Category: Design

Advertising, Branding, Business, Design, Infringement, Law, Trademarks

Ping® By Adlerlaw – The Importance of Trademarks for Lighting Designers.

A recent Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decision is noteworthy for the lighting-design industry. This trademark application rejection sheds light on strategies for lighting designers seeking to protect their trademarks. This begins with the approach to the application process itself. 

In In re B-K Lighting, Inc., Serial No. 88769422 (January 27, 2023) [not precedential], the USPTO refused to register “AGI2” for “lighting fixtures,” finding confusion likely with the registered mark “AGI & Design” for lights, lighting assemblies, and light fixtures for architectural signage. As is often the case, applicant B-K Lighting was left scrambling to distinguish its trademark from the cited “AGI & Design” registration. The TTAB’s analysis of nature and relatedness of the goods, the trade channels, and the classes of purchasers, may be helpful to other brands in the lighting industry when trying to protect their trademarks.

Read the full article here.

Business, Contracts, Design

Ping® By Adlerlaw – Illinois Evidence Rules on Admissibility of Cell Phone Video

This month’s issue of Ping® highlights Illinois rules regarding use of iPhone-recorded video in a criminal trial. In case you missed it, my article, “Six Things You Can Do to Improve Your Contracts,” from ASID Impact Illinois Magazine, Issue Two, 2022, is discussed below.

Six Things You Can Do to Improve Your Contracts.

In case you missed it, my article “Six Things You Can Do to Improve Your Contracts” appeared in ASID Impact Illinois Magazine, Issue Two 2022, pages 22-24.

Here’s a quick summary.

If you have questions about your business, or about contracts, or if you need assistance navigating the process, please feel to contact me for more information. (866)734-2568 and David [at] adler-law.com

Illinois Rules About iPhone-Recorded Video in a Criminal Trial.

Cell Phone Video. We all have it. We all use it. But what if we need to rely on it in a Court of law to prove – or disprove – a version of the story that’s being told.

We all know how easy it is to fake video and there’s a whole category that’s so credible is hard to prove it’s fake. A free press should tell the truth. But as Pontius Pilate asked, “What is truth?” Who decides what is true? And who should compel the press to “tell the truth”? 

In his article, “Illinois Supreme Court Rules on Admissibility of Cell Phone Videos,” Criminal Law FLASHPOINTS, January 2023, author Matthew R. Leisten of the Ogle County State’s Attorney’s Office, discusses People v. Smith, 2022 IL 127946, an Illinois Supreme Court case upholding the state’s use of iPhone-recorded partial video clips from a building’s surveillance cameras in a burglary trial. Read more here.

Business, Contracts, Design, Entrepreneurs, Law, Legislation, llinois, New York

Ping® by AdlerLaw July 2022 – Recent State Laws in Illinois & New York Affect Contractors, Interior Designers

This month’s issue of Ping® highlights recent changes in State laws in Illinois and New York. Effective January 1, 2023, Illinois joins at least 18 other states to have a Title Act authorizing Registered Interior Designers to seal any bound set or loose sheets of technical submissions. This change can only benefit everyone in the industry including, designers, tradespersons, and most importantly, consumers. Also noteworthy is New York’s legislative approval of NY State Senate Bill S8369B relating to protections for freelance workers. The Freelance Isn’t Free Act (the “Act”) if signed, would amend the New York Labor Law to establish rights for covered freelance workers such as the rights to receive a written contract, receive timely and full payment, and freedom from retaliation. 

Illinois: Legislation relating to Registration & the Scope of Practice of Interior Designers

Effective January 1, 2023, Illinois joins at least 18 other states to have a Title Act authorizing Registered Interior Designers to seal any bound set or loose sheets of technical submissions. This change can only benefit everyone in the industry, designers, tradespersons and most importantly, consumers as it will expedite some customary but often needlessly duplicated tasks.

The Title Act puts no stumbling blocks before those who wish be interior designers. These statutory provisions and rules do not regulate the practice of interior design – anyone can offer to provide and provide interior design services in Illinois. The Illinois act only regulates the use of a specific title – “Illinois Registered Interior Designer.”

