http://www.securedocs.com - Learn cost-effective and proactive IP strategies for your business. This webinar will cover what you need to know to build your IP portfolio as business asset without huge investments.

1. Cost-Effective, Proactive IP
Strategies for Building &
Sustaining Your Business

2. About AppFolio SecureDocs
AppFolio SecureDocs is a virtual data room for sharing and
storing sensitive documents both internally and with
outside parties.
AppFolio, Inc. Company Basics:
• Founded by the team that created and launched GoToMyPC
and GoToMeeting
• Backed by leading technology companies and investors
• Web-based business software for financial and legal
professionals

3. About Loza & Loza
• Loza & Loza is an Intellectual Property (IP) law boutique located in
California serving clients worldwide in developing strong IP
portfolios, protecting their ideas, trademarks, and slogans, and
providing logical, straightforward solutions for all IP issues.
• Attorneys specialize in the following areas:
– Patents
– Trademarks
– Copyrights
– Internet Law
– Technology Counseling & Licensing
– IP Litigation
– Trade Secrets
– eBay Disputes

4. About Tina Loza
• Tina Loza is the Founder and Managing Partner of
Loza & Loza, LLP and is a registered patent attorney
admitted to practice law in California. She also acts
as Trademark Of Counsel for Manhattan Advertising &
Media Law and Buynak, Fauver, Archbald & Spray.
• She has experience in all areas of IP law with a
special interest in trademark prosecution and domain
name disputes.
• Tina is a member of the American Intellectual Property
Law Association and the President-Elect for the
National Association of Women Business Owners –
California.
“But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.”
- W. Shakespeare, Othello, Act III, Scene iii, Line 159.

5. Why should you care about
Intellectual Property?
• Every contract and transaction may expose a
business to IP liability. You could unknowingly be
an infringer and the first warning will be a “cease
and desist letter” or service of a lawsuit.
• “The entire U.S. economy relies on some form of
IP, because virtually every industry either produces
it or uses it.” Intellectual Property and the U.S.
Economy.
• “IP intensive industries accounted for about 34.8%
of U.S. gross domestic product in 2010.” Id.
• “The estimated Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail
Price (MSRP) for all FY 2011 IPR seizures is $1.1
billion.” 2011 Seizure Statistics.

6. Why should you care?
Continued.
• Proactively protecting your IP, taking
preventative measures, and policing
competitors, allows you to focus on being
profitable rather than dealing with costly
legal hassles.
• Having a strong, IP portfolio is an asset of
your business. IP can be
assigned, transferred, or sold.
• Valuable, protected IP assets gives you a
competitive edge that sets you apart from
competitors.

7. Poll #1
• Have you ever dealt with an infringement
issue?
– Yes, it was a huge problem for my business
– Yes, but it was a minor issue
– No, but I am very worried about it
– No, but I am not too worried about it

8. An IP Overview

9. Patent Primer
• What is an invention?
– A new, useful, non-obvious idea for a device, structure, process, machinery, business method, etc.
• What is a patent?
– The right to exclude others from making, using, importing, or selling within the United States the
invention as defined in the claims of the patent for 20 years from the filing of the application.
• What are the different kinds of patent applications?
– Utility, Design, and Plant Patents
– Provisional v. Non-provisonal
• What are “Claims”?
– Defines specifically the subject matter which the inventor is trying to protect.
• When should you file a patent application?
– No more than one year after you have publicly used or sold the invention. (“One Year Bar”)
– First to Invent v. First to File – Law changes March 2013
• Where can you research patents? www.google.com/patents

10. Poll #2
• Are all of your company inventions patented?
– Yes
– All of the important ones
– No, I am in the process
– No, I have not gotten to it

12. Patent Primer

13. Using your Patent as a Sword
• How to Police?:
– Check out competitor’s websites.
– eBay, Google, and Yahoo searches
– Follow up on leads about products that customers say are
“just like yours” and are being sold for less.
– Use the accounting provision in licensing agreements to
review the books of licensees – accounting “errors” are
common.
• How to use the cease and desist letter?:
– It is an opportunity to stop infringing activity without initiating
litigation.
– It is an opportunity to create a licensing arrangement.
– It is usually more effective when sent by an attorney.

14. Poll #3
• How do you police your patent?
– Keep an eye on competitors
– Search engines
– I have not policed it
– Other

15. Shielding Your Business Against
Patent Infringement Claims
• As a competitor, do not fear the cease & desist
letter, perform due diligence, and be smart about
“knocking off” goods.
– Obtain an opinion letter from counsel.
– Research prior art that you are aware of (on-line) and in
trade publications and keep it.
– Were they selling before the one year bar? See The
Wayback Machine, http://www.archive.org/index.php.
– Are they using proper notice? Check original boxes of
competitors – no patent number, no notice, no damages
until there was notice.

