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Analysis from the front lines of IP & technology law.

Our attorneys write about the developments shaping intellectual property — from the PTAB and the Federal Circuit to the practical realities of protecting fast-moving technology.

Intellectual PropertyCopyright

Work Made for Hire Determination Checklist: A Practical Checklist

Whether a work is "made for hire" decides who is the author and owner of a copyright from the very moment of creation, and getting it wrong is one of the most common and damaging mistakes in copyright practice. This checklist walks an author, hiring party, or counsel through the two and only two routes into work-for-hire status, the employee route under the CCNV v. Reid agency test and the commissioned route limited to nine enumerated categories with a signed writing, and explains the belt-and-suspenders assignment that closes the gap when work-for-hire fails. It flags the consequences for registration, ownership, and the non-waivable termination right, and the special context of contributions to a collective work. Confirm the analysis against current authority for your facts.

AdminJune 24, 20267 min read

Intellectual PropertyTrademark

TTAB Practice Toolkit: Oppositions, Cancellations, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board from Pleading to Appeal

This toolkit is a stage-by-stage roadmap through proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the administrative tribunal that decides the right to register marks. It compares oppositions and cancellations, then walks pleadings, ESTTA filing, mandatory disclosures, discovery, the trial (testimony) periods, briefing, oral hearing, and the two routes for review—appeal to the Federal Circuit or a civil action in district court. At each stage it links mclaw.io checklists and articles plus the governing rules (TBMP, 37 C.F.R. Part 2, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1063-1071) and the leading authority on preclusion, B&B Hardware v. Hargis. It is written for practitioners filing or defending Board proceedings and for brand owners weighing the TTAB against district-court litigation. Verify current rules, deadlines, and fees at uspto.gov before filing.

AdminJune 24, 202613 min read

Intellectual PropertyTrademark Litigation

TTAB Discovery: A Practical Checklist

Discovery is the engine of every contested opposition or cancellation before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, but it runs on its own rules—an administrative timetable, hard numerical caps, mandatory cooperation, and a paper trial in which the discovery you obtain becomes much of the evidence. This checklist walks counsel and self-represented parties through the discovery conference and initial disclosures, the 180-day discovery period, sequencing interrogatories, requests for production, and requests for admission within the uniform 75-request caps, expert disclosure, the standard protective order, motions to compel, and building the DuPont likelihood-of-confusion record. WHY notes and traps accompany each phase. Stated as amended through the 2017 rules; verify current 37 C.F.R. Part 2 and TBMP guidance before relying on any limit or deadline.

AdminJune 24, 20268 min read

Intellectual PropertyTrademark

Trademark Statement of Use Checklist: A Practical Checklist

A checklist for completing an intent-to-use trademark application by filing a Statement of Use after the Notice of Allowance, including the timeline math for extensions of time. It covers when to file an SOU versus an Amendment to Allege Use, the per-class requirements (fee, specimen, dates of first use, verified declaration), the six-month extension cadence capped at 36 months from the Notice of Allowance, the request-to-divide option when use is partial, and how all of it preserves the constructive-use priority that dates back to the application filing date under 15 U.S.C. 1057(c). WHY notes, trap warnings, a common-mistakes list, and primary authority are included. Educational, not legal advice.

AdminJune 24, 20267 min read

Intellectual PropertyTrademark

Trademark Specimen Preparation Checklist: A Practical Checklist

A checklist for assembling trademark specimens that survive USPTO examination, the single most common reason applications stall. It explains the controlling goods-versus-services distinction, what counts (labels, tags, packaging, point-of-sale displays, and properly functioning ordering web pages for goods; advertising for services) and what does not (invoices, mockups, pre-sale pages), and the two cross-cutting rules: actual use, and mark-matches-drawing. It covers specimens for the initial 1(a) filing, the statement of use, and post-registration Section 8 maintenance, with WHY notes, trap warnings, a common-mistakes list, and primary authority. Educational, not legal advice; confirm current USPTO requirements.

AdminJune 24, 20268 min read

Intellectual PropertyTrademark

Trademark Registration Toolkit: A Roadmap from Brand Idea to Federal Registration and Maintenance

This toolkit is a high-level roadmap and curated library guide for taking a brand from an idea all the way to a federal trademark registration and through the maintenance that keeps it alive. It walks every stage in order—mark selection, clearance, choosing a filing basis, preparing and filing the application, examination and office actions, publication and opposition, registration, post-registration maintenance, and enforcement—and at each stage points to mclaw.io's articles and step-by-step checklists plus the controlling statutes, rules, and USPTO resources. It reflects the post-January 2025 USPTO fee and filing changes, including the single base application fee with surcharges, the cloud-based Trademark Search, and Trademark Center filing. Use it to orient yourself in the field and to find the right detailed resource for the task in front of you. Fees and deadlines change, so verify current amounts at the official USPTO site before relying on any number here.

AdminJune 24, 202615 min read