Illinois is one of 19 states, including neighboring Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, that have voluntary title registration for interior designers with no permitting authority. In addition, 21 other states, including Michigan, have no title laws or permitting authority for interior designers at all. Proponents of regulating interior design submit that interior designer registration requires industry recognized credentialing and rigorous testing.

If you have questions about the Act’s application to your business, or about the pros/cons of becoming a Registered Interior Designer, or if you need assistance navigating the credentialing process, please feel to contact me for more information. (866)734-2568 and David [at] adler-law.com.

New York: State Legislature Approves Statutory Protections For Independent Contractors

New York’s legislative approval of NY State Senate Bill S8369B relating to protections for freelance workers. The Freelance Isn’t Free Act, if signed, would amend the New York Labor Law to establish rights for covered freelance workers such as the rights to receive a written contract, receive timely and full payment, and freedom from retaliation. 

The Act establishes protections for certain freelance workers providing services for entities located in the City. The New York State Legislature had earlier this month approved a bill providing similar protections to freelance workers throughout the state. If signed by the Governor, the Act will take effect 180 days after signing and apply to contracts entered into with certain independent contractors on or after that effective date. The Act mirrors the City-specific text in almost all respects and amends the New York Labor Law to establish protections for covered freelance workers, including establishing rights for covered freelance workers such as the rights to receive a written contract, receive timely and full payment, and freedom from retaliation.

Independent Contractors

If you or your business is contracted to perform specific work for an “employer,” according to your own process, using your own resources, and outside the daily control of the employer, you are an independent contractor. Independent contractors are not considered employees. This creates risk and benefits for both parties. Considered self-employed, independent contractors do not receive most of the rights and benefits that employees receive from employers or by virtue of federal and state employment laws, particularly the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition, independent contractors are responsible for paying all applicable federal, state and local taxes from the income you receive. However, civil rights law does apply to independent contractors in their relationship to employers. Independent contractors go by many names, including, freelancer, contractor, or consultant.

However, unlike an employee, the terms of the relationship between an independent contractor and the employer are subject to negotiation and may not always be presumed or mutually understood. For example, the terms of your work assignment, and who owns the finished (or in process) work product. For example, if you are a photographer working as an independent contractor, you retain the copyright to your photos even after delivering it to the employer, unless you have a written agreement explicitly stating the services are “work-made-for-hire,” specially commissioned, or otherwise assigned away. As an independent contractor, you will be paid according to the terms of your agreement, not according to the employer’s customary payroll. One of the biggest challenges for independent contractors is getting paid, but these risks can be addressed by properly considering  this issue prior to commencing work.

Focus | Vision | Perspective | Passion

Executives and creative professionals face an often confusing and dynamic set of challenges trying to ensure that their business remains legally compliant. Yet few can afford the highly-qualified and versatile legal staff needed to deal with today’s complex and inconstant legal and regulatory environment.

Adler Law Group is a boutique Entertainment, Intellectual Property & Media law firm created with a specific mission in mind: to provide businesses with a competitive advantage by enabling them to leverage their intangible assets and creative content in a way that drives innovation and increases the overall value of the business. Although we are a highly-specialized law firm, we counsel on a broad range of interconnected issues by leveraging synergies created where Intellectual Property Law, Contract Law and Corporate Law overlap.We approach our relationship with each client as a true partnership and we view our firm as an extension of their capabilities. Our primary value is our specialization on relevant and complex issues that maintain the leading edge for our clients. We invite you to learn more about the services we offer and how we differ.

Business, Contracts, Corporate Law, Design, Entrepreneurs, Fashion Design, interior design

Ping® Webinar: 5 Things Every Design Contract Needs

I want to give a big thanks to Houzz PRO for hosting this webinar.

This program covered: 

–The five key problem areas in design contracts 

–What the key terms of a contract should be, why they are there and when they should be changed 

–Rights & Remedies: what a designer can do if a client is not living up to his/her side of the deal.

Read More Here.

