Students Of Success

You’ve finally done it. You bought that car that you’ve been looking at and thinking about for months. It’s all very exciting, right? Well, that’s what we hope for anyway. But what happens if that car turns out to be a “lemon”. I know, this is something no one wants to think about, but unfortunately, it happens. The good thing is that you’re not without recourse. All fifty states have adopted some form of the lemon law that is written to protect people exactly like you. Since this law can vary from state to state, if you find yourself in this unfortunate position,the first thing you should do is contact a law lemon lawyer in your state.

Finding a law lemon lawyer that is familiar with the particular way your state operates when it comes to the lemon law is critical in ultimately winning your claim. This lawyer can evaluate your case and give you an honest opinion as to whether or not you even have a claim in the first place.

If you do, there are many steps that will need to be taken to prove it. The law lemon lawyer should be able to advise you on just what these steps are. Some of these steps will include documentation of all problems and repairs that will need to be kept detailed and complete. Invoices and receipts will need to be filed. Conversations with the dealership will need to be documented. In most states, your car needs to have been out of service for at least 30 days of the year before they will even consider it a lemon. If you have kept a record of all repairs and dates that your car has been in the shop, this will be much easier to prove than if you rely on the dealership.

Since these steps can prove to be time consuming and the entire process can be pretty drawn out, enter into this process knowing that you will need to be diligent and accept that it will take time. Having a law lemon lawyer for this process can help to expedite that process, though, and that in and of itself can make it worth your while. In some states, if you win your case, the lawyer fees will be included in your settlement anyway. If you lose, however, you will be responsible for all attorneys’ fees.

By
Ray Walker
Lemon Law Information

Your web site has been up for a few months and you are making money hand over foot. While surfing sites one evening, you are shocked to find a competitor using your design. You find out your designer sold them the same design. They must be breaking the law, right? It all depends on whether you own the copyright to your web site design. Many site owners are shocked to find out they do not.

What is Copyright?

Copyright is a method of protection for authors of original works such as literature, computer programs, music, artistic pieces and photographic images. The protection provided by copyright arises under Title 17 of the United States Code. A copyright gives the owner the exclusive right to do or authorize others to: reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, publicly display and generally use the material that carries the copyright in exchange for something, typically a royalty or fee. The copyright owner often grants this use through a license agreement, but can sell it outright.

Who Can Claim Copyright?

Copyright protection is created IMMEDIATELY upon the creation of a fixed form of the material in question and granted to the person that created the material. For instance, I automatically own the copyright to this article upon completing it. I am not required to file for an official copyright with the US Copyright Office to prove that I am the owner of the content. However, if I want to sue a person for using my article without permission, I must first register it.

What If I Hire Someone To Create A Web Site For Me?

If you hire a person or company to handle the design of your site, the complexities of copyright become a major issue for you. Specifically, the issue of “work for hire” is critical in determining whether you own the design.

“Work for hire” refers to the relationship between your business and the person creating your web site. If this person is an employee of your business and creates the material within their scope of employment, then your business owns the copyright. However, what happens when the designer is not an employee? In such a situation, the following must occur for the copyright to automatically transfer to you. The work must be specially ordered or commissioned for use as:

1. A contribution to a collective work,
2. A part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work,
3. A translation,
4. A supplementary work,
5. A compilation,
6. An instructional text,
7. A test,
8. Answer material for a test, or
9. An atlas.

It is my opinion that the design of a web site does not fall into any of the above categories. As a result, you do not own the copyright to the design and can do nothing about the fact that one of your competitors is using the design. Obviously, this is not the answer that most site owners want to hear. So, what can you do to protect your business?

When you hire an outside party to design, alter, amend or improve your site, you must have them sign a written contract. The contract must include a clause clearly establishing that the copyright to the material produced is vested with you, not the designer. You should then file the contract with your important documents as some designers “forget” that assigned the copyright to you. Presenting a copy of the contract and noting that it allows for the recovery of attorney’s fees usually solves the problem.

