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How can two typestyles appear identical without constituting copyright infringement?

How can two typestyles appear identical without constituting copyright infringement?

In the United States, a typeface, that is, the design of a letter style, the way the letters appear, is not protected by copyright. Hence, a letter style may be designed to look like an exact duplicate of another without infringement. However, a font, that is, the unique underlying software code that allows you to print a particular typeface, is protected. This has long been the position taken…

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Is it always an infringement to use someone else’s trademark? No. Because ownership of a trademark is not absolute. Just as the fair use defense exists in US copyright law, there are times when the use of a trademark without permission from the owner does not constitute infringement.

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Common logo design oversights

Common logo design oversights

  Many believe that good logo design is a judgment call. That there are no rules. Yet it seems reasonable that there are basic principles that, generally, should be followed for a design to be effective.

Jason Li, a co-founder of TomYum, a design firm based in Toronto, made some insightful comments on this subject. See if you agree.

Jason Li on good logo design

View story at Medium.com

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Trademark registration—How long does it take?

Trademark registration—How long does it take?

  How long does it take to receive a trademark registration once you apply for one to the US Patent & Trademark Office? According to trademark attorney Erik M. Pelton, “Each application is unique. No one can guarantee the outcome or the timing.” However, as he explains on his website, “the vast majority take somewhere around a year to reach registration or a final disposition.”

The process can…

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Secondary text on a sign should be well designed

Secondary text on a sign should be well designed

Letterhead Fonts is a nice source of information as well as a supplier of awesomely sign-friendly fonts, many designed by real hand letterers. Choosing letter styles for sign work requires special considerations that are not always necessary in other media.

  The following link is to a tutorial about how good design principles should be applied to even small, unimportant copy. It’s brief, but…

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test for pdf downloading

test for pdf downloading

Makrolon pdf

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Trademark fees go up...way up

Trademark fees go up…way up

The US Patent and Trademark Office, as of January 14, has changed a number of fees in connection with trademark registration.

Notable is the jump in the fee for filing a paper application for trademark registration. The per-class fee for filing an initial application is now a whopping $600, an increase of $225 over the previous $375. The fee for filing an online application has increased from…

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