Q: Everyone in my office calls themselves realtors. Is realtor a generic term for real estate agent?

A: The only real estate agent who has the privilege of calling herself a REALTOR® is a bona fide member of the National Association of REALTORS®. In a recent ruling, a three judge panel of the U. S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled that the terms REALTOR® and REALTORS® are not generic terms for real estate agents.

The term REALTOR® was coined in 1916 and both terms were registered as a trademarks in 1949 and 1950. Whenever you use the word REALTOR® or any other trademarked terms, you must use the ®. Which leads me to a bigger topic- intellectual property.

Q: ©, ™, ®- When, Why and How to Use These Annotations

A: ™ and ® are the formal designations of a trade name. The definition of a trademark by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is “a word, name, symbol or device that is used to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others”. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product.” What's the difference between at ™ and a ®? USPTO states that “any time you claim rights in a mark, you may use the "TM" (trademark) or "SM" (service mark) designation to alert the public to your claim, regardless of whether you have filed an application with the However, you may use the federal registration symbol "®" only after the USPTO actually registers a mark , and not while an application is pending.”

For example, when I decided to protect my use of the term Privacy Gurus®, I had to publish the term as Privacy Gurus with the ™, while I filed my registration application with the federal government. When I received the registration certification from the USPTO, which took about a year from the time I first submitted my application, I was then able to use Privacy Gurus®, indicating that it is a federally registered trademark. I also wanted to use the term PrivacyGurus (one word) but had not used it in commerce yet, so to protect that term, I filed an “Intent to Use” with the federal government which protected the trademark until I used it in commerce. Once it is used in commerce, I then filed my application and upon final approval from the USPTO, I will be able to use the ® designation which is only ™ at this time.

© is the formal designation of a copyright. A copyright according to the U.S. Copyright Office, “ is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works… Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright. In the case of works made for hire, the employer and not the employee is considered to be the author.” A copyright gives the owner an exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display or license their work. The owner also owns the rights to produce or distribute derivatives of their work. There are limited exceptions to these exclusive rights like “fair use” for book reviews. To be covered, a work must be original and in a concrete “medium of expression”. Under current law, a work is protected whether is it registered or not. The appropriate notice is the symbol, the letter c in parenthesis, © or the word “Copyright” or the abbreviation “Copr” and the year of first publication of the work and the name of the owner of the copyright. The notice must be fixed so that you are giving reasonable notice of the claim of copyright.

Q: I have heard about a new Internet scam call ‘phishing'. What is that and what can I do to prevent it?

A: “Phishing” is the use of a legitimate-looking email to convince consumers to reveal account numbers, passwords, or other identifying information, often based on the claimed need to correct a problem with the consumer's account. It is a pre-textual email by which the consumer who is tricked into giving up this crucial information can suffer financial loss and identity theft. The business that is scammed can has a major credibility disaster on its hands.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Thrift Supervision suggest businesses use statement stuffers and website notices as tools. They also outline a number of policies that can be implemented such as:

• Never solicit confidential information by email
• Personalize emails in a way that identity thieves cannot duplicate
• Using educational pop ups on financial institution websites and
• Do not allow the institution's website to be accessed by a link provided by a third party's website.

For such tactics to be effective, they must be communicated to consumers.

To protect yourself:

• Be suspicious of email with an urgent request for personal financial information.
• Call the company or bank if you get an email requesting personal financial information to confirm. Don't use the links provided.
• Don't fill out forms in email with your personal financial or any type of identifiable information. Only do this by way of a secure web site or a telephone with a land line, not a cell phone (they are not secure either)
• A secure website is apparent in your browser's address bar as it should be https:// rather than just http://

The FTC has more information How Not to Get Hooked by a 'Phishing' Scam
www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm.

Also check out www.antiphishing.org.

Darity Wesley is CEO and Legal Counsel for Privacy Solutions, Inc. a San Diego based consulting firm. Her team of Privacy Gurus® work with you to create policies and procedures to establish the expectation of privacy for your members, clients, customers, prospects, affiliates, associates, employees and vendors. You can reach her at (619)670-9462 or Darity@privacygurus.com