Shownotes
Ok get ready for the details. Yes it’s all in the details. Ann does a great job of working me through the particulars of each of the Intellectual property types. While there is always human interpretation, generally you can use these guidelines to decide when to get professional help. Hint… If you are building a brand, get help immediately and save yourself future headaches and likely issues.
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Ann C. Palma
312-913-2118 direct
Ann’s Law Firm – McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP
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Transcript: (note- this is a new tool I am trying out so it is not perfect- it does seem to be getting better)
Ann: [00:00:00] Here, which with the Internet, it’s much easier for people to infringe, um, and it’s sometimes easier to, to catch them doing so, but it can be difficult as well. I know that some major companies, when you think of a Time Warner and companies such as that have dedicated departments to monitoring their copyrighted materials.
Speaker 2: [00:00:34] Steven feeders in
Stephen: [00:00:39] hey wanting to jump in. A couple of things. First off, I got to put a disclaimer on this episode of four and then you’re going to hear in Palma talk through a lawyer who talks to a whole bunch of stuff. It gets very technical for me to. I can understand it because that’s the way I think is if I don’t understand it, there were other people that probably don’t understand it. So I asked her to go deep and I, I parsed, I pushed on a bunch of things and one I was asking about Google ad words and so her answer was it was, it was legal. Now she did qualify it and I want to make sure that her answer gets corrected for her. I’m really what she’s saying is that it’s still being disputed, so it’s really not perfectly conclusive that it’s legal in some cases it’s not.
Stephen: [00:01:26] And so it’s really being disputed. So really, you know, take that answer and, and adjust it and just say, hey, don’t be. So that’s when you get council. That’s why you need council. And again, that’s what you talked to. Okay. Disclaimers out there and you should be all good. Got You. Represented right. Um, I do want to talk about two sponsors though. I don’t want to miss this because I use both of them this week and I just always think that it’s better when you can give real life examples. So the first one said when I first went, I want to talk about is solutions four ecommerce solutions, the number for ecommerce. Um, that’s Karen lockers group and I’ve been a customer of carrots I guess for a couple of years. And I use it all the time. I mean, I don’t, I mean I’m embarrassed to say I don’t create my own listings.
Stephen: [00:02:10] Karen’s group does and sometimes Karen herself does. And the case that I used her this week was for a bundle, wanted to create a bundle and it’s bad news, it didn’t work. But man, she went extra mile, like spent almost two days on it trying to get this done. And it turns out the brand, you can’t do that. You can, it was a toy and they would not allow it. They rejected it twice actually I think three times. But she tried all, I mean to go above and beyond. That’s why I use Karen Locker Service. That’s the service that I get. Um, and so, you know, to go above and beyond and basically, you know, I’m sending her stuff to create listings for me. And then in this case it was a bundle which just didn’t work. And she went for the exemption and they said no. And then she tried it again.
Stephen: [00:02:54] They said no. So I appreciate the effort and if I would have spent that much time in q four, I mean it would have crushed me. That’s why I bring somebody on the team and that’s why we have a solutions. The number for ECOMMERCE, I’m on our team and so, you know, if you’re interested in that service and you’re gonna pay the same price I am, but you get to say 50 bucks. I don’t get to save 50 bucks. I got to say something to her, I don’t get to save 50 bucks. Um, but if you go to solutions, the number four e-commerce dot com, forward slash momentum, you’re going to save 50 bucks and she’s going to do an inventory health report for you. The only place you’re going to get the inventory health report, and let’s face it, if you’re getting monthly storage fees and longterm storage fees, yes, we all are every month from now on, it’s an opportunity to get your inventory in order, save some money, but save the 50 bucks.
Stephen: [00:03:46] So again, solutions number four, e-commerce dot com, forward slash momentum. Tell Karen I sent you the second sponsor I want to talk about is scope. And you know, I know I talk about them a lot us because they use him a lot. And so we did wholesale, um, uh, we expanded some wholesale, we added some variations in and so we added some other things. And so what we do is we just, you know, do the reverse ace and lookup and get out there and take a look and see our competitor, what they’re doing, why are they having so much success? And so by, uh, using scope and doing that reverse lookup, you get the opportunity to, um, to have that benefit. So if you go to seller labs.com, forward slash momentum, a port such scope, excuse me, I’m sorry, forward slash scope. Use the code momentum and you’re going to say 50 bucks.
Stephen: [00:04:36] I love that. $50, Ken, to tell, I always ask for a $50 savings. So use that code momentum and you’re going to save 50 bucks and it’s going to help you find the high traffic keywords. Keywords are important, um, you’ll hear people talk about them all the time, but you want high traffic, you want to make sure it’s a competitive market right now. You’ve got to make sure you have the right things working for you. So again, that’s why I use it and I use it this week and it was also. Let’s get into the podcast. Welcome back to the ECOMMERCE momentum podcast. This is episode 364 and Palma. Okay. Nerds get ready for your speak. Uh, we have a fellow nerd coming in to talk to us about all that fun legal Ip issues and I’m very cool lady who clearly knows what she’s talking about and a real calm way.