The issue of copyright ownership of a web site or aspect of a site pops up often. Finding your design being used on another domain is bad enough, but it can get worse. If you sell your business, the attorney for the party purchasing your business will always ask about the copyright of the site as part of the due diligence process. More than a few business deals have fallen apart when the lack of copyright ownership is discovered. Obtaining copyright at the outset of your business effort will avoid serious problems in the future.

Richard Chapo, Esq., is with SanDiegoIncorporate.com. He can be contacted at Richard@sandiegoincorporate.com.

This article is for general education purposes and does not address every facet of the subject matter. Nothing in this article creates an attorney-client relationship.

A will is a written document which gives instructions how and to whom the will maker (testator) wants to bequeath his/her property after death. An oral will can be made only by members of military and merchant navy in active service when they don’t have time to execute a written will due to exceptional conditions like war.

Any person above 18 with sound mental health can make a will. It must be dated and signed by the testator and certain number of witnesses, depending on the laws of the state. A hand written will, called ‘holographic will’, valid in 25 states, does not require witnesses.

Though preparing a basic will is very simple many people neglect to prepare one thinking that the end is far away. Should a catastrophe strike a court will decide how the property will be distributed.

The right time to prepare a will is when you are in full control of all your mental faculties. Though wills made on the death-bed are perfectly valid, there’s a greater possibility of it being contested by a disgruntled beneficiary on the grounds of your mental inconsistency.

You can modify the will through a codicil that adds/removes certain provisions from the original will. You can also replace the original will by preparing and executing a new will. Change in your marital status, birth of a child, death of a beneficiary, substantial alterations to property, change of law or your desire to change the beneficiaries may require altering of will.

It is not necessary to notarize the will or to file it in court. Just keeping the document in a secure place and making it accessible to your executor will do. However, signing of an affidavit before a notary public by you and your witnesses will simplify the court procedure should the validity of the will be challenged.

If the value of your property is below the estate tax exemption limits ($1.5m), a basic will is all you need. It should give details of the persons/organizations to whom/which you want to bequeath your property; guardian(s) to manage the property in case you have minor children, and the executor of will.

Preparing a basic will does not require much skill and can be done with some help. However, if you want to make elaborate arrangements for disposing of property, or if the property involved is considerable (and there is a possibility of the will being contested), you better seek professional help so that your beneficiaries won’t face problems after you are gone.

Estate Planning provides detailed information on Estate Planning, Estate Planning Attornies, Will Estate Planning, Estate Tax Planning and more. Estate Planning is affiliated with Filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

Prenuptial agreements are like insurance policies. You do the paperwork, and then hope you’ll never need it. However, since half of marriages end in divorce within the first seven years, you may want to consider a prenuptial agreement before you walk down the aisle and say, “I do.”

Since you could later be engaged in a nasty, costly, and emotionally draining divorce some day, you should consider a prenuptial agreement as a precaution. Below we have given you some information on what is in a prenuptial agreement and whether it could be useful for you.

A prenuptial or ante nuptial agreement is a document signed by two people who intend to be married. It describes their rights and obligations should they get divorced. A prenuptial agreement informs the court how they want their assets and property divided up.

Divorces become messy when parties cannot agree on the distribution of property, such things as the house, the house, stocks, and bonds and whether one party should pay the other alimony, now known as “maintenance” in most states. Assume that the husband has $1,000,000 in his own name prior to the marriage. A properly drafted prenuptial agreement can award that same $1,000,000 to him after a divorce, notwithstanding what he does with the money, such as purchasing a home in joint tenancy or shifting the money into other accounts. Without a prenuptial agreement, the wife might be entitled to one-half of the $1,000,000 or more, depending on the financial circumstances of the parties at the time of the divorce. The prenuptial agreement is a powerful and valuable tool that can favor the husband, protect the wife, or serve both of them fairly. It is a question of circumstances and intentions.

Candidates for prenuptial agreements used to be just older individuals with huge estates that they wanted to protect from gold diggers for their children from previous marriages. Since more millionaires are born every day, the candidate pool is growing by leaps and bounds. Now everybody has something to protect: an unpublished author, the budding inventor, anybody with a lucrative profession or a good idea. So, before you dismiss the idea of a prenuptial agreement, assess your situation in life and your long-term future in deciding whether a prenuptial agreement is right for you.

