DuetsBlog Collaborations in Creativity & the Law

Brad Walz

View my professional biography

 My law career started on the ice…as a defensive hockey player (we’re not talking professionally…and if I were, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into law). I always knew I’d perpetually be in some sort of faceoff—only I didn’t know it would be in the courtroom. A fierce, natural-born competitor, I am always looking for the advantage...and how I can exploit it. Known as the “Bulldog” around the office, I’m all about holding people accountable for their actions. Just as if we were on the ice, it ain’t over until my team wins. When I’m not metaphorically equating my law practice to hockey (though I can’t stop altogether, I AM captain of the firm’s pond hockey team), I’m advising clients on a broad range of complex and strategic legal and business matters regarding trademarks, copyrights, and domain names. Other than law and hockey (and really, who can separate the two?), I enjoy playing golf and analyzing the stock market.

Posts by Brad Walz

The World Through the Eyes of the Trademark Office

By on Posted in Almost Advice

Recently, the Eighth Circuit reaffirmed that a District Court is not bound by the decisions made by the Trademark Office. This holding has often lead to comments about the wisdom of addressing trademark disputes at the Trademark Office in the first instance. However, not all decisions from the Trademark Office are appealed to a District… Continue Reading

Budgeting for Litigation

By on Posted in Almost Advice

Now, more than ever, businesses are confined by their budgets. Long gone are the days of the blank check for many business expenses, and that includes litigation. If businesses need to live by budgets, so to should the law firms live by the budgets they set for, among other things, litigation. It is true that… Continue Reading

You Owe Me One Hundred Million Dollars

By on Posted in Almost Advice

The threat of monetary damages in trademark infringement cases is something that is often asserted, but not necessarily a well understood concept. Some trademark owners mistake their federal trademark registration as a lottery ticket. Generally, this is not the case. The primary goals of the Lanham Act are to achieve equity between the parties, and… Continue Reading

The Data Breach Lawsuit Powder Keg

By on Posted in Law Suits, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Technology

Most data breaches occur because companies fail to implement adequate safeguards to protect personal identifiable information, and data breaches are growing in scope and sophistication. A study by NetDiligence concluded that the average cost per breach is $3.7 million, which includes the litigation defense cost. However, not all data breaches result in identify theft, and… Continue Reading

Blinded by the Light: Privacy in 2013

By on Posted in Almost Advice

More and more companies are experiencing the affects of a data security incident. Whether that incident involves an unauthorized disclosure of personal identifiable information or merely the collection of information, consumers increasingly are demanding to know what information companies are collecting and how the information is being used. If there was a single term to sum… Continue Reading

FTC’s New Rules for Advertising Mobile Apps

By on Posted in Advertising, Agreements, Almost Advice, Contracts, False Advertising, International, Technology

The Federal Trade Commission has published guidelines for advertising mobile applications. In general, the guidelines incorporate the FTC’s policies on truthful advertising and data privacy. On the advertising side, if you make objective claims about your app, then you will need proof to support your claims. The proof necessary to support objective clams is competent… Continue Reading

Charge it!

By on Posted in Almost Advice

Retailers, vending machines, food trucks, parking garages, and taxi’s have one thing in common, they all accept credit cards. Credit cards are a great convenience for consumers, but can be a headache for small businesses. Type in “credit card processing” and you will get a number of results for companies that offer to process your credit… Continue Reading

The Uneven Split

By on Posted in Almost Advice

Believe it or not, such a phenomenon exists and can be a trap for the unwary. Collaboration is what brings about the best ideas. But who owns those ideas and how does a person gracefully discuss the ownership topic with their collaborator? The answer, very carefully and, hopefully, in the beginning of the relationship. Under… Continue Reading

The Necessary Terms for Co-Existence Agreements

By on Posted in Almost Advice

Parties to a trademark dispute commonly resolve their issues through a co-existence agreement. A co-existence agreement sets up the fence posts around what the parties can do with their respective marks. A trap for the unwary when drafting a co-existence agreement is being lulled into a sense partnership because a co-existence agreement has the feeling that… Continue Reading

