You & the Law radio series on NPR
This morning I went down to the studios of WBFO 88.7 radio station to record the next installment of the You & the Law radio series.
This program is featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and will air on Friday, November 8 at 5:45 p.m.
My interview host Mike Desmond met me at the radio station and we discussed intellectual property for a few minutes before we actually taped the program. We got the opportunity to discuss some basic intellectual property concepts.
I went through my old standby example of how to define the differences between patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret law.
The example I us
e is the Coca-Cola bottle, because it pretty much encompasses all of the different types of intellectual property.
Of course the label Coca-Cola is the trademark which identifies the source of the product. In fact Coca-Cola registered the bottle configuration back in 1962.
Certainly the bottle configuration can be considered a work of art and covered under copyright law. The recipe for the liquid inside the bottle is protected under trade secret.
The bottle itself is patentable subject matter because of its utility as a container and would be patentable if it were new, useful and non-obvious.
I also managed to speak to the issue about trademark protection for wineries. A Winery’s management should understand that just because the label has a Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) it may not be protected under trademark law. And if a wine trademark is determined to infringe another trademark, the infringing winery may be required to change all of its wine labels.
WBFO is located in Western New York Public Broadcasting’s headquarters at 140 Lower Terrace at Charles Street, in Buffalo New York.
The station is housed in a modern building in the shadow of the Buffalo City Hall on a route designated as Mark Russell Alley.
After the radio session was concluded I hung out a little bit and took a couple photos of the lobby and exterior of the building. There certainly is a rich history of broadcasting that has been preserved over the years in this great institution. And I got a great shot of one of the award displays which featured an authentic “Telly Award.”
I have to thank Mike for the professional way he handled the interview and his ability to conduct the questioning in an easy, concise and friendly manner.
As it turns out Mike began his career in journalism working for the now defunct Buffalo newspaper “Buffalo Courier Express“.
I have great memories reading the morning newspaper in Buffalo and looking forward to see how the Buffalo Evening News would later report on the exact same sporting event. I certainly miss having two newspapers in the city of Buffalo.
Well, I can’t wait to hear myself on the radio next Friday at 5:45 p.m. If you’re in your car driving home from work next Friday tune to into WBFO 88.7 on your FM dial out of Buffalo, New York. I believe the actual airtime will be a about five minutes.