Stephen: [00:05:26] And I love it. I love how to be honest with you. I have a presentation that she had done her, another gentleman and it’s just so easy to understand and I really appreciate that, that they’re not dumbing it down, they’re just trying to make it a little clear and it’s muddy waters. And Jill even been talking about how muddy it is sometimes because there’s know individual interpretations, but they do a decent job of making it relatively clear. So I have some of the slides on this episode come out and check out on the website, but we talk about patents and a trademarks and copyrights and, and when it’s right, when it’s not. When you should do it yourself, when you shouldn’t do it yourself and you, you know, of course you probably shouldn’t do it yourself more than you should, um, but then they also have a new thing where, you know, you can do quite a bit of it and then they can help take a look at it and help take it to the right way all the way to the edge.
Stephen: [00:06:17] And I think that’s really important too. So let’s get into podcasts. Really, really cool stuff. All right. Welcome back to the ECOMMERCE momentum podcast. We’re excited about today’s guest, um, because I think it’s, it’s a fresh perspective for most of us. Most of us have never heard of our guest. Um, we’ve heard from some other attorneys give you a little clue and, and they have a point of view, but you know, what I find with most attorneys, it’s an interpretation and it’s a point of view and some are willing to push the envelope a little bit more. Some are not. Some are really geared to keep you on the straight and narrow so you don’t have to defend your position. Um, and I think that’s the best place to play. Um, and I’m hopeful that our guests today and Palma can help us do that. Welcome man.
Ann: [00:07:01] Alright, thanks for having me.
Stephen: [00:07:02] I appreciate you coming on. Now, let’s just first get to your practice, uh, that where you focus is in copyrights, trademarks and patents, correct?
Ann: [00:07:14] That’s correct.
Stephen: [00:07:16] Okay, now I’m going to call you a nerd. Why? I mean you got to be reading that most minutiae stuff. I mean you don’t, I mean, was that your, like your goal is like, hey man, I’m going to, I’m going to be reading contracts and just awful minutia stuff forever. Was that, is that what you’re going to do?
Ann: [00:07:34] Hundred percent, you know, and it even started before that. Oh, you’re a real nerd nerd. When I was an Undergrad I, um, came in as a biology major and then I had a dream about calculus one night and decided that I missed math. So I switched my degree to chemistry and pursued a degree in chemistry.
Stephen: [00:07:54] Okay. All right. So, uh, that’s definitely nerdy. And what was it? I mean, it’s interesting you say that because what was it for a calculus that you missed? It was it. Was it the. The challenge? What was it?
Ann: [00:08:11] It’s funny. It’s almost the, the yes and no black and white that I missed the having an answer which as an attorney we get zero of. So it’s interesting that I made the switch to law, but.
Stephen: [00:08:23] So you wanted absolutes. I mean that’s what was exciting for you, right? To like you said, black or white. The answer is there. I can. If the. If it doesn’t work then I did something wrong. Then we figured out, let me figure it out and then boom, I got it.
Ann: [00:08:35] Exactly. It’s a puzzle and I know that puzzle was an answer and and, and that is probably where the law side comes in is everything that I faced as a puzzle and there may not be the black and white answer that math provides, but there is an answer that you can, you can come to
Stephen: [00:08:53] generally. Right? I mean, for the most part, other than external, I always say this, there are a lot of external forces like what you saw on Amazon. Well guess what? Amazon is going to do what’s right for them and it’s not always logical because there’s so many, you know, humans, there’s what, half a million employees, so I guess what somebody’s going to make a decision different than what you and I think and therefore somebody’s going to win somebody’s gotTa lose outside of my control. I can do everything right, and yet they still could mess it up. They make mistakes just like you do. Right? And so in law to me, I always sit back and I think generally it’s, you know, speed limits the speed limit unless there’s extenuating circumstances. Right? And that’s where it’s interpretation. I’m one of the things that I’ve seen or I’ve now the, the, the news, whether it’s fake or not, I don’t know that it is or not, but they call it legislating from the bench in, in the field that you’re in copyrights, trademarks and patents. Right? Generally the laws were written, I don’t know how long ago and it’s still. Yeah. So, so is that, what’s happening is they’re kind of legislating from the bench because it’s not all been, you know, especially like, like ecommerce for example, that didn’t happen back when they wrote most of the laws. Right?
Ann: [00:10:07] Absolutely. That’s the case. So Congress, well, we’ll draft a lie with certain language and then it’s up to the courts to interpret that language and those interpretations change over time. Um, and when I say that laws are still being written, at least on the patent side in 2012, there was a whole new set of laws that were enacted and so we are still figuring out how those law should be interpreted
Stephen: [00:10:33] when I’m thinking about this too. Like I have a friend who’s a, he’s a da here now. Um, and he retired and then the...