Consider at length the nature and extent of your present and possible future assets. A prenuptial agreement can be a very simple document running only a few pages that segregates each party’s assets owned before the marriage, or it can be a very complicated document that runs dozens of pages because it deals with income and assets acquired during the marriage, the payment of debts, attorneys’ fees, alimony/maintenance, and other financial matters. The next hurdle is raising the issue with your intended spouse, a very unromantic event. It helps to get it over with early. Perhaps you could blame it on someone else, such as your parents who may want to involve you in a family business, or possible business partners.

If you have no one to hold responsible, just be honest. Tell your future spouse that you intend to be open, fair, and honest, and the fact that you will be revealing all your assets is a sign of trust. Assure your intended that he or she will be protected during the negotiation procedure and in the prenuptial agreement, and stress that the document is something you feel is necessary and wise before you get married. The most important thing is to discuss it earlier instead of later, so that the degree of pressure before the wedding is mitigated.

Couples do not usually break engagements because of disputes over prenuptial agreements. In almost every instance, the agreement is signed and the parties are married. It is also completely appropriate to state that you will not get married without a prenuptial agreement; case law has indicated that this will not invalidate an agreement if made before the wedding.

The best way to avoid charges of duress or coercion is to tell your future spouse early on that you want the prenuptial agreement. Sometimes, such documents are signed shortly before the wedding, but have been the subject of negotiation for months. A well-drafted agreement will recite the fact that, even though it was signed shortly before or on the wedding date, negotiations began much earlier. It is for clauses like this that you consult experts.

Eventually, a prenuptial agreement will be fashioned so that you and your future spouse both accept it. The terms may not be what you initially envisioned and may not be what your intended would want. But that is the nature of compromise.

Note that Legal Helper Corp. - http://www.legalhelpmate.com/prenuptial-agreement.aspx

- provides an easy-to-use, quick, and economical online method for creating Prenuptial Agreement (Premarital).

Jeffrey Broobin is a free-lance writer on family and finance issues; his main goal is to help people during their complicated period of life.

Website: http://www.legalhelpmate.com

Email: : jeffreyb@legalhelpmate.com

Knowing the worth of your accident injuries is a critical part of every accident claim. This amount actually depends on very specific conditions. Also, acquiring the said compensation might also take some time due to some reasons. One must patiently bear with the whole process from the time when the claim has been filed till its final release. If you still don’t know the formula that is being used by insurance companies to establish the value of your personal injury claim, this article will help you to better and fully understand this matter.

In determining the worth of your claim, you have to know first the things that you might receive as compensation. Normally, the injured person or the family of a death person of any accident can get compensation from the liable person’s insurance company for the following: damaged property; medical care and related expenses; permanent physical disability or disfigurement; loss of income because of the time when he was unable to work or undergoing treatment for injuries due to the accident; loss of family, social and educational experiences such as missed school or training, vacation or recreation, or a special event; and emotional damages including stress, depression, embarrassment, or strains on family relationships.

When you’re going to establish the compensation that you’ll demand for, it’s really easy to compute all the money you’ve spent and the money you’ve lost, but not the pain and suffering or the missed experiences and lost opportunities you’ve endured. This is where the formula that is being used by insurance companies comes in. First, an insurance adjuster totals the medical expenses associated with the injury that becomes the base figure to be used to find out the amount that the victim must receive for the pain, suffering and other financial losses. When the injuries are quite minor, the adjuster then multiplies the amount by 1.5 or 2 and up to 5 for more serious and add it to any loss of income due to the accident.

In addition, there are various things that help the adjuster to determine the correct multiplier. The more painful the injury, the longer the recovery period, the more obvious the medical evidence of the injury, the more invasive and long-lasting the medical treatment, and the more serious and visible any permanent result of the injury, the higher the multiplier is, too. Also, the more of your treatment you receive from a physician or at a hospital, or opposed to physical therapy, chiropractic and other non-MD treatment, a higher multiplier is also used.

