Announcements

MARCH 7, 2012

Presenter: H. David Starr

Title: Smart Anti-Counterfeiting Strategies

Time: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. (ET) / 11:00 a.m. – Noon (PT)

Description: Counterfeiting is a huge problem on a global scale. It affects nearly every successful product across all industry sectors. Inferior counterfeit products not only result in lost sales to the legitimate manufacturer, but also cause reputational harm and potential safety issues. China is, by far, home to most of the counterfeiting in the world. What are CE manufacturers doing to combat this problem? This presentation will provide practical advice on reducing the occurrence and impact of counterfeiting.

Participants will learn:

  • How to develop an Intellectual Property Estate for the Anti-Counterfeiting Fight – trademarks, trade dress, copyright, patents, domestic and international
  • On-line Anti-Counterfeiting Techniques - Chinese Business-to-Business Websites (Alibaba, et. al), US auction websites, consumer education efforts
  • The role of U.S. Customs in the fight against counterfeiters – recordation procedures, supporting the effort, anti-counterfeit product design measures and markings, criminal investigations
  • Going to the Source – choice of manufacturer, managing legal and investigative actions against counterfeiters, pros and cons of joint actions

Who should attend: Anyone who has a successful product and is looking to address an existing or potential counterfeiting problem.

Presenter Bio: Mr. Starr is an Associate Attorney managing the Trademarks and Copyrights Department of The Nath Law Group. Mr. Starr’s practice involves all aspects of trademark, unfair competition and copyright law. Mr. Starr counsels clients on the registration, policing, enforcement, licensing and exploitation of their intellectual properties. Mr. Starr received his J.D. degree, with honors, from the George Washington University Law School, and his B.A. degree, with honors, from the University of Maryland.

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November 7, 2011

The Nath Law Group is proud to announce that Joshua Goldberg, Rob Burns, and Stan Protigal were selected to become founding Masters of the Pauline Newman IP American Inn of Court. The Inn is named after the Honorable Pauline Newman, Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, one of the most distinguished intellectual property judges in the country. The Pauline Newman IP American Inn of Court, because of its relation, both geographically and by focus, has a special connection to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The Inn has featured presentations from many prominent members of the IP community, including David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and Judges Richard Linn and Pauline Newman of the Federal Circuit.

The Inn focuses on three different key relationships for IP practitioners: bench-bar, USPTO-bar and bench-USPTO. Patent litigators, patent prosecutors, judges from the Eastern District of Virginia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and high ranking USPTO officials and administrative judges will work together to mentor others in the local IP community. The Inn provides an opportunity to gain experience and insight from member judges and experienced lawyers from among the best of the greater Alexandria IP community. Nationwide, The American Inns of Court actively involve more than 25,000 state, federal and administrative law judges, attorneys, legal scholars and law students.

August 19, 2010
David Starr will be a speaker at the American Marketing Association - DC Chapter’s seminar “Legal SIG: Protecting your Marketing Assets and Intellectual Property”. The event will focus on digital media, copyrights and trademarks, working with a legal team and working without a legal team.

July 2010
Nath Law Group Aids U.S. Anti-Counterfeiting Efforts
Carlsbad Business Journal
Carlsbad, CA
Category: Article

June 28, 2010
The Bilski Supreme Court Decision
The Supreme Court announced its decision on patentable subject matter last week in Bilski v. Kappos, 561 U.S. ___ (2010). The holding of the Supreme Court is that the C.A.F.C. went too far in promulgating that the machine-or-transformation test was the sole test in determining patentability under 35 U.S.C. §101. (Slip op. at pp. 6 – 7.) Rather, they held that the machine-or-transformation test, as has been interpreted for the last century and a half (see Gotschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 71 (1972); and O'Reilly v. Morse, 56 U.S. 62, 123 (1854)), is a clue toward patentability, but not the sole test. (Slip Op. at p. 8.) Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not set forth any bright line rule as to what constitutes patentable subject matter. In fact, a comparison of Justice Kennedy's opinion with Justice Stevens' concurring opinion would intimate that the Justices still differ on that question. While Justice Kennedy does not rule out patentability of business method patents (Slip Op. at pp. 10 – 11), in his concurring opinion, Justice Stevens opined that business methods, and not just abstract ideas, should not enjoy patentability at all. (Slip Op. at p. 15, Stevens, J. concurring.)

