• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer

Indiana Intellectual Property Blog

~ Trademark and Copyright Law Developments in Indiana

Indiana Intellectual Property Blog

Category Archives: KLF Legal

How to Designate a DMCA Agent

24 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Bloggers, Copyright, Intellectual Property, KLF Legal, Legislation, Social Media, Tech Developments

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

DMCA

Website or blog owners, if you allow third parties to post content on your site, check out this short video that could save you lots of $$$.

Indiana Lawyers Present: The CASE for Social Media

01 Saturday Oct 2011

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Bloggers, Indiana, Indianapolis, Intellectual Property, KLF Legal, Right of Publicity, Social Media, Tech Developments

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Social Media

Kenan Farrell will be speaking at this upcoming seminar, Indiana Lawyers Present: The CASE for Social Media.

“Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn from Indiana attorneys on how to use social media to generate clients, connect with legal professional, validate your area of expertise, drive website traffic and so much more!”

View this document on Scribd

Upcoming Seminar – Fashioning the Law of Design: Wearable Intellectual Property

21 Thursday Oct 2010

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Artists, Copyright, Indianapolis, Intellectual Property, KLF Legal, Trademark

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Fashion

Even before designers’ creations adorn the world’s most beautiful stars at red carpet events, their works are being “knocked off” by discount retailers all over the world. Legislation pending before Congress would give designers intellectual property rights over their designs for the first time in U. S. history.

Will this help or hinder the fashion industry? Will designers finally be able to prevent unauthorized reproductions? Or will their creativity be hobbled if they can’t borrow inspiration from each other?

Join us Nov. 9 for a lively discussion of this law frontier during the annual Jordan H. and Joan R. Leibman Forum on the Legal & Business Environment of Art.

Kenan Farrell, founder of KLF Legal, and Beth Bennett, founder of Beth Bennett Couture, will describe fashion’s special status in intellectual property law and take questions from the audience as they present “Fashioning the Law of Design: Wearable Intellectual Property.”

Farrell is an IU Law-Indianapolis alumnus who started his Intellectual Property and Entertainment law firm in the Arts and Theater District on Mass. Ave. His practice focuses on the strategic development and protection of creative properties. He represents clients in music, film, theater, television, book publishing and the visual arts throughout the U. S. and abroad. He is the current chairman of the Indianapolis Bar Association’s Solo and Small Firm Committee and also serves on the board of the Sports & Entertainment Committee. He’s an in-demand speaker on a wide range of intellectual property, entertainment and practice management topics.

Beth Bennett holds a B.F.A. degree from DePaul University and a M.F.A. from New York University. Trained as a costume designer for stage and screen, she is the founder and owner of Beth Bennett Couture, the umbrella company for B Trousseau Couture, a line of custom bridal and luxury gowns, and Picnic, a line of daywear separates and dresses that include one-of-a-kind pieces and a limited number of manufactured styles.

The lecture will take at place at 5:30 p.m. at the Indiana University School of Law—Indianapolis, Inlow Hall, 530 W. New York Street, in the Wynne Courtroom (room 100). A reception in the Conour Atrium will follow. Parking is available for a nominal fee at the Natatorium Garage two blocks west of the law school.

Continuing Legal Education Credit (1.3 Hours) will be available for attendance.

This presentation is part of the annual Jordan H. and Joan R. Leibman Forum, which was established at IUPUI in 2004 as an interdisciplinary examination of the legal and business aspects of the arts among the IU Kelley School of Business, the IU School of Law-Indianapolis and Herron School of Art and Design.

Click here for more info.

Kenan Farrell to speak at Blog Indiana – Social Media & Blogging Conference

12 Monday Jul 2010

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Authors, Bloggers, Copyright, Defamation, Indiana, Indianapolis, Intellectual Property, KLF Legal, Social Media, Tech Developments, Trademark

≈ Leave a comment

I’ll be speaking at Indy’s top Social Media & Blogging Conference, Blog Indiana. My session “A Legal Primer for Bloggers” will provide an overview of the key legal issues that bloggers should consider: Intellectual Property, Defamation, Anonymity and Privacy.

I’m happy to be able to provide readers of this blog a 10% discount. The code is “SPEAKTOME10” and is good starting today until all ticket sales end.

Hope to see you there.

Indiana’s Favorite Blog? Please Vote!

20 Tuesday Oct 2009

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Bloggers, Indiana, Intellectual Property, KLF Legal

≈ 1 Comment

The Indiana Intellectual Property & Technology Blog has been nominated for Indiana’s Favorite Blog. Please vote!

Note: You must be a registered member of Linking Indiana to vote in this contest.  Registration is quick and easy though…I just did it in 20 seconds.

Voting ends November 3, 2009.  Tell your friends!

