As a founding member of a business, are you a true owner of it’s Trade or Service Marks?
FOUNDERS BEWARE Departing from your organization without an agreement as to ownership of intellectual property could mean leaving your property behind. In a decision by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the court determined that an originator of a service mark may not own the mark upon her departure from the organization she helped found. In Lyons v. Am. College of Veterinary Sports Med. & Rehab., the Federal Circuit heard a dispute over the ownership of a service mark between Lyons, the originator of the mark, and The American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation (the “College”), the organization...
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