Writer Todd Mintz gives an example of just how little attention some businesses pay to their intellectual property which in the end may cost them a pretty penny. An Indian company announcing a new product in a press release had failed to first secure the .com domain name registration. "Dave the Red Frog" from France acquired the domain name registration after reading their press release.

So it stands to reason: when bringing a new product to market, secure the .com domain name registration before making any announcements.

Next, look into common misspellings or typos of the .com which can be parked to redirect traffic to the correctly spelled domain. If you don't, someone else will!

Mintz also suggests registering generic domain names. As an example, if you bring a slimming drug to the market you might look for generic variants such as SlimDrug.com, SlimmingDrug.com, BeSlim.com, SlimPill.com. Since this is an example, all these generic domain names probably are already registered but it gives you an idea of the creative process to use.

A very important tip is to keep hold of your own domain name registrations, making sure they are registered in the appropriate name of the business and ensuring that you use a domain registry that offers a secure account. Most registrars offer automatic renewal if you provide a non-expiring credit card. You should also ensure that if you change your contact information, you update your domain name registry account. White list the email addresses of your domain name registrar if you use spam filters.

Too many businesses lack web savvy and tend to allow their website designers or web hosts handle their domain name registrations. Both of these industries either for convenience or because they are unscrupulous may register the domain name in their own name. Even a less than scrupulous employee may register the domain in their own name and when feeling under appreciated, decide to hold it for ransom. When the domain name increases in value there may be a dispute over the actual owner of the domain name registration.

Avoid these pitfalls by simply paying attention to your intellectual property rights and using these tips to ensure protection.

Last week's landmark Supreme Court decision has already spawned a request for a new trial.

Vontage hastily filed for a new trial based on last week's ruling by the US Supreme Court, stating that the $58 million verdict against them for infringing on Verison's patents should be throw out. Vontage's filing claimed that jury instructions were in error, relying too heavily on the test for patent obviousness that the Supreme Court declared too rigid in last week's ruling.

Verison argued that the current appellate process should go forward and claims that Verison did not raise the issue of rigid testing for obviousness during the trial. More

A US appeals court ruled on this motion Wednesday, denying a retrial for Vontage.

The Court clearly opted for a loosening of the current approach for deciding when a combination of existing elements deserves patent protection.

The previous standard required that for an invention to be declared obvious, some "teaching, suggestion or motivation" needed to be in existance to show that a "person of ordinary skill" would have thought to combine certain elements.

Many technology companies felt this standard was too strick and doesn't keep up with the fast pace of technological invention.

Critics are afraid that any changes will throw the world of patents into confusion and disarray.

Zales has used "Dating Ring" in paid advertisement on Google so that when someone searches on that phrase, Dating Ring-Zales is one of the paid ad results.

Judge Thomas J. McAvoy denied dismissal, reasoning that this case differed from other past trademark claims that have failed, with the court stating: "In this case there may be facts demonstrating that plaintiff's trademark does appear on the displays associated with the goods or documents associated with the goods or their sale," because the trademark appears in the ad copy. More