Where do trademarks come from?

Where does intellectual property come from? Different places. Trademarks come from the U.S. Constitution — Article I, section 8, clause 3. It says Congress shall have the power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states.”

Trademarks are part of a broader set of laws that prohibit unfair competition. Unfair competition laws prohibit things like counterfeiting and mislabeling goods about where they’re from or what type of of product they are. Congress can regulate trademarks and unfair competition because it has the power to regulate commerce.

Chaney Law Firm wins lawyer of the year award

At the annual meeting of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association, the Chaney Law Firm received the prestigious Outstanding Trial Lawyers award.

More garbage from State Farm

Where do patents and copyrights come from?

Where does intellectual property come from? Different places. Patents and copyrights come from the U.S. Constitution — Article I, section 8, clause 8. It says Congress shall have the power to:

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries

“To promote the progress of science and useful arts”

Patents can only be granted for scientific inventions. However, laws of nature and mathematical formulas are discoveries, not inventions, so they can’t be patented. Patents have reasonable terms — 20 years from the date of filing.

Copyrights can granted on most types of artistic works movies, songs, books, magazines, sculptures, and almost any other writing or work of art. Copyrights last much longer than patents — 75 years after death. Why? It sounds silly to say, “because of Mickey Mouse” — but every time Mickey Mouse’s copyright gets close to expiring, a certain company lobbies Congress to get its copyrights extended. Is it constitutional to keep extending copyright terms?

“by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries”

 Owners can exclude others (in court) from making, selling, copying, or otherwise using their inventions and writings. Owners can sell, license, and transfer intellectual property just like other personal property (cars, jewelry, etc.).

Let us know if we can help with your patent and copyright needs.

What is CRMA?

CRMA stands for Computerized Radiographic Mensuration Analysis.

This is a test that Analyzes the angles and distances between bones in the spine us a Computer and X-rays, which are a certain type of Radiograph. The purpose of the test is to accurately assess damage to the spine. 

Mensuration has been used by doctors for nearly 100 years to figure out when a patient’s spinal bones are misaligned due to injury, aging, or congenital defects. Mensuration compares a patient’s spine to a normal spine. Until the last 20 years or so, doctors performed mensuration by hand using x-rays, a light box, and a grease pencil.

In the last 20 years, more doctors and clinics started using x-ray machines that take x-rays digitally, rather than with film (just like digital cameras have replaced film cameras). With the computing power available today, it also made sense for doctors to use computers to perform mensuration calculations. The result is a more accurate and repeatable mensuration report. For this reason, CRMA is generally accepted in evidence-based medicine as a reliable method of assessing spine damage.

A mensuration report looks like this: 

CRMA can also be used to assess legal impairment. Courts in Arkansas follow the American Medical Association’s Guides to Permanent Impairment (the AMA Guides). The AMA Guides contain specific guidelines that tell when, and how much, a person is permanently impaired when their spine has been injured. So, a CRMA report like the one below shows that the patient has a 25–28% whole person impairment rating at two spinal levels:

CRMA gives doctors, lawyers, judges, and juries alike objective medical information proving permanent impairment. It is a valuable new tool that helps injury victims obtain full and fair justice for their injuries.