Nolo’s Patent, Copyright & Trademark Blog


Nolo's intellectual property editor and author Rich Stim uses a question-and-answer format to address issues involving copyright, trademark and patent law.

Author: Rich Stim writes primarily about patents, copyright, trademarks. He is the author of Patent, Copyright & Trademark: An Intellectual Property Desk Reference; Profit From Your Idea: How to Make Smart Licensing Deals; Getting Permission: How to License & Clear Copyrighted Materials Online & Off and is a co-author of several other Nolo titles.

Blawg Related Categories: Intellectual Property Law • Copyright Law • Patent Law • Trademark Law • Consultant

Recent Posts from Nolo’s Patent, Copyright & Trademark Blog


  • Reach Out and Infringe Someone: Using Ad Slogans as Chapter Headings

    Dear Rich: I work for a publisher and recently ran across a manuscript for a fiction book that used advertising slogans for chapter headings. For example, the authors used Hebrew National's, "We Answer to a…

  • How Do You Copyright an Educational CD?

    Dear Rich: A friend of mine has a CD with educational material (not school-related) but some type of teaching program she has put together and wants to copyright. Do you have any suggestions? Start with…

  • Will Wayne Dyer Love You If You Infringe?

    Dear Rich: I wrote a study guide for my church for The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer. It was given to people for free. In the study guide we quoted brief sections from Dyer's…

  • My Inventor's Notebook: Is it Tamper Proof?

    Dear Rich: After reading David Pressman's Patent It Yourself. I learned of the importance of keeping a notebook to record and track the progress of an invention I'm working on. I went out and bought a…

  • Cornhole Boards and Pro Sports Logos

    Dear Rich: I make and sell cornhole boards. Recently I was contacted by an organization that oversee's trademarks for the NFL, MLB and more and was told to no longer sell our boards with their…

  • Who Owns My Blog?

    Dear Rich: Out of frustration with the nonsense taking place in our industry I asked a colleague of mine to set-up a blog site for me to blog on. So they did. All the content…

  • Writer's Final Words Create Literary Executor Dilemma

    Dear Rich: My dear friend who is deceased is a published author and he has left the responsibility of his writings to me. The statement in the Will reads: "I give and bequeath all my…

  • Letters to the Editor: Who Owns the Rights?

    Dear Rich: I am a contributor to Wikisource and our task is to reproduce public domain books, documents, etc. A question came up about the definition and copyright status of newspaper's "Letters to the Editor" and…

  • Responding to Trademark Rejections and Objections

    Dear Rich: Is there a free online resource to find examples or forms of an answer that I can file in response to an objection filed against a trademark application at the USPTO? Yes, you…

  • Film Distributors, Indemnity and Struggling Artists

    Dear Rich: Struggling Artist makes an anti-establishment film, which is mostly original material. In one segment, with a satirical intent, he deliberately shows McDonalds' "golden arches" and uses a Hannah Montana song on the soundtrack.…