Once you know how insurance companies use the damages formula to start negotiating, you are close to figuring out the total value of your claim. The extent each person is at fault is the most important factor affecting how much the insurance company is likely to pay. The damages formula gives you a range of how much your injuries might be worth, but only after you figure in the question of fault do you know the actual compensation value of your claim — that is, how much an insurance company will pay you.

When you already know how insurance companies utilize the damages formula to begin negotiations, you are near at finding out the exact and total value of your claim. The degree that every person is being held liable is the most significant element that affects the amount that the insurance company is most likely to pay an accident’s victim. The said formula for damages provides you with the range of how much your injury might be worth but only after you figure in the question of fault do you know the actual compensation value of your claim - to be exact, how much an insurance company will compensate you.

About the Author

“For Comments and Questions about the Article you may Log - on to http://www.personalinjurylawyerinc.com
“

Child custody is not an easy choice. Whether attorneys and judges decide on who will get the child custody or if parents can come to an agreement on their own, someone is going to lose. There are specific laws with very stringent guidelines about child custody. The bottom line is not who should have rights to child custody, but who is going to provide the best environment and upbringing for the child. Therefore, child custody cases can become difficult, confusing, and even frustrating. The bottom line is that for every child custody case, there needs to be a qualified child custody attorney behind it.

What are you to do then when faced with child custody issues? If you are in this situation, you will need to find qualified child custody attorneys to help you. And, you will also want to find a good amount of research about what child custody processes are like in your area. One great place to stop and take a look for some of this information is a website at www.thesmartattorneys.com. There, you will find quite a bit of information regarding child custody and possibly find qualified child custody attorneys in your area.

No, child custody battles are not easy. They are complex and often leaves someone hurt. Each state has its own set of rules governing child custody laws. Many times, children are placed with biological parents first. But, the end result will be a judge trying to decide what the best place for that child is. In child custody battles, parents will have to decide why they believe the child should be with them. Things like money, housing situations, and how they react with the child.

Child custody cases happen every day. If you are one of the people who are affected by a child custody case, you will want to do some research. Websites like www.thesmartattorneys.com offer information to help point you in the right direction. You should prepare yourself first, though, with qualified attorneys who can help you and the child find the best solution. In the end, every child custody case is about the child’s well being.

About the Author

S A Baker is staff writer at http://www.thesmartattorneys.com

Benjamin Franklin famously said, “In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes.”

Unfortunately, you can’t avoid death. But a carefully-drafted estate plan can help avoid
taxes, family conflicts and a lot of unnecessary heartache. The following provides a general overview of the estate planning process, and what to expect.

Why do I need an Estate Plan?

Many of us spend our earthly lives accumulating assets which, unfortunately, upon our death, will not go with us. The top 2 reasons for having an estate plan:

1. So you can transfer your wealth to your chosen heirs, in your chosen manner;

2. So you can plan for and effectively limit the taxation of your estate;

What if I don’t have an Estate Plan?

If you die “intestate” (which is without a will) or without an estate plan, lots of things can happen, such as:

1. Intestate Succession: When someone dies without a will, the government will step in and decide who gets what.

2. Probate: The estate could go to probate, a costly and very public process. (See below: What is Probate?)

3. Guardianship of Minor Children: If both spouses pass away, it is a good idea to list who they want as a guardian.

4. Higher Estate Taxes. Higher estate taxes = less for beneficiaries.

What is Probate?

Probate refers to process of legally validating a person’s will. Such a procedure takes approximately 9-12 months. The court appoints a person designated as an “executor” to handle the assets and to administer the estate. The fees that the executor and attorney receive are set by law (a percentage of the value of the assets which go through probate.)The total fees can be approximately 5-6% of the estate assets.

How Do I Avoid Probate?

Please note that wills DO NOT avoid probate. (See Below: Wills v. Trusts).

In California, the first $100,000 of an estate is exempt from probate, meaning that the first $100,000 can be collected without a formal Probate procedure. All else is subject.

