Halloween Inventions & Brands w/J.D. Houvener and Matt Kulseth

J.D. and Matt talked about some recent innovations in halloween decorations including motion sensors, fog, costumes, as well as licensing issues that can come up for resellers of licensed merchandise and the like. 

Then JD and Matt took a bold bite of a shark tank episode featuring "Pandaloon" which is a costume for pets, and it looks like the pet is walking. Matt was quick to mention that they did a great job registering their word mark, and even showed off their trade dress registration. 

However, J.D. gave a harsh critique for only having gotten design patent protection on just one specific type of costume (for pandas) which leaves no protection for the several other designs she showcased (bunny, cat, kangaroo, etc.). In addition, JD cited a  recent public federal court proceeding where Pandaloon was being sued by another patent holder. IT seems the owner of Pandaloon fell into the trap of thinking that by getting a patent, she was free to sell it on the market. But, there was a prior patent holder that covered pet costumes in general, and her product was infringing the much broader utility patent held by another company. A patent only give an inventor the right to prevent others from making/using/selling their claimed invention.

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DISCLAIMER
Everything discussed on this podcast is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.