Avoid the Legal Horrors with Julie King: Patent, Trademark, and Business Strategy

In this episode, Julie King covers how a business's first trademark mistake can be catastrophic. THOROUGH business name and brand name clearance is a must to avoid infringement. Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog⁠ Don't let the legal darkness win. Ready to build or manage your frighteningly powerful IP? Book your consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com⁠ . Avoid the legal horrors, and k...

In this episode, Julie King covers why your business can't rely on automatic copyright rights to maximize the copyright rights and their value. Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog⁠ Don't let the legal darkness win. Ready to build or manage your frighteningly powerful IP? Book your consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com⁠ . Avoid the legal horrors, and keep rocking your IP. This informat...

In this episode, we talk about how to ensure your company's IP assets survive and thrive. Julie King covers the four vital IP types that can add capital to your business as valuable assets or leave money on the table or, worse, destroy the value of the business if mismanaged or ignored. We discuss protecting your expressions (Copyright), your source (Trademark), your invention (Patent), and your c...

Why can DIY patent filing be an inventor's most expensive mistake? Weak or vague claims from self-filing are easily invalidated or worked around. Invest in legal expertise for a robust asset. Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog⁠ Don't let the legal darkness win. Ready to build or manage your frighteningly powerful IP? Book your consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com⁠ . Avoid the legal...

Can AI be an inventor? 🤖 NO! The USPTO rule is clear: only natural persons can be inventors. Naming an AI as an inventor is bad, and taking credit for the parts the AI came up with is the sin of Impersonation and can invalidate your patent. Document the human conception! Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog⁠ Don't let the legal darkness win. Ready to build or manage your frighteningly pow...

Your Idea is NEW, but is it OBVIOUS? The Obvious Killer haunts the USPTO. Learn the PHOSITA Test (Person Having Ordinary Skill in the Art) and how to prove your invention is a "significant leap," not just an expected variation! Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog⁠ Don't let the legal darkness win. Ready to build or manage your frighteningly powerful IP? Book your consultation with me at k...

Legal Fact: Sin 3 - Omission. Rejections based on insufficient disclosure are one of the most common grounds for application failure. A vague claim is an unenforceable claim. Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog⁠ Don't let the legal darkness win. Ready to build or manage your frighteningly powerful IP? Book your consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com⁠ . Avoid the legal horrors, and keep...

Is Your Invention Already Dead? 🧟 Patent rejection is often due to Prior Art. Your invention must be substantially different from everything else worldwide. Skipping a professional prior art search can be the costliest mistake an inventor can make. Ensure novelty to save thousands of dollars in wasted R&D and lawyer fees for a patent application, and countless hours pursuing a patent applicat...

The 1-Year (or Less) Clock is Ticking! Public disclosure can kill your patent rights! In some foreign countries, the grace period is ZERO DAYS after letting the public know about your invention, so you must file before going public. Other countries give you six months, and in the U.S., you have 12 months to file your patent application after you've made the idea public. Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingp...

You have an invention, but before you file, you need to know this: The USPTO is a graveyard for brilliant ideas killed by simple legal errors. Attorney Julie King, a rock-and-horror-loving patent lawyer, shows you the Six Legal Sins that send great inventions to the grave. Learn to avoid Oversharing (Sin 1), Redundancy (Sin 2), and Amateurism (Sin 6) to keep your international rights and ensure yo...

The unauthorized use of AI to clone your voice or image (deepfake) requires a legal defense. Attorney Julie King discusses the ELVIS Act in Tennessee, which protects an individual's voice from unauthorized AI simulation. Learn how explicit contract provisions are currently the strongest protection against digital replicas. Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog⁠ Don't let the legal darkness...

Discover the famous Tom Waits right of publicity case: he successfully sued Frito-Lay and its ad agency for using a voice impersonator. The court noted that a voice is "as distinctive and personal as a face". This segment explains the legal mechanism of the right of publicity and why protecting your unique identity is essential. Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog⁠ Don't let the legal dar...

