Final: My argument and opinions

I completely agreed with all the issues my lawyer went through with me and when I establish my business, I would definitely hire him. He seems like a kind man that see's justice for exactly what it is, defending what is right. He was very straight forward with me. Whether if it was because he lacked time or that he was really a simple guy, he did give me the information I needed. "Intellectual property law consists of several seperate and overlapping legal disciplines, each with its own characteristics and terminology: Patent law, Copyright law, Trademark law, and Tradesecret law." 

In my opinion, the answers he gave me for my scenarios seemed fair, to anyone with common sense. Truthfully the answers did feel like it was common sense which makes me feel even better about legal matters. I agree 100% with all the answers I have received and even if the law has thousands and thousands of loopholes, originally the answers I have received are satisfying. "A statutory bar is any federal statutory provision that requires the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or a court to disqualify an invention for a patent."

Final: Rule of Law

 "Copyright law protects a variety of original expressions, including art, sculpture, literature, music, songs, choreography, crafts, poetry, software,
photography, movies, video games, videos, websites, architecture, and graphics."

I comprehend everything that my lawyer has spoken to me about. I see his reasoning and the outlook on it. I feel as if the law is a bit more simple than i had originally taken it to be. I now understand that the basis of law is very simple but if you want to get into detail of every law and every loophole, then it could take forever. That would explain why there are so many types of lawyers.

"A copyright gives the owner of a creative work the right to keep others from unauthorized use of the work."

 “A lawsuit brought against someone who uses a copyrighted expression without permission
is commonly known as an infringement action.”

I did not realize that even in my major, there could be so many injustices and issues that would need to involve the law. There is so much work that goes into every detail. Even for a simple photograph to display the clothing, there could be so many laws that relate it it.

“Intellectual property laws consist of several separate and overlapping legal disciplines,
each with its own characteristics and terminology.”

"Although factual works are those that legitimately may be classified as nonfiction"

"Sometimes it’s derivative which may be classified as “derivative work”
where the joke is based upon preexisting material to which enough original creative
work has been added so that the new work represents an original work of authorship"

Final: Reasoning of the Law

My lawyer's thinking process was very straight to the point. He analyzed the legal matter and saw it as just that. He listed the solution as it is and was all about proof. He mentioned that if you can prove it, you can win it. He explained that in a legal matter, there is always a person that knows their right but in the retail business specifically, both sides always think they're right.

“As a general rule, and infringement will be deemed deliberate if it begins after the mark in question has been federally registered, because the infringer is deemed to have notice of the existing mark.”

Clearly, both sides cannot be right but to each, his own. That is why you always need proof. You must always prove your side right and it is simple as that. When he told me this, it gave me a whole outlook on lawyers because he made it seem that he is all about the truth and I highly appreciated that. It is what justice is all about. “A patent application must be filed in the name of the true inventor or inventors. If there is more than one inventor, each becomes an applicant for the patent, and each automatically owns equal shares of the invention and any resulting patents.”

Final: The Questions

1. If I want to take photos for my online catalogue at a public park, would I need permission?

-Any time you publish a photo used for sale, you do have to get permission. The only time you do not need to, is when you own the premises. 

2. Do my vendors have the right to raise prices on me on their products even after a contract has been signed?

-They do simply because they are the ones selling it, they could bring up material costs, taxes, and other issues.

3. There has been an occasion where in our merchandise has been shipped to another store by mistake and they opened our invoice, can we sue them for that?

-You may definitely do so because the products were not theirs to begin with, especially for opening an invoice that did not belong to them.

"In connection with criticism of or commenting on the work, in the course of news reporting, for teaching purposes, or as a part of scholarship or research activity.” 

4. My store policy states that if the tags are taken off the clothing, they cannot be returned. Can customers still demand their money back?

-If the store policy was verbally stated and clarified, they can no longer demand their money back. There has to be proof that the policy was given.

5. If I need to break my lease for my store, do they have the right to hold my merchandise ?

-Only until you pay the fees. They do however have the right to sue you for breaking the lease.

