The Questions: Explain why these are of interest to you. What specific concepts and terms were involved – in other words, what are the legal issues?

Student Name C.J. Jones
Class BUS250H Contracts, Negotiations and Copyrights
Lawyer’s Name: Erin Barnett
District or Firm’s Name: Marquis & Aurbach

Problems in fashion that concern me:


1.If I worked for a company and created a design pattern, who owns that design pattern? "Under a trade secret license, ownership of the trade secret remains with the original owner."
2.What are your rights when a company you were fired from takes your ideas off of the company computer and sells them? " Normally in order for someone to reproduce, perform, or distribute a copyrighted work, permissison must be obtained from the copyright owner. However, in a few circumstances a copyright owner's permission is not required."
3.If I create a design pattern for a company that I work for, can I sell that design pattern as my own?"One common type of license provides the owner with a royalty based on a percentage of the retail or wholesale price of each item sold that takes advantage of the trade secret."
4.If I sell a product on eBay and the buyer that purchased my product switched good parts for bad parts then claimed that the item I sent them was DOA or NON FUNCTIONAL, what can happen to the buyer if they are caught or I have proof that the parts were swapped?
5.If someone stole my idea and I have all the digital media to prove it was my work, is this a possible case in court? Can I sue the company my stolen work was sold to?
6.If a company fired you in order to sell your ideas, is that unlawful termination?
7.If I create a fashion design and displayed it at a trade show, and someone took that design and sold it as their own, can I sue that party and what are my chances of recovering my design? "A lawsuit brought against someone who uses a copyrighted expression without permission is commonly known as infringement action."
8.If I am fired from a company that I created a design for can I take that design with me?
9.Can packaging look exactly the same as other products on a retail shelf (ex. Medicine products Color, Shape, Look). **EXCLUDES the name.
10.Can you sue a company that advertises a commercial which sells a product that has a disclaimer at the bottom but don’t give you enough time to read the disclaimer and it ends up affecting your life or puts you in burden? "unenforceable patent-the patent claims are vague and indefinite of falsely marketing an invention."

Legal Authority: How I made contact, found this person and why they are a good choice.

The Law Firm I chose to interview was Marquis& Aurbach Attorneys at Law. I just walked in to an attorney’s office that was near my residence, after all the phone calls and walk-ins to other firms that gave me the run around the best attorney’s office for my needs was right around the corner. The counselor I spoke with was Erin Barnett, Erin specializes in Intellectual Property Law"Intellectual Property laws, along with court decisions and regulations, establish rules for the following activities: selling,licensing of intellectual property,resolving disputes between companies making or selling similar intellectual property." which is why I chose this firm I asked Erin a series of ten questions referring to the fashion industry. Erin was more than happy to oblige my needs as a student and as a future client after my graduation. I look forward to working with the Marquis & Aurbach in the future they were knowledgeable and friendly, yet assertive and very professional. I felt like I was in good hands. With the experience I encountered with several of the other firms I contacted with their unprofessional tendencies of cancelling appointments and not returning calls. I must say I was pleasantly surprised that Marquis & Aurbach spoke to me right away as a walk-in put me in a conference room asked me about what kind of business law was I interested in to my surprise they knew exactly what I needed with just a couple of questions. They also asked if I would like a beverage or pastry while I waited to interview with one of the firms’ colleagues that specialized in the field that best suited my needs. When I open my Boutique I will definitely be having the Marquis & Aurbach firm on retainer, as I learned during my interview it is much cheaper to keep an attorney on retainer"patent attorneys are required to have a technical higher education degree as well as a legal background and must pass a USPTO examination in order to obtain their license." than it is to run into some trouble and not have an attorney that you already have a relationship with. "Patent attorneys must be licensed to practice law and also be licensed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office."

EOC Week 9

The film that I viewed in class today was very intriguing to say the least, even the small portion that was viewed. The film was titled The First Monday in October and it was about the first woman entering the Supreme Court. My thoughts on the film were the men were very sexist and had a very different time taking her in. It seemed as if they wanted her out and had no trouble letting her know that, by stating phrases like, “we men must stick together”. There was a specific case where the issue of pornography was able to sell in stores or not be sold. I personally believe in the first amendment everyone has the right of freedom of speech and/or the right to create “art”. Whether or not other people agree with one person’s beliefs, the public does not have to look at or purchase the products. Granted the public has the right to petition the products not to be sold in their specific areas, but the producer of the products does have the right to offer them to the public. Who has the right to say that someone else should not look at or purchase certain products? What one person may like another may not, but everyone has the right to look at or purchase what they want. That happens to be one of (and I say this loosely) the great things about the United States “freedom of speech”. Americans have the right to look at or purchase what they want. Other countries that do not have that right must be very difficult to live in. Americans have grown accustomed to viewing and purchasing what they want, I cannot imagine having that right taken away or any other rights Americans have for that matter.