Advertising, Affiliate Marketing, Branding, Business, Content Development, Creative Content, Design, Entertainment, Evidence, furniture, Law, Marketing, Patent, Strategy, Trademarks

Ping® – Arts, Entertainment, Media and Advertising Law News – Protecting Furniture Design Keeps Getting Harder

Herman Miller, Inc. – a leading furniture brand and purveyor of the iconic Eames Chair Design – suffered a loss at US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) in its bid to protect as “trade dress” the design of the chair. The case involves a well-known chair design dating from the 1940’s, by designers Ray and Charles Eames. The chair ultimately was recognized by Time Magazine as the Best Design of the 20th Century, and now is in the design collections of numerous museums. Herman Miller sought registration of most of the chair’s configuration as a mark, depicted in more than one view, for “furniture, namely, chairs.”

The court weighed each of the Morton-Norwich factors, concluding that the proposed three-dimensional product configuration as a whole indicates that it is functional. The court found that patent evidence, the advertisements touting utilitarian advantages of the design, and the limited availability of alternative designs that would work equally well, proved functionality.

Key Take Aways:

  1. Beware of patent evidence in trade dress protection due to risk that distinctive design elements be treated as de jure functional. In general, examining attorneys no longer make this distinction in Office actions that refuse registration based on functionality. De facto functionality is not a ground for refusal. In re Ennco Display Sys. Inc., 56 USPQ2d 1279, 1282 (TTAB 2000); In re Parkway Mach. Corp., 52 USPQ2d 1628, 1631 n.4 (TTAB 1999).
  2. Ensure that advertising promotes the nonfunctional design elements, such “look for” advertising. Examples include evidence, including SEO data, that connected the applicant’s efforts to promote the applied-for mark as a trademark and consumers’ ability to conceive of the applied-for mark as such, and examples of unsolicited media coverage

Advertising, Branding, Contracts, Copyright, Corporate Law, Design, Strategy, Uncategorized

You’re Invited to LAUNCH: Client Contracts 2.0

Contracts

DATE: Wednesday, June 29
TIME: 9:30AM to 11:30AM
LOCATION: New York Design Center, Conference Room
ADDRESS: 200 Lexington Avenue, NYC

Have you ever had a client refuse to pay a bill, not give you credit for your work, or use your design scheme without hiring you? As loathsome as these situations sound, the reality is that they happen more often than we like to admit. The best way to avoid these issues is to arm yourself with an airtight contract. For this task, we’ve enlisted David Adler, a Chicago-based lawyer who understands the ins and outs of the design industry, to serve as your legal expert for the morning. He will address some of the biggest risk factors interior designers face today and how your contract can (and more importantly, should) cover you. You’ll leave with a better understanding of how you can tighten up your existing contract so you don’t have to learn the hard way.

Register for the event here.

Advertising, Branding, Contracts, Copyright, Creative Content, Design, Entrepreneurs, Fashion, Fashion Design, Internet, Law, Patent, Small Business, Trademarks, Uncategorized

Launch Designer Workshops By EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Contracts

Contracts for Interior Design Professionals

This crash course on legal contracts is designed for interior designers who are drafting a contract for the first time or wanting to make an existing one airtight.

There’s a reason you became a designer, and it probably didn’t have anything to do with lawyers and contracts.

You’re the expert in color, fabric, floor plans, and furniture schemes, not intellectual property and arbitration provisions. If you’re already confused, don’t fret. This crash course is designed for those drafting a contract for the first time or wanting to make an existing one airtight. Led by David Adler, an actual lawyer who understands the ins and outs of the design industry, this workshop will cover the clauses you need to protect yourself in the unfortunate event that something doesn’t work out as planned. Clients can be difficult enough. Don’t let legal trouble slow you down.

