From: oppedahl@patents.com (Carl Oppedahl) Date: Mon, 01 Jul 96 10:48:05 GMT Newsgroups: misc.legal.computing,alt.inventors,comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html,comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi In article <31CCB33C.5CB0@spacelab.net>, chelsel <chelsel@spacelab.net> wrote: >A couple of years ago I was selling >a product but had to stop because of >increasing time demands from my 'real' job. > >Tonight I was scanning the Internet >and for the heck of it I decided to >see if there were any references to >my product on the net. I found a >handful of listings but one in >particular caught my attention. > >I found a site that was selling a >product with the EXACT same name as I >used to use and the advertisement/description >was almost EXACTLY the >same as I was using. > >The problem is that I used to sell the >source code for an additional fee >but I can't find the licensing >agreement pertaining to use of the >source. I'm pretty sure it said something >to the effect of 'may not be >used in any product whose primary purpose is >as a ... or in a competing >product'. > >It appears that someone may have >taken the source, made some >modifications (I suspect very minor) and >then started selling it as >their own. > >Am I screwed? The product name wasn't >trademarked since it would have >cost me too much at the time. Did you happen to register the copyright in your source code with the US Copyright Office? If so, then your position is a strong one -- if they indeed copied your source code (and did so after you registered) then you are in the running for statutory copyright damages and they may have to reimburse you for your attorneys fees. For other readers this unhappy story may serve as a reminder of how ridiculously inexpensive ($20) it is to register a copyright, and how enormously rewarding (the infringer may have to pay your attorneys fees) it can be to have registered your copyright. You can do this yourself. See "How do I copyright my software?" at http://www.patents.com/copyrigh.sht#software . You can also get your own trademark registration. See "Can I register a trademark myself?" at http://www.patents.com/trademar.sht#register-self . --- Carl Oppedahl, oppedahl@patents.com Oppedahl & Larson, patent law firm http://www.patents.com/ is a web server with frequently asked questions and answers on patent law and other intellectual property subjects
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