Some probate-avoidance techniques are:

1. Revocable Living Trusts;

2. Joint Tenancy;

3. Life insurance and retirements accounts which name a beneficiary;

4. “Pay-on-death” accounts

5. In California, “spousal confirmation proceeding”, where a petition is filed with the court, notice is given to certain parties, and if no one objects, the court approves the assets as going to the spouse. This procedure can only be used for husband and wife.

Is Probate Always Bad?

Nowadays, people tend to associate “probate” with the bad and ugly. However, there are some instances that probate can provide benefits. For example, if your estate owes a lot of debts, to a lot of creditors; or if you believe someone may challenge your estate in court. You should discuss these issues with a qualified estate planning attorney.

Wills v. Trusts

As explained above, wills do not avoid probate. Even if you have a will, upon your death, the will becomes a public document. A will is subject to probate, which can be a painful, drawn-out process that most people would want to avoid.

A living trust, however, avoid probate. The principle behind a Revocable Living Trust is this: When you establish a Living Trust, you transfer all your property into the Trust, and then name yourself as trustee (or spouse as co-trustee). You will also name “successor trustees”, who will take over your assets and handle them pursuant to your instructions. Since the “successor trustee” will be following your decisions, the probate courts needs not be involved.

The trustees maintain complete control over the property, the same control you had before your property was placed in trust. You can even discontinue the Trust if you choose.

Another important difference between a trust and a will is that a will is not effective until you die. A trust, however, is effective as soon as you make it, and can offer protection if you become disabled or incapacitated.
How Do I Transfer My Assets to a Trust?

In order to fulfill the purpose of your estate plan, you should fund the revocable trust you have by transferring your assets to the trust. For all transfers, title should be transferred to the trust. For example, if I were to set up a trust, I would transfer title to my property to “Kelly Chang, as Trustee, or the acting successor Trustee, of the Kelly Chang Revocable Trust Dated March 6, 2006”.

The following describes the transfer process for basic types of assets. For assets not listed, please consult with a qualified estate planning attorney.

1. Real Property In California: It will be necessary to prepare and record a new deed in order to transfer title of real property to your trust. It is also necessary to submit a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report with the deed notifying the local county assessor as to whether the property is subject to reassessment. A transfer to a revocable living trust is exempt from reassessment.

Please note that if there is a mortgage, you should contact your lender and request a waiver of enforcement of any due-on-sale clauses contained in the loan documents.

2. Real Property Outside of California: Laws vary from state to state regarding transfer s of real estate. Best to consult with an attorney located in that state who is familiar with local rules regarding property taxation, income taxation, and law regarding mortgages as it affects such property. We can help you find such an attorney who will assist you.

3. Cash Accounts: You should contact all banks and let them know that you have a living a trust and wish to transfer assets to it. You should change the name on the bank accounts and CD’s by completing new signature cards as the Trustee.

4. Stocks and Bonds: Your broker should help you with this.

5. Life Insurance: The beneficiary should be changed to the trust; however, if it’s a small policy, you may wish to continue the designation of your original beneficiary.

6. New Assets: All new assets should be acquired in the name of the trust.

If I Have a Living Trust, Do I Need a Will?

Yes, most trusts will have a “pour over” will, which simply provides that any assets held in your name alone at death, which were not in your living trust, will be transferred to your living trust. However, these assets not originally in the trust will not avoid probate.

Should I Change or Update My Will?

Congratulations, you’ve made your estate plan. When should you make changes or update the documents? It truly depends. Generally, if something major happens, such as a death of spouse or beneficiary, divorce, adoption of new child, or winning the lottery. Please consult a qualified estate planning attorney.

Kelly Y. Chang, Esq. is the owner/founder of the Law Offices of Kelly Chang, a Professional Law Corporation. The firm specializes in Estate Planning, Real Estate Law, and Family Law. Ms. Chang was born in Taiwan, and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, and French. She is passionate about international issues and has traveled to 30+ countries. In addition, Ms. Chang is an accomplished classical pianist and composes and performs music in her spare time.

