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Join me at Toy Fair 2023: I’m excited to announce that I will speak at Toy Fair 2023 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City! My presentation will be entitled “Intellectual Property Protections Available in the USA for Toy Products” on September 30, 2023, from 2:10 PM to 2:30 PM. Following the presentation, there will be a discussion where you can engage with me and ask questions.
To be part of this event, register today at ToyFairNY.com. There I hope to provide valuable insights into US intellectual property law, as applied to the toy industry and toy inventions, designs, and brands.
The toy industry is unique in that established companies in the toy industry often expressly solicit ideas from the public and third parties, and do so much more than established companies do in many other industries. By contrast, companies (e.g., in the computer electronics industry) go out of their way to avoid unsolicited submissions of other’s ideas, lest their own innovation become tainted as potentially derived from others.
The toy industry is also unique because of the short lifetime over which many of its products remain marketable. Often toy products may have a short demand horizon, or brief manufacturing production run (e.g., of only one year) before consumers desire instead the next exciting new toy. Hence, the development and legal assertion of intellectual property rights can sometimes move too slowly to obtain judgements that practically affect ongoing infringing behavior that harms a legitimate supplier’s profits or reputation. Though some types of intellectual property can be obtained faster than others, assertion in court often may not be possible until after the temporal window to enjoin future or ongoing infringement has passed, so that such cases focus on monetary damages for past infringement. The fast pace of market-imposed obsolescence also creates substantial opportunity for counterfeit, unlicensed, or knock-off suppliers, who may no longer be infringing (or even exist) by the time a judgement can be brought against them. Moreover, many toy companies are too small for IP rights enforcement to be practically affordable (even if ultimately cost-justified).
Nevertheless, as the toy industry continues to grow, protecting, asserting, or avoiding assertion of intellectual property (IP) rights is becoming increasingly important for manufacturers, designers, and innovators. This can be especially true for the subset of toy products that have durable popularity.
In the United States, a robust framework of IP protections exists to safeguard the unique ideas and creations behind toy products. In this blog post, we will explore some of the types of intellectual property protections available and how those can be utilized to safeguard toy inventions, designs, and brands. Intellectual property protections applicable to toy products include:
· Patents: Patents provide inventors exclusive rights to their inventions for a limited period. For toy products, utility patents can protect novel and non-obvious functional ideas and concepts, such as unique mechanisms or technical features. On the other hand, design patents safeguard the ornamental or aesthetic aspects of a toy’s appearance, including its shape, pattern, and surface ornamentation. Often this difference allows design patents to be more easily designed around by competitors than utility patents. The maturity of the design at the time of patent preparation can also affect IP rights development strategy. For example, attorneys and their clients must consider that the claim scope of a utility application can be amended somewhat after filing, while changing the enforceable scope of a design patent after filing is more limited. After issuance, asserting either type of patent with the International Trade Commission (ITC) can provide recourse to enjoin the importation of counterfeit toys at the border or into US ports.
· Trademarks: Trademarks play a crucial role in protecting the distinctive branding elements of toy products, such as names, logos, slogans, or product packaging, and registering a trademark grants the owner exclusive rights to use the mark in connection with their toys, preventing others from using similar marks that may confuse consumers.
· Copyrights: Copyright protection extends to creative expressions fixed in a tangible form, such as original artwork, sculptures, graphics, and literary works. In the context of toy products, copyrights can safeguard visual designs such as the appearance of a doll, illustrations, written instructions, and accompanying literature. It is important to note that copyright does not protect functional aspects but focuses on artistic and literary expressions.
· Trade Dress: Trade dress refers to the unique visual appearance and overall image of a product or packaging that identifies and distinguishes it from others in the marketplace. In the toy industry, trade dress can protect the distinct color combinations, product shapes, or packaging designs that consumers associate with a particular brand or company.
· Trade Secrets: Trade secrets can be important for industry players to maintain their competitive edge. Manufacturers can protect valuable information, such as formulas, manufacturing processes, or marketing strategies, as trade secrets. Companies must take reasonable steps to keep the information confidential to maintain trade secret protection.
Hence, there is a range of intellectual property protections available to safeguard the creativity and innovation behind toy products. Toy manufacturers may establish and maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace by leveraging patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade dress, and trade secrets. Of course, such protections can be a two-way street; innovators must be careful to search and avoid the intellectual property rights of others while bringing their own new toy products to market. Understanding and utilizing the various types of intellectual property protection, in conjunction with legal counsel, can advance toy businesses’ long-term success and profitability while fostering innovation within the industry.
Don’t miss the opportunity to learn more about intellectual property protections for toy products at Toy Fair 2023. Register today at ToyFairNY.com and join me for an engaging discussion on September 30, 2023, at 2:10 PM. Let’s explore intellectual property law together!
Dr. Harrison represents clients in intellectual property legal matters, focusing on patent preparation, prosecution, licensing, post-grant proceedings such as inter-partes review (IPR), pre-litigation, opinions, and litigation.
Dr. Harrison is a registered patent attorney out of the firm’s Newport Beach office in Orange County, California located at:
2901 West Coast Hwy Suite 200 Newport Beach, CA 92663
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