Sloppy security sinks secrets, though. Once the secret gets out, like through you posting about it online or someone blabbing about it because you didn’t use NDAs, its value is gone like a vampire in a puff of smoke. The secret about trade secrets is that they can make you money BECAUSE they’re secret, and they can destroy your business if they escape from their cages.
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Latest from King Business and Patent Law Blog - Page 3
Stop Telling Everyone! The #1 Mistake That Can Ruin Your Patent Rights.
If you want patent rights, the scariest thing you can do is wait. Patents are generally a race to the filing line, and sometimes your application can be dead on arrival. If you publicly disclose your invention before filing your application, you can ruin your ability to get a patent.
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Did You REALLY Clear Your Business Name? Avoiding the Horror of Trademark Infringement
The biggest trademark mistake comes right at the beginning, and it’s not clearing your name before you start using it. If you don’t check, and I mean THOROUGHLY check to see if anyone else is using the same name or a similar one for the same thing you are, or something related to it, that’s like swimming in the Black Lagoon and having no idea there’s a creature lurking in there ready to take you down. Being rightfully accused of trademark infringement is a horror story you want to avoid.
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Why Automatic Copyright Is Not Enough (The Registration Mistake)
One of the cool things about copyright is that some copyright rights exist the instant you create the material. Who the author is and who owns the rights are subjects of some of my other posts. Unfortunately, these initial rights are limited. Relying only on them is a quick path to copyright cursedness.
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Four Grave IP Mistakes that Put Your Company’s Value in Peril
Did your business leave money on the table this year? Let’s look at whether you maximized the value of your intellectual property or let its value decrease.
All creators and small business owners have intellectual property. Your brand name, logo, slogan, special formula, innovative packaging, videos, brochures, etc., those are all intellectual property. They can make money for you if they’re managed well, and they can cause horror and cost you almost everything if they’re not. I’m Julie King, a rock-and-horror-loving patent attorney, and today I’ll go over some tips on how to deter disaster and increase your income with
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Patent Sin #6. Amateurism: The Mad Scientist Mistake of Self-Filing Without a Patent Attorney
Many inventors file their own patents hoping to save time and money. This is often the costliest mistake of all. DIY filing often results in vague, weak, or incomplete patent claims that are either rejected or, worse, easily worked around by competitors.
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Patent Sin #5. Impersonation: Using Generative AI and Claiming You’re the Inventor
With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted inventions, the rules around inventorship are more crucial than ever.
• The Rule (per Updated USPTO Guidance, November 2025): Only natural persons (human beings) can be inventors or joint inventors on U.S. patent applications.
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Patent Sin #4. Obviousness: Just an “Expected” Variation
Even if your invention is new (novel), you may not obtain a patent if it is deemed obvious.
The Test: The invention must not be an obvious extension or modification of existing work in the eyes of a person having ordinary skill in the relevant field (PHOSITA).
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Patent Sin #3. Omission: The Ghostly Details of a Vague or Incomplete Application
A patent application must contain a complete disclosure of the invention. If the written description contains insufficient or vague detail, it will be rejected for lack of clarity or for not sufficiently enabling the invention.
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Patent Sin #2. Redundancy: The Dead-on-Arrival Patent Application
The Horror: Wasting Money on a Patent Application for an Invention That Lacks Novelty
Inventors often submit patent applications assuming their idea is entirely new. However, the number one reason patents get rejected is prior art conflicts. Prior art is any information related to your invention before your filing date made public anywhere in the world.
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Six Legal Sins That Kill Your Invention and Send it to the Patent Graveyard
Before you file your patent application, you need to know this: The USPTO is a graveyard for brilliant ideas killed by paperwork, bad timing, and simple legal errors. I’ll show you Six Legal Sins that send even great inventions to the patent graveyard. Mistakes that can cost you all your international rights, invalidate your patent before it’s even granted, and waste tens of thousands of dollars. It’s smarter and cheaper to prevent a nightmare than to cure it.
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Patent Sin #1. Oversharing: The Self-Inflicted Wound from Sharing Your Invention Before Filing
Inventors love to talk about their creations. They’re excited about them and want validation, investor feedback, and early market buzz. But the very first time you disclose your invention publicly, whether it’s on a social media post, a trade show demonstration, a sales pitch, or a tech journal, you start the clock ticking on your patent rights.
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The Infernal Deepfake Influencer Imitation
The unauthorized use of artificial intelligence, or AI, to clone or duplicate a celebrity’s likeness, particularly their voice or image, often called a deepfake or digital replica, has led to a rapid but fragmented legal response. Because no single federal statute directly addresses this issue yet, the legal battle is being fought primarily under state-level right of publicity laws.
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Step Right Up to Learn a Horror Story of a Violation of the Right of Publicity
Now let’s step right up to learn a horror story of a violation of the right of publicity. The right of publicity is why, for instance, Tom Waits successfully sued Frito-Lay and its advertising agency Tracy-Locke, Inc., for using a singer whose voice sounded exactly like his in a commercial for SalsaRio Doritos and with music that strongly evoked Waits’ “Step Right Up,” perhaps one of his best known songs.
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Protecting Your Brand, Name, Likeness, and Voice from the Reputational Whirlpool
The creator’s greatest asset, often more valuable than any single video, is their personal brand: their name, voice, signature look, and unique style. This is protected by the overlapping areas of trademark law and the right of publicity.
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Bad Influence: Don’t Ignore the FTC’s Rules About Transparency and Disclosures for Influencer Marketing
The consequences of getting the legal details about transparency and disclosure wrong can be terrifying. In this case, they can include fines, class action lawsuits, and the destruction of consumer trust. The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, enforces the law that prohibits unfair and deceptive acts or practices, which includes misleading advertising. The rule is simple. If there is a material connection between the brand and the endorser or the influencer, that connection must be must be clearly and conspicuously shown.
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