Your personal brand, including your signature look and style, is protected by trademark law and the right of publicity. Learn how a contract can become a trap if it's too broad, allowing a brand to edit your content or use your likeness in a way that damages your reputation. Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog⁠ Don't let the legal darkness win. Ready to build or manage your frighteningly...

The consequences of poor disclosure can include fines, class action lawsuits, and damaged trust. The FTC rule is simple: if there is a material connection (cash, product, loan), it must be clearly and conspicuously shown. Julie King warns against the legal risks of vague tags like #collab or #partner. Use #ad or #sponsored at the very top. Full transcript at ⁠ ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog⁠ Don't let th...

The true horror happens when contracts are poorly drafted. This segment dissects the two most common errors: granting a perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide license without realizing it , or the business failing to include an assignment clause and thus not owning its own marketing material. Protect your IP and avoid expensive legal battles. Full transcript at kingpatentlaw.com/blog Don't let the leg...

Learn the difference between copyright assignment (selling ownership) and licensing (renting permission to use). Attorney Julie King breaks down the two main legal mechanisms for securing rights to content and reveals why the "work made for hire" mechanism is rarely applicable to independent contractors. Don't be fooled by the Siren's Song! Full transcript at ⁠kingpatentlaw.com/blog Don't let the...

What if the contract for your next big brand or marketing deal was actually a monster, and it just swallowed the rights to your best work? In this spine-chilling episode of Spellbinding IP, rock-and-horror-loving patent attorney Julie King confronts The Contract from the Black Lagoon. With over 25 years of experience as a lawyer, Julie reveals the hidden claws in marketing contract clauses that ca...

If you have an invention you’re launching, looking into patent clearance and protection isn’t enough . While a patent freedom-to-operate search focuses on identifying patents your invention may be infringing, a comprehensive launch strategy for your invention also requires a full-spectrum IP checkup, including trademarks and copyrights. A trademark clearance search is similar to the FTO search in...

If the patent freedom-to-operate (FTO) search reveals a concerning patent, your invention may be in danger of infringing, the situation is not hopeless. This is where the magic of "design around" comes in. We point out the potential infringement and discuss with you how intentionally modifying your product to omit or change at least one element of the independent claim that may be infringed can av...

Just today, on November 25, 2025, as I was writing next week’s posts about the right of publicity and related issues, news broke that the John R. Cash Revocable Trust filed a lawsuit against The Coca-Cola Company regarding the right of publicity and Tennessee’s new ELVIS Act! Johnny Cash has one of the most legendary and distinctive voices in music history, one that is readily identifiable to list...

The entire freedom-to-operate (FTO) patent search analysis hinges on the claims section of a patent. The claims define the legal boundary of the inventor's protection. They are the spells that legally protect the invention. Infringement occurs only if your product incorporates every single element of an independent claim (which is literal infringement) or an equivalent element. Here’s how we searc...

A Freedom-to-Operate search is a focused investigation into all active, unexpired patents in the countries where you plan to manufacture and sell (e.g., the U.S. for U.S. sales) that could potentially be infringed by your new product or process. An FTO search is not the same as a patentability search. A patentability search asks: Can I get a patent on my idea? An FTO search asks: Does someone else...

What if your invention, your product, or your method is hiding the catastrophic secret that part of it infringes on someone else’s patent rights? No matter how much work, innovation, and coffee you’ve poured into creating something you’re sure is going to be valuable, there’s no guarantee someone else didn’t have a similar genius idea and take steps to protect it through a patent. If they have, or...

You don't need to fear this terror, because you can and should plan to avoid it. If you have high-value patents or trademarks, here are your immediate next steps, the only way to truly protect your legacy: Action 1: IP Inventory. Create a detailed, organized inventory listing every registration number, filing date, and maintenance schedule for every IP asset. Also include details identifying any u...

So why is the standard will, drafted by a general attorney, insufficient to properly transfer patent and trademark ownership? It comes down to three legal concepts: 1. Bequest vs. Assignment: A will can bequeath (give) property, but patent, registered trademark, and registered copyright transfer require a specific Assignment Document filed with the USPTO or the Copyright Office. Without the specif...