16. Trademark Primer
TM versus ®: TM indicates use in commerce of a good, SM indicates use in commerce of a
service, ® indicates that the mark has been registered before the United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO).
• What is the function of trademarks?
– To identify and distinguish;
– To show that all goods/services with the mark originate from one source; and
– To provide quality assurance and consistency.
• Do you have to register your mark?
– No. You just have to use your mark in commerce to establish rights.
• What are the benefits of Federal Trademark Registration?
– Constructive notice nationwide of the trademark owner's claim;
– Evidence of ownership;
– Federal court jurisdiction;
– Registration can be used as a basis for obtaining registration in foreign countries; and
– Registration may be filed with U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of
infringing foreign goods.
• What is trademark infringement? Use in commerce of the same or a similar mark in a way
that it is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake or to deceive with a trademark
owner’s mark.

17. Building Your Legend . . .
Build Your Brand
According to the USPTO Levi Strauss &
Co is the only manufacturer entitled to
use the double curved “arcuate” design on
a patch pocket. Regardless of what color
of thread is used. Or whether it is a fabric
insert, piping, a pocket flap, or even
printed on the material. The arcuate is our
design trademark. And we will continue to
do everything necessary to protect it. If
you want to apply decorative stitching to a
back pocket, more power to you. But
please, just be sure you choose a
different design.

18. It’s More than the ® -
Creative Enforcement out of Court
• Confusingly similar trademarks used on/with
confusingly similar goods/services can be (mostly)
prevented without filing suit in Federal Court.
– Oppositions: Filed before the TTAB
• Prevents others from obtaining a confusingly similar
registered mark before the PTO.
• Does not prevent use in commerce but a settlement usually
leads to limiting the other parties’ use.
– Cancellations: Filed before the TTAB
• Cancels another parties’ confusingly similar registered mark
if you prove, for example, prior use, descriptiveness, non-
use/ abandonment, etc.

19. It’s More than the ® -
Stopping Infringers in their Tracks
• eBay VeRO Program:
– “eBay is committed to protecting the intellectual property rights of third parties and to providing its users with a
safe place to trade. eBay created the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program so that intellectual property
owners could easily report listings that infringe their rights. It is in eBay’s interest to ensure that infringing items
are removed from the site, as they erode buyer and seller trust.”
– You can use the VeRO program to remove infringing listings. The infringer can only get the listings back up with
your express consent.
• United States Customs:
– Trademarks can be registered with customs and infringing shipments can be stopped at the border.
– Customs registration is a very affordable option with goods results.
• $190/mark
• If the shipment is seized, the importer is effectively “blacklisted” because these seizures are put into an
database that CBP can access at any time. The importer will suffer fines of the MSRP value of the goods
as if they were authentic less mitigating factors if the importer doesn’t fight it. On subsequent
seizures, there is no mitigating factor considered, so the importer is fined the MSRP value of the goods.
Picture of seized counterfeit airbags.

20. It’s More than the ® -
Don’t Forget the Domain Names!
• Before you file your trademark application, obtain all TLDs for your
mark and confusing variations thereof.
– For example, if your mark is MOONBUCKS, you should register the
following:
• .com, .biz, .net, .mobi, .tv., .tel, .us, .info, and .org
• MOONBUX.COM, MOONBUKS.COM, MOONBUCK.COM, etc.
– This is an affordable and easy way to carve out IP, create an valuable
asset, and prevent legal hassles in the future.
• Domain Name Dispute Resolution: This is the way to get “your” domain
name back.
– Affordable – May be easier and cheaper than buying out the infringer.
– Fast – Only takes two months from Complaint to Panel Decision.
– Straightforward – Need to show rights to mark and bad faith when
domain name was purchased.

21. Poll #4
• Have you bought domain names to protect
your brand?
– Yes, I bought them all
– Yes, I bought the domain names I thought most
important
– Yes, but just a few
– No, aside from my main domain name I have not
bought any

22. Copyright Primer
• What is a Copyright?
– It is an original work of authorship (literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such
as poetry, novels, movies and songs, but it also protects blueprints, technical
drawings, product brochures, advertising, computer software, and architecture) fixed
in a tangible medium of expression.
– Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible
form that is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
• So, why register a copyright?
– Public record & certificate of registration.
– Statutory damages and attorney's fees in successful litigation if registered with the first
3 months after the first date of publication.
– If registration occurs within 5 years of publication, it is considered prima facie evidence
in a court of law.
– Can be filed with customs.
• How do you register a copyright?
– Submit an application, $35, a copy of the work at www.copyright.gov.

23. Cost-Effective Copyright
Enforcement: Knock It Off
• For example, product packaging is registerable and
easily knocked off abroad. Solution?
– File application, get registration within 2 months, and you
can stop infringers.
• eBay: http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/vero-rights-owner.html
• Registering with U.S. Customs:
http://www.ice.gov/pi/iprctr/index.htm
• With registration, a cease and desist letter can demand an
accounting of infringing goods sold and profits.
• Similar approaches can be taken with jewelry, furniture
designs, after market auto parts, etc.

24. Product Packaging:
An Example

25. Contact Us
AppFolio SecureDocs
50 Castilian Drive
Goleta, CA 93117
Phone: (866) 700-7975
info@securedocs.com
sales@securedocs.com
www.securedocs.com
@SecureDocsVDR
Loza & Loza
305 N. Second Ave. #127
Upland, CA 91786-6064
Phone: (877) 406-5164
tina@lozaip.com
www.lozaip.com

26. Thank You!
Confidential ©2012 AppFolio, Inc.