Trademarks, Copyright, Trade Secrets, and Patents. Trademarks are used as another way of referring to a brand and often lead to larger brand recognition. Trademarks can influence multiple aspects of your company and be used as an effective and efficient marketing tool. When deciding whether to register your trademark, Igor listed a few advantages, including: preventing counterfeit goods from coming in overseas, gaining implicit proof of validity, and protection in local versus national markets. When it comes to proving trademark infringement, Igor explained that courts have developed a Substantial Likelihood of Confusion test. This test helps identify the likelihood of your business to suffer injury to its reputation or its name being diluted.
Mike and Igor went on to give multiple real world examples as they walked through Copyright Infringement, Trade Secrets, and Patent Infringement. They pointed out that each situation is unique and infringement cannot always be easily detected. Watch the entire presentation to learn the differences between the legal terms and to gain a greater understanding of the IP world.