[Cancelled] Intellectual Property Law Overview for Nonprofits

This event has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please contact Machiko Sano Hewitt with any questions.

Presenter:  Jerry Cohen, Partner, Burns & Levinson LLP and Access to Justice Fellow

Many nonprofits have intellectual property assets and don’t know if they need to protect them or could generate income from them.  The intellectual property assets a nonprofit may have include their name / trademarks-service marks-certification marks, copyright in their project materials such as studies/reports/books/film-video, performances, training manuals and materials in writing or in any other medium. Also, various forms of proprietary know-how (trade secrets) and inventions protectable by utility, design or plan patents. In this fast evolving digital age, it is very easy to copy someone’s protected materials.  Would you like to protect your nonprofit’s assets? Could these assets possibly generate fees from licensing? Revenues subject to UBIT or not?   Or are you willing to share them with anyone in the spirit of open source?  If so, would this approach ensure your permanent access to these assets?  Are you inadvertently infringing other parties’ rights and creating liability and costs of defense for your nonprofit? Come learn about the parameters of various types of intellectual properties, and options such assets present to your nonprofit (and pitfalls).

This seminar is a joint project of the Lawyers Clearinghouse and Boston Private Community Investment Series.