To Agree or Not to Agree that is the Question

By on Posted in Mixed Bag of Nuts

Masters Services Agreements contain many traps for the unwary.  A common trap is the provision for attorneys’ fees.  At first blush, a fee shifing provision is enticing.  No one wants to have to pay for attorneys’ fees if a breach of a MSA occurs.  This provision is usually lumped into most of the boiler plate… Continue Reading

Intellectual Property Ownership for the Marketing Firm

By on Posted in Marketing

The phrase “from scratch” has a different meaning depending upon who is saying it.  When a client hears a marketing firm use these words, they are probably equating “from scratch” with “expensive.”  The reality is that the creative process is fluid and generally existing material or tools are used to create something new or unique… Continue Reading

Indemnification for the Marketing Firm

By on Posted in Marketing

Having worked with a number of marketing firms to negotiate a Master Services Agreement, indemnification is always a discussion point.  Especially when dealing with big companies, the customer will want the marketing firm to indemnify it for all intellectual property claims that may arise out of the work product delivered pursuant to the agreement.  Depending… Continue Reading

Nine Steps to Integrating the Cloud into Your Business

By on Posted in Technology

Last December, I was interviewed by Finance and Commerce magazine for an article titled “Tech Toolkit:  IT planning for the year ahead.”  Part of the article included cloud computing and what companies can do to include the cloud in their businesses.  Early the same month, I posted on the technology trends for 2012, and the… Continue Reading

Is the OPEN Act the Answer to Online Piracy?

By on Posted in Mixed Bag of Nuts

The Stop Online Piracy Act (“SOPA”) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (“PIPA”) have been put on hold.  But the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (“OPEN Act”) is moving its way through the U.S. House of Representatives.  The OPEN Act would allow copyright holders to file complaints about copyright infringement on foreign websites… Continue Reading

Europe Ups the Ante on Data Privacy

By on Posted in Technology

Last Wednesday, the European Commission unveiled the changes to its data privacy laws. If the changes are adopted, companies will deal with a single, national data-protection authority in the EU country in which they have their main base. Individuals can tender complaints to the data-protection authority in their own country even when their data is… Continue Reading

Enterprise Social Media the Next Frontier

By on Posted in Almost Advice

Is your company thinking of adopting a social media platform to replace its current website?  If it is, then your company is part of the majority of companies that have either implemented a social media platform, is planning to implement a social media platform, or will implement a social media platform but has no current… Continue Reading

Technology Predictions for 2012

By on Posted in Almost Advice

What does the future hold for technology in 2012?  Not surprising, but many of the predictions involve the continued movement to the cloud.  Randy Muller of Global Knowledge predicts the cloud movement will be "THE mantra this year and will certainly be more pervasive and louder in the years to come," and that "that SaaS… Continue Reading

Cloud Computing Residue

By on Posted in Almost Advice

One of the often touted benefits of cloud computing is the ability to scale. Scale up when demand increases and scale down when demand recedes. Scalability is about doing what you do in a bigger way. It is all about allowing more people to use your application. Generally, when people refer to scalability in the cloud context they… Continue Reading

The Microsoft Cloud is Entering China

By on Posted in Almost Advice

The United States may still be leading in cloud computing sales, but China’s appetite for cloud computing services may be growing faster than the United States. Gartner found that 55 percent of Chinese respondents are willing to spend 10 percent of their total IT budget on cloud computing compared to 42 percent in Europe and 49… Continue Reading

If You Build It, They May Not Come Anymore.

By on Posted in Almost Advice

Over the years, the increase in Internet use and projections for future Internet use caused a boom in the construction of data centers. Data centers house and link the servers and other hardware that form the backbone of the Internet.  And many companies and states want a part of the action. Minnesota, for example, passed a… Continue Reading

Let the Cloud Platform Wars Begin!

By on Posted in Almost Advice

Microsoft is joining the battle for cloud platform supremacy through the release of Office 365. In doing so, Microsoft joins the likes of Google and VMware to see who will emerge as the new power brokers of the IT industry.  Microsoft held the distinction of being the power broker in the PC era, but the cloud… Continue Reading

International Internet Governance

By on Posted in Almost Advice

Memorial Day is a time for saying goodbye and, in one sense, saying goodbye around this time of year to a group of people has become automatic for many of us. I am referring to the many graduating seniors from high schools and colleges around the nation. Those institutions say goodbye to one class of students in… Continue Reading