Monday, October 13
NO MEETING in observance of Columbus Day
OUR PREVIOUS MEETING_______________________________________
Topic: Intellectual Properties - Steve Stark, Miller & Martin
Our thanks go to our Treasurer, Steve Stark, who stepped in at the last minute to provide an interesting and informative presentation on how to protect intellectual properties.
What ideas should be protected? Examples of high tech ideas that, if protected, may provide income to you or your company are software your company spent significant resources to develop; a manufacturing process; new electronic circuitry; an internet application; a business method; or a composition of matter like a new alloy of metal or solid surface countertop. Examples of not so high tech things to protect are marketing brochures, a three-diminsional look of a new product, a product or service name, or a logo.
What protection is available? Patents, Trademarks, Copyright, and Trade Secrets
How do I protect, and what scope of protection is available? Steve Stark is certainly the person to ask about specific protection questions. In his talk he expounded on the four types of protection, but he also advised that sometimes being right is expensive. If you can stay out of court, do it.
Patents - provide protection for 20 years, may take 2 to 3 years and thousands of dollars to complete.
Trademarks - provide protection forever. They must be advertised for a period of time in a Trademark Register of applications prior to being awarded to give others the option to complain about any confusion the new trademark might cause in the market place. For more information about trademarks, see http://www.uspto.gov/teas/.
Copyright - provides protection for 75 years after your death, cost about $30, requires about 6 months for registration, should be filed (in most cases) by individuals rather than their attorney, and http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ has the blank forms needed.
Trade Secrets - If no one knows how to duplicate your process or product, then why tell them how by going through the patent process? Continue to regard this as a trade secret and write restrictions into contracts or user agreements to protect your secret.
Steve Stark is a 1990 graduate of the Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Professional Engineer in both Virginia and Georgia. He is a 1998 graduate of the University of Georgia Law School. He is admitted to practice in Tennessee, Georgia, and before the Patent Office. He is a patent attorney at the law firm of Miller & Martin.
FUTURE MONDAY MEETINGS_____________________________________
October 13: No Meeting - Columbus Day
October 20: Working in Space - History of Skylab - Bob Jaques, NASA Marshal Space Flight Center
October 27: Creating Wealth through Technology - Greg Laudeman, GA Tech, Economic Development Institute
November 3: Tennessee Water Issues
November 10: Controlled Fusion - How Real? How Soon? Dr. Stan Milora, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
November 17: Alabama Water Issues - Trey Glenn, Director of the Office of Water Resources Division for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs
November 24: Remotely Controlled Laboratory at UTC - Dr. James Henry, UTC
December 1: Farming Goes High Tech - Mark Downing, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
December 6: Christmas Dinner at 6 p.m. - Stone Fort Inn, 120 East 10th Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402 www.stonefortinn.com
December 8: To be announced soon
WHERE WE MEET ____________________________________________
In October, we will be meeting at the Read House in downtown Chattanooga. We may continue to park at the Days Inn on Carter Street (being sure to leave a notice on your dashboard that indicates you are attending the Chattanooga Engineers Club meeting). A map showing the location of the Read House may be found at http://www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org/ReadHouse.gif .
QUESTIONS, SUGGESTIONS? ______________________________
If you have any questions or suggestions about program items please call Brad Baucom at 423-648-3582 or email him at baucombe@epb.net. You can find references to other Chattanooga Engineers Club members at our web site: www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org.