Announcements

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.
  • Laurie Axford is named as a San Diego Business Journal’s 16th Annual Women Who Mean Business Nominee. This award recognizes dynamic women business leaders and role models, selected for their achievements and contributions to San Diego.

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

  • On August 6th, H. David Starr presented “The Legal Side of Branding: Legal Considerations in Adopting and Selecting a Trademark” to the American Marketing Association — DC Chapter. He led a discussion on the process of selecting, registering, and protecting trademarks.
  • On August 4th, Ross Epstein will present “Negotiating International Partnerships and Alliances” at the Middle East Entrepreneur Training Alumni Conference (MEET) as part of the UC San Diego Rady School of Management Entrepreneur Development Program in Istanbul, Turkey

July 2009

  • Brooks Gifford III joins NLG as a Patent Attorney in the Electrical, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering Department and is resident in the San Diego Area Office.
  • 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.
  • Frederick E. Wolf joins NLG as a Registered Patent Agent in the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Department.
  • Sungyeop Chung is now a Registered Patent Agent in the Electrical, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering Department. He is licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Patent Cases.
  • 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.

February 2009
On February 27th, Derek Richmond will be a speaker at the Lawrence Technological University Workshop: Invention to Venture. This workshop will cover the basics of technology entrepreneurship. Mr. Richmond will lead the discussion on Issues in Intellectual Property Licensing.

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

January 1, 2009
Derek Richmond becomes a Partner of the Firm in the Electrical, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering Department.

December 4, 2008
Brian Sun joins NLG as an Attorney in the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Department and is resident in the San Diego Area Office.

December 1, 2008
NLG opens a new office in Research Triangle Park, NC. Joshua Goldberg is the Managing Partner of the North Carolina Office.

November 22, 2008
Derek Richmond will present a lecture to NSBE engineers on introducing patent prosecution and enforcement during the NSBE Regional Conference in Detroit, MI. He will address the benefits of patenting to the engineer, the engineer’s employer and the entrepreneur.

October 2008

  • Laurie A. Axford joins NLG as a Partner in the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Department. She is resident in the San Diego area office.
  • Gulnaz Tursunbek joins NLG as an Associate in the Trademarks and Copyrights Department.
  • William E. Beaumont joins NLG as a Partner in the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Department.

September 2008

  • Suzanne E. Ziska, Ph.D. joins NLG in the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Department.
  • Gregory G. Bennett joins NLG as an associate in the Trademarks and Copyrights Department.

May 12, 2008
Robert M. Joynes joins NLG as an associate patent attorney in the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Department.

April 22, 2008
Derek Richmond lectured to Entrepreneurship students and faculty at Lawrence Technological University on the benefits of Intellectual Property. He provided an introduction to patents, trademarks and copyrights, patent prosecution and enforcement strategies.

February 29, 2008
Derek Richmond was an Intellectual Property Round Table Panel Speaker during the Technology Entrepreneurship "Invention to Venture" Workshop. The panel discussed domestic and international patenting process and the effect on the entrepreneur and how to plan for and use intellectual property in the first stages of business operation as well as over extended periods of time.

October 18 2007
Vancouver, British Columbia - Members of the Licensing Executives Society (LES) (U.S. and Canada), Inc. elected Gary M. Nath as Vice President for Membership, Mentoring and Sponsorship and Ross A. Epstein as a Member of the Board of Trustees, and, as Chair of the Sponsorship Committee. Mr. Nath and Mr. Epstein continue to serve as International Delegates to the Licensing Executives Society International (LESI).

LES, established in 1965, is a professional society of more than 6,000 members in the U.S. and Canada, and 12,000 members worldwide having a presence in 87 countries, who are engaged in the development, use, transfer, marketing and management of intellectual property.

September 13, 2007
In his role as AUTM Vice President for Affiliates, Lee C. Heiman was a Speaker at the joint U.S. Chamber of Commerce/U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Conference on Innovation and Intellectual Property Asset Evaluation for the People’s Republic of China State Intellectual Property Office. Go to the Presentations and Publications section for a copy of his presentation.

August 27, 2007
Lee C. Heiman becomes a member of the Steering Committee of the Maryland Chapter of LES (U.S. and Canada), Inc.

August 24, 2007
The US Patent and Trademark Office announces revisions to the fees to be charged for fiscal year 2007. The Federal Register Notice specifies only those fees which will change from the current charge, and a complete fee schedule will be published nearer the effective date. The new fees take effect October 1, 2007. For a copy of the USPTO announcement in the Federal Register, click here.

August 7, 2007
Robert P. Cogan is a panelist on IP & Patents for Art, Technology, and Entertainment at SIGGRAPH 2007 in San Diego, CA. SIGGRAPH 2007: 25,000 creators and users of computer graphics and interactive techniques in San Diego for the international digital community’s largest exhibition.

July 9, 2007
Jonathan A. Kidney joins NLG as an associate patent attorney in the Electrical, Chemical and Mechanical Engineering Department

Washington DC Area
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San Diego Area
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Research Triangle Park Area
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