The full slip opinion can be found at www.supremecourt.gov/opinions

March 30, 2010
The Nath Law Group will host and present “Intellectual Property & the Web”. H. David Starr will lead a discussion on intellectual property and the web. His presentation will cover intellectual property rights, domain name rights versus trademark rights, keyword use of competitor trademarks, liability of website owners for hosting infringers, and the challenges of social media to intellectual property owners. The event is sponsored by DC Web Women.

DC Web Women (DCWW) is a not-for-profit organization that encourages and supports Washington-metro area women at all levels of their new media careers in fields of web development, web design, content development and online marketing.

For more information please contact H. David Starr at dstarr@nathlaw.com or 703-548-6284 x410

November 9, 2009

Fitness Brands Aggressively Pursuing Counterfeiters
Posted : Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:43:54 GMT
Author : Fitness Brands, Inc.
Category : Press Release

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ab Circle Pro is the number one home fitness product of the year, and you can’t turn on your TV or surf the web without seeing an offer to “Lose Your Love Handles” on this “Treadmill for your Abs.” Yet when a product sells this well, as with luxury watches and designer handbags, there are those who try to take advantage of the situation by selling counterfeit goods to unknowing consumers. “That’s where we put our foot down,” says Michael Casey, CEO of Fitness Brands, Inc., creators of the Ab Circle Pro.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091109/LA08424)

“Of course it’s harmful to us,” Casey continued, “but we’re more concerned about the prospect of harm to consumers and the fact that they are purchasing a product in good faith with our name on it and then receiving a lesser value.”

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, counterfeit and pirated goods seizures totaled more than $272.7 million last year, a 38 percent increase over the previous year.

Not only does this illegal practice hurt the company whose trademarked products are being copied and add to legal expenses, it’s harmful to the eventual buyers who can end up with an inferior product that is potentially dangerous and badly made. It also hurts companies in the supply chain of legitimate manufacturers and importers such as packaging vendors, shippers, retailers, secondary website retailers, and of course, the owners and employees of the company being cannibalized.

So far, customs agents have seized more than 13 shipments at the Long Beach/Los Angeles Seaport representing more than 10,000 counterfeit Ab Circle Pro units, and Fitness Brands is working closely with the U.S. Customs Service to pursue action against the importers as well as the manufacturers in China.

“We have worked hard at establishing protection for the Ab Circle Pro through a strategy of obtaining patents, trademarks and copyrights worldwide as well as a robust and effective approach to enforcing these rights,” stated Ross Epstein, Partner at The Nath Law Group, a boutique intellectual property law firm, “including these seizures at the port, pursuing infringers who advertise counterfeit products online, closely working with Fitness Brands and its distributors, tracking down the rogue factories and trading companies in China and pursuing companies and individuals that are importing counterfeit goods wherever the product is being sold."

China, the number one source country in 2008 for counterfeit goods seized, accounted for $221.6 million or 81 percent of the total domestic value of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) seizures. The value of seized counterfeits from China rose 40 percent compared to 2007. India came in second, accounting for six percent in the value of seized counterfeit goods.

“We will continue to aggressively pursue the counterfeiters and cooperate with the authorities to see that they are punished,” added Casey. “It’s wrong and we’re not going to just stand by and let it happen."

SOURCE Fitness Brands, Inc.

October 2009

  • The Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc. names Gary M. Nath as its Corporate Secretary for the 2009–2010 Board of Trustees.

October 20, 2009
Joshua Goldberg, Partner and David Starr, Trademark Department Manager will host and present “How to Protect (and Profit from) Your Intellectual Property”. Entrepreneurs, small business owners and inventors will learn how to identify, protect and profit from their intellectual property assets. This event is sponsored by Yes!Circle.

Yes!Circle is a community of entrepreneurs in all stages of business development, based in Washington, D.C.

Pre-registration is encouraged as space is limited.

For more information please contact David Starr at dstarr@nathlaw.com.

September 24, 2009
The San Diego Area Office celebrated its induction as a member of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.

August 2009

July 2009

  • Gulnaz Tursunbek, Attorney in the Trademarks and Copyrights Department, is now resident in the San Diego Area Office.

June 2009

April 2009

  • Robert T. Burns joins NLG as a Patent Attorney in the Electrical, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering Department.
  • Gregory G. Bennett successfully passed the USPTO Patent Bar Exam and is now a Patent Attorney. He is licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

January 2009
Joshua Goldberg is elected as a Manager of the Chemical Society of Washington chapter of the American Chemical Society.

Washington DC Area
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