Meet Eric Hanscom, managing attorney at InterContinental IP, Carlsbad, CA. He will be
at the Steam Maker Fest in San Diego, as a sponsor and will provide valuable information to help inventors
protect their ideas.
Event will take place on Saturday, December 6th, 2014 from 10am to 5pm (PST) at the Del Mar Fairgrounds so buy your tickets early. You Can Buy Tickets Here!
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Thursday, September 25, 2014
TO DRONE OR NOT TO DRONE? THAT IS THE QUESTION (PART ii)
Part
2: FAA position: I quote from the FAA’s website, entitled
“Busting Myths about the FAA and Unmanned Aircraft”.
A few choice excerpts:
“Myth #2: Commercial UAS flights are OK if
I'm over private property and stay below 400 feet.
You may not fly a UAS for commercial
purposes by claiming that you’re operating according to the Model Aircraft
guidelines (below 400 feet, 3 miles from an airport, away from populated
areas.) Commercial operations are only authorized on a case-by-case
basis. A commercial flight requires a certified aircraft, a licensed pilot and
operating approval. To date, only one operation has met these
criteria, using Insitu's ScanEagle, and authorization was limited to the
Arctic.”
So, to fly commercially you need a
certified aircraft, a licensed pilot, and operating approval. Oh, and FAA has only approved one operation
and that was limited to flying in the Arctic.
Yep, glad I didn’t sell my patent law firm to become a commercial drone
pilot!
Fact—There are no shades of gray in FAA regulations. Anyone who wants to fly an aircraft—manned or unmanned—in U.S. airspace needs some level of FAA approval.”
OK, let’s see how the appeal in Trappy v. FAA goes. FAA lost the first round, but will be putting in their best efforts on the appeal.
“Myth #4: There are too many commercial UAS operations for the FAA to stop.
Fact—The FAA has to prioritize its safety responsibilities, but the agency is monitoring UAS operations closely. Many times, the FAA learns about suspected commercial UAS operations via a complaint from the public or other businesses. The agency occasionally discovers such operations through the news media or postings on internet sites. When the FAA discovers apparent unauthorized UAS operations, the agency has a number of enforcement tools available to address these operations, including a verbal warning, a warning letter, and an order to stop the operation.”
I have heard through the grapevine that FAA has at least one full time employee scouring YouTube videos looking for commercial use of drones. I understand they also have employees looking on YouTube for “dridiots” (drone flyers who are idiots). A Dridiot can usually be spotted through a YouTube video that shows a shaky flight up over an airport runway, followed by a jerky flight over a national monument, with a closing shot from the inside of the Pentagon or some other highly restricted place. The Dridiot usually titles his (almost all Dridiots are male) video something like “Stunning aerial footage of the White House”, and he usually turns the drone back towards himself for part of the video and says something like:
“Yeah, I just got this drone out of the box, and didn’t understand the directions, particular that junk about compass companion, or compass fixing, or calibration, or something, so I just flew it and look at the cool footage! I just fired this sucker up, pulled back on the left toggle, and pretty soon I was up 1,500 feet, over the Statue of Liberty. Look at all the park police down there, I think they are waving at me! Here, let me pull the toggle sideways. Look, I can see planes from JFK airport coming right by me! Cool! Then I went to Washington D.C. and tried to see what the Obamas were having for dinner. Look, my drone is only 10’ from their window. Aren’t I cool? Then I went to Dulles Airport and flew in front of a Korean Airlines A-380 as it was taking off. Look at the middle-finger sign the pilots gave me, must mean “cool flying” in Korean or something like that. Must be an Asian thing because the China Airlines 747 pilots did the same thing when I buzzed their cockpit while they were landing. Yeah, I want to be a YouTube star and sell a million dollars in advertising. What? (background noise of pounding on the door) Must be some of my fans (background noise “FBI, open the door”) Yeah, I guess the FBI wants to hire me to shoot some videos or something . . . (angry voices shouting ”down on the ground Dridiot”, sound of handcuffs clicking . . .)
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT DEFENSE INSURANCE
The Defense
policy reimburses litigation expenses to defend against charges of intellectual
property infringement including the costs to assert patent invalidity as a
defense, the cost of re-examination proceedings as a defense and past damages
and/or settlement costs.