Tips for Guest-Blogging

18 Sunday Oct 2009

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Bloggers, Just for Fun, KLF Legal

≈ 1 Comment

I was recently asked by a journalist to provide some comments on guest-blogging. I put together the following tips for people thinking of getting into guest-blogging, or perhaps just starting to blog generally:

In addition to my own blogs, I’ve done quite a bit of guest-blogging over the last several years. In fact, my first blogging experience was as a guest blogger on a Virtual Law blog, virtuallyblind.com, created by another attorney, Ben Duranske. Guest-blogging allowed to me learn the in-and-outs of blogging without the pressure of producing content on a regular basis.

Blogging has been a great tool for building my business and gaining recognition in my fields of interest. It’s driven my page to the top of Google search results which of course means more eyeballs seeing the services that I can provide them. Several of my top clients reguIarly comment that they enjoy my blog and the information it provides. I also place importance in the process of researching and writing blog posts, essentially an ongoing CLE that helps me be a better service provider in the long run.

Tips for guest bloggers:

1. Find the Right Audience. If you’ve got a particular topic that you’d really like to write about, write about it! Once you’ve got that great post that you’re excited about, look around and find an existing blog that matches your interest. Contact the blog owner and propose that he/she publish your guest post. I can’t speak for every blog owner, but I would never turn away a guest post with quality content. After all, any positive traffic generated would be to my blog, where people will see my info and content. Even if a blog owner doesn’t want to publish your guest post, the feedback they give can help direct you towards somebody who will.

2. Go for the Oscar. You’ve got the time and energy to really focus on one great blog post, so do it! I think of a full-time blogger as a TV writer, responsible for content day in and day out. Not all of it can be glorious, but the blog readers become familiar with the “character” of the blog writer. A guest blogger is a movie writer. They write that epic post that blows away all the other posts and becomes a definitive source for a particular piece of information. Throw in some explosions, heartwrenching drama, maybe even just great images that the guest blogger spent a little extra time to locate.

3. Guest-Blog 2: The Sequel. Unlike in the movies, sequels are generally a good thing in blogging. Endorse your guest post on your own site and build cross-traffic. Follow-up with additional info in future posts and people (most importantly clients and potential clients) will recognize you as an information hub.

bloghand

There are several great resources online to help you get started as a guest blogger. If you’re an Intellectual Property attorney or enthusiast who would like to write a guest post for the Indiana Intellectual Property & Technology Blog, please send me a note.

Electronic Signatures on Online Forms

24 Monday Aug 2009

Posted by Kenan Farrell in KLF Legal, Tech Developments

≈ Leave a comment

The following is a guest post I wrote for FormSpring’s blog a few weeks back re: Electronic Signatures on Online Forms.  FormSpring provides organizations with an easy way to build web forms that integrate with their websites without any programming, software, or special skills.

formspringlogo

FormSpring customers often ask about collecting electronic signatures via FormSpring’s web forms. Here are some examples of the types of questions customers are asking:

  • Does your product offer a way to do verifiable signatures? My client wants to post job applications online which will need this functionality.
  • Our company is looking to add an online enrollment form with an electronic signature on our web site. Is this something you can help with?
  • We have a contract that we want to get up online but are not sure of the most efficient way to do it. The majority of it is in a word document and we’d like to add payment integration and some contact info input and a digital signature.
  • We have a waiver, disclamer, and legal notice that we need to have a digital signature on before they submit payment via PayPal. Can I do this?

FormSpring does a wonderful technical job of making these options available to their customers, and I’ll leave it to them to explain how they work their magic. But they’ve asked that I help explain the legality/enforceability of electronic signatures. Ultimately, being legal or enforceable means that a court would accept an electronic signature collected via your form as admissible trial evidence should there ever be a dispute that requires court intervention.

First, I’ll preface this post by saying that Adobe previously ran an excellent series of blog posts on the topic of electronic signatures. These posts are definitely worth a read if you’re interested in more information on electronic signatures:

  1. “So what is an electronic signature anyway?“
  2. “Trust Us!” – Electronic Signatures and Assurance
  3. “This is legal, right?” – Electronic Signatures & The Law

I’ll address some of those points here as they pertain to web forms. First, what is an electronic signature, and how does it differ from a traditional pen-to-paper signature? Obviously it’s electronic and not ink, but there’s more to it than that…or is there?

In commerce and the law, a signature on a document is an indication that the person adopts the intentions recorded in the document. Accordingly, an electronic signature is any legally recognized electronic means that indicates that a person adopts the contents of an electronic message.

The historical legal concept of “signature” is broader. It recognizes any mark made with the intention of authenticating the marked document. Hence, an “X” can often suffice as a proper signature.

Courts will accept an “electronic signature” as a “signature” so long as it meets the definition set forth by precedent and law (in other words, the definition varies by jurisdiction). An electronic signature and a pen-to-paper signature are equivalent in most respects, and can admissible in trial.

That being said, all signatures (whether electronic or old-school) intended to be entered into evidence in a trial need to be assessed for “admissibility.” Some of the threshold evidentiary questions are: Does it represent the intent of the signatory? Has the document/form been altered? Who had the right to sign this document/form? How was the signature derived, and what controlled access to the document for its signature? These questions come into play no matter the type of signature.