Seroquel is an atypical antipsychotic drug that is used to treat hallucinations, delusions and confusion caused by psychotic conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Atypical antipsychotics are not SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) or benzodiazepines. Atypical antipsychotics like Seroquel affect only certain parts of the brain, blocking the input of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, histamine, and muscarine. The benefit to atypical antipsychotics is that they are non-habit forming and are not as frequently abused as normal antipsychotics.

Some less serious side effects of Seroquel are dizziness, drowsiness, agitation, constipation, dry mouth and weight gain. More serious side effects are allergic reactions that are revealed through breathing problems, swelling of throat, lips, tongue or face, and hives. Other effects are spastic movements of limbs and face or fever, muscle rigidity or irregular heartbeats. However, serious side effects of Seroquel include pancreatitis, hyperclycemia, stroke and being three times as likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Also, some patients on Seroquel have developed Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS). While the mortality rate for those with NMS has decreased, it is still a serious condition that results in respiratory failure, cardiovascular collapse, myglobinuric renal failure, arrhythmias, rhabdomyolysis, pneumonia, seizures or diffuse intravascular coagulation.

Furthermore, AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of Seroquel, has been charged with promoting the drug for off label use that violated FDA restrictions.

If you or a family member has been affected by Seroquel, you may be entitled to pursue a lawsuit against AstraZeneca. Attorneys are currently pursuing class action lawsuits to establish a fund for those affected by Seroquel. GA

Contact an experienced Seroquel Lawyer today.

Find information about Seroquel Side Effects associated with a major Dangerous Drug Lawfirm today at hugesettlements.

About the Author

None

Distinctiveness in trademarks provides that any sign or any combination of signs, capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings, shall be capable of constituting a trademark. These may include, in particular, personal names, letters, numerals, figurative elements and combinations of colors as well as any combination of such signs. Andrew Inglis, Olswang defines the distinctiveness in these words,

“…Distinctiveness in relation to trade marks refers to the capacity of the mark to distinguish the goods or services of its proprietor from the goods and services of others. The more distinctive a mark, the more likely it will be that broad rights attach to it…”

Capable of distinguishing The capacity to distinguish goods or services is fundamental to the concept of a trade mark. Invented words and devices are generally capable of performing that function but there are some that are not either because thy are devoid of distinctive character, they consist of signs or indications that designate the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose and so on of the goods or services concerned or because they have become customary in the current language or bona fide and established practices of the trade. However, even some of those marks of that kind can in time acquire distinctiveness through sales and advertising. The level of distinctiveness required for a distinguishing guise is higher than for a ordinary mark, therefore, there are fewer of them.

Acquiring distinctiveness To acquire distinctiveness in trademark, the applicant’ trademarks must not devoid of any distinctive as mentioned in the clause (b) of the subsection (1) of section 14 of Trade Marks Ordinance, 2001 is related with absolute grounds for refusal of registration, “…trade marks which are devoid of any distinctive character;…” Trade Marks which are devoid of any Distinctive Character in British Sugar Plc v James Robertson’s and Sons Ltd Jacob J suggested that a trade mark that is devoid of any distinctive character is the sort which cannot do the job of distinguishing without first educating the public that it is a trade mark. In this context, the Court of First Instance

observed in Baby-Dry1, that the distinctive character of a sign must be assessed in relation to the goods or services in respect of which registration is claimed. The subsection 1 of section 15 of trademark Ordinance 2001 has laid down considerations for any tribunal to decide on distinctive character of trademarks, “… A trade mark may be limited wholly or in part to one or more specified colours, and any such limitation shall be taken into consideration by any tribunal having to decide on the distinctive character of the trade mark…” The section 17 of Trade Mark Ordinance, 2001 provides that a trademark is a detrimental to the distinctive character shall not be registered. The Section 84(2) reading with section 2 of THIRD SCHEDULE of trade Mark Ordinance 2001 deals with use of a domain name shall be taken as source identifier if it is used on Internet to distinguish goods or services of one undertaking from the other provided that use of a domain name as a mere distinctive reference. A mark, which is inherently not distinctive Exception to clause (b), (c) or (d) of Section 14 of trademarks Ordinance 2001

“… provided that a trade mark shall not be refused registration by virtue of clause (b), (c) or (d) if, before the date of application for registration, it has, in fact, acquired a distinctive character as a result of the use made of it or is a well known trade mark…”

The Inherent distinctiveness of all the trademarks resulted in part from its statutory right. A mark not distinctive (e.g. descriptive) may acquire distinctiveness through use.

