The Question of the Week: Who Owns Your intellectual Property?

intellectual property law

intellectual property lawBy: Steven Boyne

THE FRACTIONAL GENERAL COUNSEL

This question is a redundant question, if it is my intellectual property, then by definition – I own it.  True, but this question raises important issues that employers need to worry about – ownership of intellectual property.  The general rule is that if your employees create intellectual property while they are working for you, the employer will own it.  So, for example, if your office manager takes some pictures around the office and creates personal bios of your employees and puts that information on your website then you own that information.  However, what if they created that information at night while they were not at work and technically you were not paying them?  Well, now we are getting into a greyer area.  So, my recommendation is to avoid this issue, by updating your HR manual to state that you own the intellectual property, and not your employees. Continue reading

A Word is Worth Thousands: Protecting Your Healthcare Brand

trademark law

trademark lawBy: Chase Howard

Investing in a healthcare related business involves significant time and money. Building a brand takes even more and is extremely important in today’s society. Having the ability to build a recognizable brand, scale, and potentially sell, is the goal of many healthcare business entrepreneurs. With the ever-booming impact of social media, online advertising, and online reviews, healthcare businesses seek to engage at a higher degree than ever before to attract new patients, retain current patients, and establish themselves as experts in their respective fields.

Building a brand is part of it, while protecting that brand is far more important. A well-recognized word or logo can be worth everything to your business. Obtaining ownership and protection over a name or mark is a fairly simply task with significant rewards. Trademarks are the names, slogans, tag lines, and/or logos that identify and represent your business, its services, and mission to the public, and are the foundation for the business’s overall branding and marketing. Trademarks can also be used to protect your business in a specific area or a specific area of expertise. If you do not protect your brand, a competitor could use it (or something similar, which could confuse the public and your patients and therefore potentially draw business away from your brand.Continue reading

Protecting Your Medical Practice’s Brand: Trademark Basics

By: Shobha Lizaso

Building a medical practice trademark brand image is extremely important in today’s technology-driven economy.  Because of social media, online advertising, and the availability of online reviews, local healthcare providers need to engage at a higher degree than ever before to attract new patients, retain current patients, and establish themselves as experts in their respective fields.

Patients choose providers based on specializations, reputation, and quality of care, so the first step in branding is selecting and registering the trademarks for your practice.  Trademarks are the names, slogans, tag lines, and/or logos that identify and represent your practice, its services, and mission to the public, and are the foundation for the facility’s overall branding and marketing strategy. In addition to the trademarks associated with your main practice, you may also use trademarks to protect your stake in a specific area or a specific area of expertise. For example, the trademark and logos used for a hospital’s senior services might be different than one used for its cardiac care services.  If you do not protect your trademark, a competitor could use it or something similar, which could confuse your patients and potentially draw business away from your practice..

Do you really need to register your trademarks?  Consider the following:Continue reading