In this class, you will learn how to:

  • Define what you are doing for your client, as well as NOT doing for them
  • Make sure you get paid on time and in full
  • Protect yourself against outside factors that may affect cost and ability to complete a project
  • Give yourself a way to get out of your contract if things aren’t working

By the end of class, you will have:

  • A basic understanding of key contract terms and the reasons as to why they are there
  • A basic client agreement that you can use or customize

The Instructor, David Adler, is an attorney, nationally-recognized speaker, and founder of a boutique law practice focused on serving the needs of creative professionals in the areas of intellectual property, media, and entertainment law. He provides advice on choosing business structures, protecting creative concepts and ideas through copyright, trademark, related intellectual property laws and contracts, and structuring professional relationships. He has 17 years experience practicing law, including drafting and negotiating complex contracts and licenses with Fortune 500 companies, advising on securities laws (fundraising) and corporate governance, prosecuting and defending trademark applications, registrations, oppositions, and cancellations before the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), and managing outside counsel. Currently recognized as an Illinois SuperLawyer® in the areas of Media and Entertainment Law, he was also a “Rising Star” for three years prior. He received his law degree from DePaul University College of Law in 1997 and a double BA in English and History from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Outside the practice of law, David is an Adjunct Professor of Music Law at DePaul College of Law, formerly chaired the Chicago Bar Association’s Media and Entertainment Law Committee, and is currently a member of the Illinois State Bar Association Intellectual Property Committee.

Advertising, Branding, Certification Marks, Content Development, Copyright, Creative Content, Design, Entertainment, Fashion, Fashion Design, Fashion Law, Infringement, Law, Litigation, Marketing, Media, Patent, Photography, Strategy, Trademarks

Owning Design: Protecting Original Design in an Age of Knock-Offs

A presentation on what goes into creating original designs and how these differ from copycats.

WHERE: Decoration & Design Building, J. Robert Scott Showroom, Suite 220

WHEN: Wednesday, October 2,2013 !2 p.m.

WHAT: From film to fashion, creative industries are taking steps to protect and promote original work. Designers and manufacturers need to know what steps they can take to protect their designs, their businesses, and their profits. The discussion will address issues related to how to protect original design (copyright & design patent) and the manufacturers (trademark, unfair competition).

WHO:

INTERIORS Magazine Editorial Director Michael Wollaeger

J. Robert Scott Founder Sally Sirkin Lewis

Designer Laura Kirar [Web Site]

Intellectual Property lawyer David Adler

Showroom reception to follow.

 

Download the full Fall Decoration & Design Building Market Brochure Here.

Authentication, Branding, Copyright, Creative Content, Design, Entrepreneurs, Fashion, Fashion Design, Fashion Law, Infringement, Law, Litigation, Marketing, Patent, Strategy, Trademarks

Copycat Conundrum: Tips For Protecting Original Furniture & Textile Designs

On October 2, 2013, I will be attending the Decoration & Design Building Fall Market where I am giving a presentatIon on protecting original furniture & textile designs. Those in attendance share a belief that style and design matter.

As designers and purveyors of good taste, you may spend months developing a concept, selecting materials, agonizing over the exact curve of the arm of a chair. Manufacturers may refine the design, invest in tooling to build it, promote it, and get it to market. Merchandise buyers may spend months reading, researching, attending events such as this to obtain and fill your showrooms and catalogue with ineffable elements of style. This is original, authentic design. Authentic designs—pieces produced by designers or their authorized manufacturers—are investments.

Therein lies the problem for today’s furniture designers and retailers. It takes intellectual and financial capital to conceive, create and produce good design. Yet, today’s consumer driven, price-focused economy is making it more and more difficult for a designer to protect and profit from the investment of this intellectual capital.

This presentation will focus on why certain designs are protectable, how to protect them, and how to defend against knock-offs.

Advertising, Authentication, Cloud, cloud computing, Compliance, Computing, Content Development, Copyright, Creative Content, cybersecurity, Data, data privacy, Design, enterprise, Entrepreneurs, Evidence, Finance, FTC, Infringement, Internet, Law, Legislation, Litigation, Marketing, Media, Mobile, Networks, Patriot Act, Platforms, Privacy, Regulation, Regulatory Compliance, SaaS, Security, Small Business, Social Media, Start-ups, Strategy, Technology

In U.S. Regulators, Legislators Fill Privacy Void

Over the last few years privacy, and the lack of comprehensive protection, have made numerous headlines. From overly inquisitive mobile applications that fail to disclose how cell photo data is accessed and shared (Path) to handset manufacturers failures to properly inculcate privacy in the design and manufacturing process (HTC) to security lapses at government databases resulting in exposure of sensitive personal information (South Carolina), consumers, regulators and legislators are waking up to privacy issues.