EOC Week 8 Legal Questions

1. If I worked for a company and created a design pattern, who owns that design pattern?
2. What are your rights when a company you were fired from takes your ideas off of the company computer and sells them?
3. If I create a design pattern for a company that I work for ,can I sell that design pattern as my own?
4. If I sell a product on eBay and the buyer who purchased my product switched good parts for bad parts then claimed that the item I sent them was DOA or NON FUNCTIONAL, what can happen to the buyer if they are caught or I have proof that the parts were swapped?
5. If someone stole my idea and I have all the digital media to prove it was my work, is this a possible case in court? Can I sue the company my stolen work was sold to?
6. If a company fired you in order to sell your ideas, is that unlawful termination?
7. If I create a fashion design and displayed it at a trade show, and someone took that design and sold it as their own, can I sue that party and what are my chances of recovering my design?
8. If I am fired from a company that I created a design for can I take that design with me?
9. Can packaging look exactly the same as other products on a retail shelf (ex. Medicine products Color, Shape, Look). **EXCLUDES the name.
10. Can you sue a company that advertises a commercial which sells a product that has a disclaimer at the bottom but don’t give you enough time to read the disclaimer and it ends up affecting your life or puts you in burden?

EOC Week 7 What Legal Issues Concern You Most?

The legal issues that concern me the most are that drug dealers serve more time than someone that commits murder, by no means do I condone either act of law breaking but I find that drug dealers serve more time for a crime that is committed by both parties. A drug dealer simply provides a service to a patron that is looking for a product they are committing a crime and doing harm to themselves. A murderer commits a crime and does harm to others but can get a charge knocked down to manslaughter and serve a much shorter time than a person that is providing a service and not really hurting another human being. True drug dealers are a cancer in our communities, but not physically harming another person. However a murderer can commit the crime of killing another human being and receive a shorter sentence. For that matter why does it matter what kind of drugs a person intends to sell? Some drugs raise a person more time than other drugs. Powdered Cocaine has a lesser sentence than Crack-Cocaine; Ecstasy has a higher sentence than other pills. Why is that? I feel that any drug with the intent to distribute should have the same sentence. But for some reason you cannot bargain down a sentence to distribute drugs, but you can bargain down a murder sentence this is a major discrepancy in the legal system and it is my understanding that the law is in the process of being changed so that powdered cocaine and crack cocaine carry the same sentences which I do not know why the sentences would be separated in the first place, I guess it is due to people with more money purchased powdered cocaine and people with less money purchased crack cocaine. Maybe it’s all a money game.

EOC Week 6 Illicit? What do you think?

Wow! That was an explicit documentary of what is going on in the world with fake or knock-off products. I had no idea the detail in which the world is operating in fake goods. The fact that the government has their hands in it is of no surprise, the government is dirty no matter what continent they are on. I was however shocked to learn of the human trafficking that is going on, it is devastating to know just how lucrative that business is. I had no idea that slavery was that bad. People having to do those things in order to survive or feed their family. It was shocking and sad. The pharmaceutical business was also shocking I knew there were fake pills, but I was not aware of the ingredients that were used to make the pills acid, and paint with no concern of the deadly results of the people taking the drugs. But then again no one should buy any drugs online. If you need any kind of pills get them from a doctor Geez people! As far as the fake or knockoff handbags, I knew it was big business but I didn’t know it was that big with factories and the expense of the tools needed to make the knockoff products. Where do they get these tools and who makes them? How are you able to open a factory making illegal products? I guess the mafia has a hand in that. Boy do we live in a corrupt world, is there anywhere to live that is peaceful with no crime or poverty? I just cannot believe all the corruption in the world and it seems as though it is not going away anytime soon. It is shocking to know how easy it is to clean up dirty money. The documentary was an eye opener.

EOC Week 4 10 of the most meaningful patent terms

1. USPTO
2. Certificate of Correction
3. Contributory Infringement of Patent
4. Cross- Licensing
5. Date of Invention
6. Maintenance Fees
7. March-in Rights
8. Multiple Claims
9. Office Action
10.Patent Deed