IP Covered
under the Defense Policy:
US and
worldwide coverage available. Includes making, using, selling, offering for
sale, importing in commerce any product process or method of doing business
Advantages
of holding the IP Defense Policy:
·
Prevents abandoning market share by timely and
forceful defense of infringement charges
·
Prevents unexpected cash drain on operations
·
Provides litigation funds to optimize a favorable
outcome
·
Deters frivolous suits by demonstrating the ability
to be financially protected
·
Reduces the pressure to settle infringement
cases because of mounting legal expenses
·
Makes a company more attractive to investors
Premiums
·
The premium will be approximately 2% of the
limit purchased. For example, the premium for a $1,000,000 coverage limit at 2%
would be $20,000 per year.
·
The cost will vary according to product and
industry.
This material is
for informational and promotional purposes only, and in no way changes the
terms or effect of the policy language. Consult a copy of the Specimen Policy
itself for all terms, conditions and exclusions.
For
additional information please contact:
Alex
Fjelstad
Senior Vice President
Twin City Group
4500 Park Glen Road
Minneapolis, MN 55416
952-924-6910 or afjelstad@twincitygroup.com
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ABATEMENT (ENFORCEMENT) INSURANCE
The Abatement
policy reimburses litigation expenses to enforce intellectual property rights
against infringers as well as countersuits or post-grant reviews for
invalidity. In the event the insured loses the IP lawsuit the Abatement policy
responds as a pure insurance policy. In
the event the insured wins the IP lawsuit and has recognized an “Economic Benefit”
the insured reimburses only the money paid out by the insurer and retains any
additional recoveries. Repayment of
the “Economic Benefit” reinstates policy limits and those funds are then
available to pursue other infringers. IP covered under the Abatement Policy includes patents, trademarks,
copyright and trade dress.
Advantages of holding the abatement policy:
·
Prevents loss of market share by timely and forceful
response to infringement
·
Prevents unexpected cash drain on operations
·
Provides litigation funds to optimize a favorable
decision for the IP holder
·
Reduces pressures to settle because of mounting
legal expenses
·
Attracts investors who may be asked to fund the
business
·
Strengthens the "licensbility" of the
IP
Premiums:
·
The premium will be about 1 to 2% of the limit
purchased. For example, the premium for a $1,000,000 coverage limit at 1% would
be $10,000 per year
·
The actual cost will vary according to the type
and number of IP covered
This material is
for informational and promotional purposes only, and in no way changes the
terms or effect of the policy language. Consult a copy of the Specimen Policy
itself for all terms, conditions and exclusions. For additional information
please contact:
Alex Fjelstad
Senior
Vice President
Twin
City Group
4500
Park Glen Road
Minneapolis,
MN 55416
952-924-6910
or afjelstad@twincitygroup.com
Friday, September 19, 2014
TO DRONE OR NOT TO DRONE? That is the Question...
Part
1: Can I fly one? Well, it depends on who you are. If you are a government, lifeguard service,
electrical company, the coast guard, etc., you need a Certificate of
Authorization from the FAA. If you are a
non-commercial user, such as someone who flies for fun and not profit, you need
to follow FAA’s “Special Rule” for model aircraft. So who is left? Well, it is the “commercial” user (the ranks
of which are rapidly shrinking of late, with lots of clearly commercial users
who would post their prices and services now just discussing how “consulting”
with them might benefit a user, or how the “solution” they come up with could
help an advertising campaign). Under the
latest FAA discussions, it appears that if you want to fly commercially you
need not only the Certificate of Authorization that the governmental entities
need, but also a “Certificate of Airworthiness” and a Special Exemption (sounds
a lot like a “permit” to me).
So, the government folks have it relatively easy, the
hobbyist/recreational drone flyer needs only to abide by the “special rules”
(more on this later), but the commercial operator has relatively turbulent
skies ahead. The first thing that comes
to mind with FAA regulations is whether FAA even has the power to regulate
drones, much less commercial uses of drones.
On one side, there is “Trappy” and his lawyer, who claim FAA lacks
jurisdiction to assess fines on drone operators. On the other side, the FAA makes is pretty
clear on their website where they think their jurisdiction lies.
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