The Case of the Rubber Band Bracelets and the Knockoffs
Date: 08-31-2021
Time: 06:00 PM
Location: zoom
Who: Ted Olds and John Siragusa
What: The Case of the Rubber Band Bracelets and the Knockoffs
When: 6:00PM Tuesday, August, 31, 2021
Where: Zoom (details below)
Cost: Admission is Free
Details:
What: The Case of the Rubber Band Bracelets and the Knockoffs
When: 6:00PM Tuesday, August, 31, 2021
Where: Zoom (details below)
Cost: Admission is Free
Details:
ABSTRACT
Ted Olds and John Siragusa from the Intellectual Property Law Firm, Carlson, Gaskey & Olds, P.C. www.cgolaw.com will discuss their efforts representing the Rainbow Loom against copiers, counterfeiters and knock-off artists. Ted has been an Intellectual Property Attorney for over 30 years, and John for over 20 years. Their practice involves patent prosecution, litigation in U.S. District Court and the International Trade Commission, trademarks and copyrights. All of that expertise became important when the Rainbow Loom became the hottest fad product in the World in 2013 and 2014.
The Rainbow Loom is a loom that is utilized to make bracelets or other items from small rubber bands www.rainbowloom.com It was named Toy of the Year in 2014. As its popularity increased, cheap knock-offs, more sophisticated design around attempts and eventually flat out counterfeits began flooding the United States, Europe and Asia. Ted and John will talk about their efforts to stem this flow of infringing products including enlisting Customs in several countries and the court systems. They will talk about what was successful and what was not so successful. Further, they will talk about the basic protection that Rainbow Loom luckily obtained early on that gave it the ability to fight back.
The Rainbow Loom was invented by Cheong Choon Ng. He was an independent inventor working as an engineer at an automobile company when the product was created, and began to take off. He was soon working full time with his family marketing, manufacturing and selling the Rainbow Loom. He is truly an independent inventor success story. At one time the product was so popular that for weeks Jimmy Kimmel featured it, eventually wearing a suit made from the linked rubber bands.
The Rainbow Loom is a loom that is utilized to make bracelets or other items from small rubber bands www.rainbowloom.com It was named Toy of the Year in 2014. As its popularity increased, cheap knock-offs, more sophisticated design around attempts and eventually flat out counterfeits began flooding the United States, Europe and Asia. Ted and John will talk about their efforts to stem this flow of infringing products including enlisting Customs in several countries and the court systems. They will talk about what was successful and what was not so successful. Further, they will talk about the basic protection that Rainbow Loom luckily obtained early on that gave it the ability to fight back.
The Rainbow Loom was invented by Cheong Choon Ng. He was an independent inventor working as an engineer at an automobile company when the product was created, and began to take off. He was soon working full time with his family marketing, manufacturing and selling the Rainbow Loom. He is truly an independent inventor success story. At one time the product was so popular that for weeks Jimmy Kimmel featured it, eventually wearing a suit made from the linked rubber bands.
Speaker Biography:
Ted Olds:
PRACTICE AREAS
Patent Prosecution
Intellectual Property Litigation
Post Grant Proceedings
EDUCATION
J.D., George Washington University, 1988
B.S., Michigan State University (Mechanical Engineering), 1982
ADMISSIONS
State Bar of Michigan
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Lead Trial Counsel in matters for Choon’s Designs/Rainbow Loom®, United Technologies Automotive, Meritor, Masco Corporation and numerous other clients big and small.
Lead Patent Prosecution Counsel for any number of projects- Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engine, MGM Brakes Tamper Resistant Brake Actuators and its Electronic Stroke Alert, Extend-A-View’s pivoting mirror for the Dodge Ram, Showboard’s project display boards (used in every science fair) and hundreds of other inventions both basic and complex
Inter Partes Review (IPR) successes include United Technologies Corporation flow battery patents and the Choon’s Design wave of challenges
EXPERIENCE
Patent Examiner, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Adjunct Professor of the Patent Procurement Clinic at Wayne State University Law School
TECHNICAL SPECIALTIES
Aerospace
Automotive
Consumer products
ORGANIZATIONS
Oakland County Bar Association
Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association
_______________
John Siragusa:
PRACTICE AREAS
Patent Prosecution
Intellectual Property Litigation
Post Grant Proceedings
Competitive Analysis
EDUCATION
J.D., Wayne State University Law School, 2000
B.S., Lawrence Technological University (Mechanical Engineering), 1994
ADMISSIONS
State Bar of Michigan
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
EXPERIENCE
Design and Manufacturing Engineer – Borg Warner
TECHNICAL SPECIALTIES
Aerospace
Automotive
Consumer Products
Electro-mechanical devices
ORGANIZATIONS
Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association
Intellectual Property Section, State Bar of Michigan
PRACTICE AREAS
Patent Prosecution
Intellectual Property Litigation
Post Grant Proceedings
EDUCATION
J.D., George Washington University, 1988
B.S., Michigan State University (Mechanical Engineering), 1982
ADMISSIONS
State Bar of Michigan
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Lead Trial Counsel in matters for Choon’s Designs/Rainbow Loom®, United Technologies Automotive, Meritor, Masco Corporation and numerous other clients big and small.
Lead Patent Prosecution Counsel for any number of projects- Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engine, MGM Brakes Tamper Resistant Brake Actuators and its Electronic Stroke Alert, Extend-A-View’s pivoting mirror for the Dodge Ram, Showboard’s project display boards (used in every science fair) and hundreds of other inventions both basic and complex
Inter Partes Review (IPR) successes include United Technologies Corporation flow battery patents and the Choon’s Design wave of challenges
EXPERIENCE
Patent Examiner, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Adjunct Professor of the Patent Procurement Clinic at Wayne State University Law School
TECHNICAL SPECIALTIES
Aerospace
Automotive
Consumer products
ORGANIZATIONS
Oakland County Bar Association
Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association
_______________
John Siragusa:
PRACTICE AREAS
Patent Prosecution
Intellectual Property Litigation
Post Grant Proceedings
Competitive Analysis
EDUCATION
J.D., Wayne State University Law School, 2000
B.S., Lawrence Technological University (Mechanical Engineering), 1994
ADMISSIONS
State Bar of Michigan
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
EXPERIENCE
Design and Manufacturing Engineer – Borg Warner
TECHNICAL SPECIALTIES
Aerospace
Automotive
Consumer Products
Electro-mechanical devices
ORGANIZATIONS
Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association
Intellectual Property Section, State Bar of Michigan
This presentation was made possible, in part, by support from the School of Engineering at Fairfield University and the Inventors Association of Connecticut.
Related Web Site : https://www.inventus.org
For more information, contact Douglas Lyon / x3155 / dlyon@fairfield.edu