The distinctiveness of Trade Marks as a series The clause (c) of subsection 3 of section 20 of trade Mark Ordinance, 2001 other matter of a non-distinctive character added as part of trade mark series, if any, shall not affect the identity and distinctiveness of the trade marks, provided non-distinctive character which does not substantially affect the identity of the trade mark.

The affect of lose of distinctiveness The subsection 2 of section 73 of trade Mark Ordinance, 2001 for the purposes of the registration of a Trade Mark may be revoked, if use of a trade mark shall include use in a form differing in elements which do not alter the distinctive character of the mark in the form in which it was registered.

A new interpretation of the distinctiveness of a Trade Mark Many national authorities that symbol comprising two non-distinctive words were non-distinctive and ineligible for registration. The BABY-DRY 1 judgment seemed to change this interpretation.

It was the view that an assessment of distinctiveness must consider whether the word combination in question is understood in ordinary-language use as a normal way to refer to the goods in question or represents their essential characteristics in common parlance.

Conclusion A trade mark shall not be registered unless it contains or consists of at distinctiveness, the name of a company, individual, or firm, represented in a special or particular manner; one or more invented distinctive words; one or more words having no direct reference to the distinct character or quality of the goods, and not being according to its ordinary signification, a geographical name or surname or the name of a sect, caste or tribe in Pakistan; any other distinctive mark, provided that a name, signature, or any word, other than such as fall within the descriptions in the above clauses, shall not be registered except upon evidence of its distinctiveness.

The writer is an advocate of High Court and practicing immigration and corporate laws in Pakistan since September 2001. He is a self employed and pioneer in research on electronic commerce taxation in Pakistan. His articles were published widely in the critical areas of cyber crimes, electronic commerce, e-taxation and various other topics. He wrote LL.M thesis on titled “Legislation of electronic commerce taxation in Pakistan” in which he provided comprehensive legal proposals for statutory reconstruction of tax laws for purpose of imposition of taxation on e-business in Pakistan. Currently he is conducting is research on topic ‘Electronic commerce taxation: emerging legal issues of digital evidence’.

Author can be contacted by adil.waseem@lawyer.com.

All lawyers in New York are required to pass a bar exam that includes multiple-choice questions and essay questions. On passing the bar, one must apply to the Appellate Court to seek entry to the Bar and, after passing the interview with the Character and Fitness Committee, one can practice law in New York. It is essential for a New York-based lawyer to be familiar with the Disciplinary Rule of the Code of Professional Responsibility. According to the New York law, a lawyer who deliberately participates in or conducts false, perjured or fraudulent testimony is subject to Discipline Rule. Every lawyer has the duty to maintain the honor and integrity of his profession.

There are many lawyers in New York. Some lawyers specialize in a single type of law or in one particular category, whereas other lawyers handle a wide range of cases like personal injury cases, bankruptcy cases, real estate cases, insurance cases, family cases (adoption, divorce, alimony) and many more. It is the duty of a New York lawyer to represent his clients zealously, ethically and with due respect to the law. In a state like New York, it might be very difficult for a person to find a lawyer who is devoted to a client’s needs and works in an ethical and respectful manner. The easiest way to find a lawyer is to get a reference from family and friends, or search the Yellow Pages or an online directory, or contact the Bar Association of New York. As per the New York City Bar, if a person consults a lawyer because he or his family member is injured, there is no consultation fee.

According to a survey, the topmost law firms in New York are Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz, Cravath, Swaine and Moore, and Sullivan and Cromwell.