6. If theft has occurred in my store and the thief was not captured, how can we regain our lost funds?

-If your company is insured then you would be able to claim it through insurance, however beyond that, the thief is responsible.

7. If internal theft was occurring at my store, what is the legal way of pursuing action against this employee ?

-There would need to be proof before taking any legal action.

 “Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trade mark or service mark on competing or related goods and services.”

8. If another online catalogue steals my photos, what actions am I allowed to take?

-If you own the rights to these photos you are able to sue them.

9. If a customer damages clothing while trying it on, can we require them to pay for it?

-If there was a clear statement of that policy, then you may. Otherwise the company has no right to do so.

10. If a vendor gets in trouble for copying a design on merchandise and we are selling that product, would we get pulled into the situation as well?

All that merchandise would be pulled out of your store and it would be up to the vendor and you to settle the loss of profits.

All these questions were very important to me because they related to my major. Even though he was very short with me and very conscious of his time, I was still able to retrieve a lot of information I did not know before. We covered plenty legal issues yet he never really went into detail. Nonetheless, I was still happy I got to talk to him, especially in person.

"Nondisclosure agreements should be used whenever it is necessary to disclose marketing, evaluation, or fiscal backing. Through theconscientious use of non disclosure agreements, trade secrets can be distributed to a relatively large number of people without destroying their protected status"

Final: Legal Authority

For my final project, I decided to contact Christopher Curtis. He is a lawyer that specializes in Retail, Gaming, & Premises which was a perfect fit for me because I specialize in Fashion and Retail management. I called the number given online and spoke to one of his secretaries. "Collaboration agreement, when coauthors want to specify their rights, obligations, and percentage of copyright ownership and revenues, they must enter into a collaboration agreement. Without a collaboration agreement , a court will presume that the coauthors share equally unless evidence to the contrary is introduced." 

I introduced myself as a professional in the Fashion Industry trying to find a lawyer for my upcoming business. Since I have given that title, they did not reject me but when I had told her that I would like to speak to Mr. Curtis directly to ask him questions, she told me that maybe she could help. I was persistent on talking to the lawyer himself but she insisted on writing down my questions and getting back to me. After a week of patiently waiting, I realized I wasn't going to hear from her so I moved on to looking for other lawyers. “Intellectual property law consists of several separate and overlapping legal disciplines, each with its own characteristics and terminology.”

The funny thing is, I was driving with a friend two days after I have already contacted other lawyers and I came across a building with Christopher Curtis' name outside. I then got intrigued and stopped in. I told the secretary I had called in before and asked to speak to him but he had never gotten back to me and all of a sudden a deep voice behind me said "I apologize miss, are you free to speak now?" I never even noticed he was just right behind us. I got extremely lucky. He then gave me a couple minutes of his time and answered my questions. Although he was short with me, he was a very nice man. “Two or more people who have contributed significant creative input to a work of expression.”

BOC: Week 8 Progress on Final

Working on the final has been hard so far because of getting in contact with the lawyer. I have my questions all in line and I know the information i want to retrieve. I even did some research ahead of time on the answers to these questions to further my knowledge. I am now looking into more lawyers i could speak with and hopefully I will have more luck with them.

I think that contacting the lawyer would be the hardest part of this project. Everything else is just an expression of what we learned and what more we could learn. Although this class produced an overwhelming load of information, i do appreciate all i have learned. It is hard to squeeze it all in in just 11 weeks but our teacher did a great job. I feel like the activities all helped me towards this final.

Week 7 EOC: Lawyer Information

Sophia Del Pozo
702-497-2493


Neil B. Shouse        
702-380-4895

Mitchell  S. Bisson  
702-385-3343


Payne & Fears LLP
702-382-3574


Preston Sterling Kerr
702-608-0835

Richard H. Newman
702-667-4811


Michael Navarro
702-385-3025


Yvette R. Freedman
702-383-9950


Kirk Nevada Walker
702-893-3789


Weiss and Moy
702-784-7682