Recent developments highlight the trend in Privacy

In the U.S. we lack a single comprehensive privacy law, although many state and federal laws address various aspects of collecting, storing and sharing personal information. In the absence of a single, over-arching, mandate, legislators and regulators are stepping into fill at perceived need.

GPS, Location & Privacy

The Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance (GPS) Act addresses use of location data by law enforcement. The bill (not yet law) requires police to obtain a warrant based on probable cause whenever it seeks “location information.” Unfortunately, the term “location information” is very broadly defined, does not distinguish requests for access based on the level of precision, time period, or whether the information is for past or future conduct.

Proposed Federal Privacy Standards

Two bills introduced this year aim to create a baseline level of privacy protection at the federal level. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced S. 799, the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011, to create a regulatory framework for the comprehensive protection of personal data for individuals, enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Similarly, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) is promoting a Consumer Privacy Protection Act (H.R.1528), directed at consumers and focused on restricting the sale or disclosure of personal information.

FTC Protects Privacy Under Mantle of Consumer Protection

As a result of alleged data security failures that led to three data breaches at Wyndham hotels in less than two years, the Federal Trade Commission filed suit against hospitality company Wyndham Worldwide Corporation. The case against Wyndham is part of the FTC’s ongoing efforts to make sure that companies live up to the promises they make about privacy and data security.

Wyndham’s web site privacy policy claimed that, “We recognize the importance of protecting the privacy of individual-specific (personally identifiable) information collected about guests, callers to our central reservation centers, visitors to our Web sites, and members participating in our Loyalty Program …”

The FTC complaint alleges that Wyndham failed to maintain adequate and industry standard security measures by storing credit-card information in unencrypted format, allowing servers to remain unpatched, and failing to use firewalls.

The FTC alleges that these failures led to fraudulent charges on consumers’ accounts, millions of dollars in fraud loss, and the export of hundreds of thousands of consumers’ payment card account information to an Internet domain address registered in Russia.

Most notably, the lawsuit will test whether the Federal Trade Commission has the jurisdiction to compel companies to provide a certain level of cybersecurity in order to safeguard consumer personal information.

Privacy Remains Top Concern

Many companies across many industries, financial services, higher education and healthcare, just to name a few, are facing a wide range of security and privacy concerns, scrambling to implement A defensible security framework and demonstrate compliance. It’s alarming, considering the significant consequences associated with not complying.

Organizations can lose contracts, customers and their reputation. That could put some out of business.

Compliance Preparation & Best Practices

Large organizations can spend many months and millions of dollars on compliance. Your business need not go to such extremes. To prevent getting caught by surprise and to prepare for the compliance journey, I’ve listed below some suggested best practices.

Periodic risk assessments. Evaluate potential damage and disruption caused by unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification, or destruction of data or systems.

Policies and procedures. Incorporate procedures for detecting, reporting, and responding to security incidents, as well as business continuity plans.

Standardize. Set standards of acceptable information security for networks, facilities, and information systems.

Train Employees. Awareness training for employees, contractors, and other users of information systems is critical. Articulate the security risks associated with activities and define users’ responsibility for complying with policies and procedures.

Test & Evaluate. Periodic assessment of the effectiveness of information security policies, procedures, practices, and controls helps determine weak spots. At a minimum they should be conducted annually, according to Ford.

Respond & Repair. Have a pre-defined process for planning, implementing, evaluating, and documenting remedial actions designed to address legal, PR, HR and related risks in the event of a breach.

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. The procedures outlined above are merely suggestions and there is no guarantee that implementation will reduce risk or mitigate liability.

Please contact Leavens, Strand, Glover & Adler at 866-734-2568 for a free consultation to learn how LSGA can help meet your specific needs.