1. PROTECTING YOUR BRAND AND PATENTABLE INVENTIONS Presented by: Clark A. D. Wilson Gardner Groff Greenwald & Villanueva PC Patent & Trademark Attorney LinkedIn.com/in/clarkadwilson Social Media Law Atlanta, Georgia USA 18 May 2011 © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

2. MY SOCIAL MEDIA IP MOTTO Social Media is constantly changing and loosely regulated. So, be proactive and not reactive. © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

4. How to proactively protect your brands

5. How to proactively protect your patentable ideas © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

7. Infringement can be enforced in Federal Court

9. Fast, Cheap and Potentially Definitive© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

11. Benefits: Since social media is a business, the owner has an interest in keeping its users (customers) happy. Therefore, the owners have an incentive to resolve any issue quickly and accurately.© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

13. They can remove any content or information you post on Facebook if it violates this Statement.

14. They will provide you with tools to help you protect your intellectual property rights. © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

16. They will review your report as quickly as they can.

17. If everything is accurate, they will remove or disable access to the infringing content.

18. They will also notify the infringing user and, if requested, provide your report to the user.

19. Facebook will terminate repeat infringers when appropriate.© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

21. Comply with all applicable laws, including, without limitation, … intellectual property laws… © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

23. abuse@linkedin.com

24. LinkedIn CorporationATTN: Content Complaint Manager 2029 Stierlin Court Mountain View, CA 94043 © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

28. Requested Action can include: removal of violating account or transfer of trademarked username to an existing company account.

29. Note: A federal or international trademark registration number is required for reporting. © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

31. When there is a clear intent to mislead others through the unauthorized use of a trademark, Twitter will suspend the account and notify the account holder.

32. When Twitter determines that an account appears to be confusing users, but is not purposefully passing itself off as the trademarked good or service, they give the account holder an opportunity to clear up any potential confusion.

33. Twitter may also release a username for the trademark holder's active use.© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

35. Your location (physical and online address)

36. Describe your brand or business in the bio© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

38. Craft a corporate social media policy for the employee handbook.

39. Continue to update this policy because the landscape is constantly changing and may require revision. © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

41. Educate employees on importance of brand protection

42. Require training before allowing an employee to use the trademark

43. How employees should react to third-party comments or IP violations

44. Disciplinary actions for violations of the Policy

45. Further training likely more effective than punishment© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

47. Origin determination

48. True or untrue?

49. Potential Damage from infringement

50. First actions taken (e.g., through website venue)

51. Appoint a contact person for social media questions

52. Encourage employees to seek out this person when issues arise© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

54. Provide examples of how employees should engage with third parties who comment on the company

55. Define who will communicate on the formal behalf of the company

56. Creates uniformity and consistency

57. Avoids unwanted corrections and/or corralling of actions© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

59. Specifically for major announcements

60. Not all situations require enforcement

61. Collaborate with a third-party trademark user

62. E.g., Coca-cola fan page

63. Designate someone or a team to regularly review the use or appearance of the corporate trademarks in social media.

64. Identifies any potential infringement

65. Monitors how the brand is trending© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

67. Domestic USA rights:

68. Public disclosure of an invention more than 12 months prior to filing a patent application

69. International non-USA rights:

70. Public disclosure prior to filing a patent application

71. More severe than USA© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

73. Inventions not protected with patent rights should be protected as trade secrets

74. Take measures to ensure that secrecy is kept

75. If secrecy is lost, must seek patent protection ASAP

76. Within 12 months from disclosure

77. International rights are lost

78. New Patent Reform Act of 2011 may provide incentive to seek patent protection early (i.e. First-to-File)© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

80. Educate on the pitfalls of premature public disclosure

81. Incorporate a confidentiality agreement into employment

82. During and after employment

83. Outline results of any violation

84. Breach of contract, trade secret theft © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

86. Incorporate patent counsel early in the development

87. File a patent application (provisional or non-provisional) as soon as design is finalized

88. Only AfterPatent Pending, develop a marketing release with the Social Media coordinator© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

90. Early and continual education to all employees on importance of maintaining secrecy before patent pending

91. Explain punishment for violations

92. Regular monitoring of social media activity to ensure no unwanted public disclosures before patent pending

93. Notification of legal if accidental disclosure© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

95. Limit access to “Friends”

96. Limit updates to “Connections”© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

98. Educate employees

99. Clearly outline a social media policy

100. Use the website dispute system if possible

102. Restrict access to the invention until appropriate

103. Educate all employees on importance of secrecy

104. Involve patent counsel early

105. Clearly outline a protocol for developing patentable inventions© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

107. https://www.facebook.com/legal/copyright.php?noncopyright_notice=1

108. Linkedin Notice of Intellectual Property Violations

109. http://download.linkedin.com/corporate/legal/notice_of_content_and_intellectual_property_violations_en_US.pdf

110. Linkedin Counter-Notice Regarding Claim of Intellectual Property Violations form

111. http://download.linkedin.com/corporate/legal/counternotice_regarding_claim_of_content_and_intellectual_property_violations_en_US.pdf

112. Twitter Ticket Request Submission

113. http://support.twitter.com/forms/trademark© 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

114. QUESTIONS?? Clark A. D. Wilson Patent & Trademark Attorney cwilson@gardnergroff.com 770.984.2300 Ext. 873 www.GardnerGroff.com LinkedIn.com/in/clarkadwilson © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved

115. Thank You!! Clark A. D. Wilson Patent & Trademark Attorney cwilson@gardnergroff.com 770.984.2300 Ext. 873 www.GardnerGroff.com LinkedIn.com/in/clarkadwilson © 2011 Gardner Groff, PC – All Rights Reserved