Higher assurance signature methods that better authenticate the signatory, such as encryption or username/password requirements, are more likely to be accepted than signature technologies which provide lesser assurance. While an electronic signature may be a legal signature, it can still be held inadmissible if the judge feels that the signature process did not provide the appropriate level of assurance.

Electronic Signatures and Records Association, an organization which seeks to expand knowledge on both electronic signature and records, plays an active role in public policy on these topics. Check them out for additional information on the legality of electronic signatures.

In the next installment, I’ll discuss the difference between electronic signatures and digital signatures. See you then.

Welcome to the new home of the Indiana Intellectual Property & Technology Blog

21 Friday Aug 2009

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Intellectual Property, KLF Legal

≈ Leave a comment

Welcome to the new home of The Indiana Intellectual Property & Technology Blog.  The blog has now permanently moved here from its former sub-domain (http://klflegal.wordpress.com).  Please make any necessary changes to your links/RSS feeds/etc.  The prior site will remain up for several weeks to allow everyone to make the switch.

Expect the same great content…Indiana-related legal and news updates for intellectual property law (patent, trademark, copyright, trade secrets, etc.) and technology issues.

Picture 1

Thanks, Kenan L. Farrell

Facebook, Twitter

Electronic Signatures on Online Forms – FormSpring Guest Blog

19 Wednesday Aug 2009

Posted by Kenan Farrell in KLF Legal, Tech Developments

≈ Leave a comment

Please check out my guest post over on FormSpring’s blog discussing the legal aspects of electronic signatures.

logo

FormSpring is a great company providing organizations with an easy way to build web forms that integrate with their websites without any programming, software, or special skills.

Blog Author Featured in Indiana Lawyer Article

06 Thursday Aug 2009

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Indiana, KLF Legal, Tech Developments

≈ Leave a comment

Check out this excerpt from an article in the current issue of the Indiana Lawyer (an IBJ Media publication), featuring none other than the author of the Indiana Intellectual Property & Technology Law Blog:

New-school Networking Ideas

…To help avoid having potential clients see personal information, attorneys on Facebook can also set up business profiles for their firms, which are separate from personal pages.

Kenan Farrell, a solo attorney in Indianapolis who represents artists and musicians among his list of intellectual property clients, said he has had success through his Facebook business page, Facebook ad – charged on a pay-per-click basis – and Twitter.

After he worked for a large firm in Indianapolis, he moved to San Francisco, then moved back to Indianapolis where he started his own firm in January.

He said it’s because of social networking that he’s been able to get “good, interesting work from clients” for much less than it would cost to have an ad on television or in the phone book, something he investigated when he decided to become a solo practitioner.

IndianaLawyerPictureSo far, most of the other attorneys on Facebook and Twitter he is connected to practice outside of Indiana. Those connections have resulted in business when lawyers in other states need local counsel or know someone who does.

Farrell also goes to networking events – “tweetups” – of others on Twitter. While he doesn’t think other attorneys have attended those meetings, he has met a number of business owners of various ages and experience.

Because business owners are on sites like Twitter, he said, it’s likely attorneys could benefit from connecting with them.

Twitter has also linked him to experts, and to large conferences where he was unable to attend but people in the conference were posting status updates.

While it’s not exactly the same, it can get the message out. For speakers, it can share their information with potentially hundreds or thousands of people beyond those in the room for the presentation.

While Farrell said he felt like “the only guy in the goldmine” by using Facebook and Twitter, he recommended it for all attorneys regardless of experience level for the benefits he has seen.

Click the images below to read the full article.

Picture 1Picture 2

Source: Indiana Lawyer, Vol. 20, No. 11

← Older posts

Categories

  • Artists (16)
  • Authors (15)
  • Bloggers (36)
  • Branding (21)
  • Copyright (239)
  • Dear KLF Legal (4)
  • Defamation (5)
  • Entertainment Law (11)
  • Fashion (3)
  • Federal Initiatives (32)
  • Indiana (433)
  • Indianapolis (39)
  • Intellectual Property (476)
  • Just for Fun (18)
  • KLF Legal (15)
  • Legislation (31)
  • Litigation (423)
  • Musicians (8)
  • Nonprofit (1)
  • Northern District of Indiana (130)
  • Patent (40)
  • Privacy (14)
  • Right of Publicity (7)
  • Social Media (53)
  • Southern District of Indiana (244)
  • Stories from the Week that Was (42)
  • Supreme Court (10)
  • Tech Developments (118)
  • Trade Dress (10)
  • Trade Secret (10)
  • Trademark (250)
  • What I'm Reading (5)

Bloggers Copyright Federal Initiatives Indiana Indianapolis Intellectual Property Legislation Litigation Northern District of Indiana Patent Social Media Southern District of Indiana Stories from the Week that Was Tech Developments Trademark

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel