Q:       I have a great idea for a new product. Should I get a patent?

A:        Not necessarily. Very few inventions ever make it to the marketplace, and although getting a patent can provide valuable protection for a successful invention, it does not increase your chances for commercial success.

Q:       I saw a great ad about a company that promotes new inventions. What should I know before hiring this company to help me?

A:        Numerous television, radio, Internet, newspaper and magazine ads offer free information to inventors about how to patent and market their inventions. Generally, these ads come from invention promotion companies.

            Before hiring an invention promotion company, make sure it is a reputable firm. Be wary of the following claims, offers and demands:

·                claims of special connections to manufacturers that are interested in your ideas, since such “contacts” may be imposters posing as legitimate manufacturers;

·                the offer of market research or an initial “review” of your invention, which may involve substantial fees for a glowing, but fraudulent report on the merit or market potential of the invention;

·                the offer of a contract in exchange for helping you market or license the invention to manufactures;

·                demands for advance fees.

Q:       How can I protect myself against unscrupulous firms?

A:        The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 gives you certain rights regarding invention promoters. Before offering you a contract, the promoter must disclose in writing the following information about its business during the last five years:

·                how many inventions it has evaluated;

·                how many positive and negative reviews the promoter gave these inventions;

·                how many customers received a net profit from the promoter’s services; and

·                how many customers have succeeded in licensing their inventions as a result of the promoter’s service.

           This information is designed to help protect the inventor and to aid those assistance companies that do, in fact, provide valuable services to inventors.

Q:       What else can I do?     

A:        Ask the promoter or firm for names of previous clients so you can decide who to call for references, but beware of imposters. Contact the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission or the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to determine if any complaints have been registered against the promoter. However, many unscrupulous firms change their names after the public is made aware of their activities, so exercise caution when dealing with any unknown promoter.

Q:       Does the USPTO investigate complaints about these unscrupulous promoters?

A:        No. The United States Patent and Trademark Office does not investigate complaints or participate in any legal proceedings against invention promoters, but the USPTO will:

·                accept complaints filed against invention promoters or firms;

·                forward those complaints to the invention promoter or firm; and

·                make the complaints and responses publicly available.

For more information on how to make a complaint, go to www.uspto.gov.

Q:       Where can I find inventor resources and patent assistance?

A:        The USPTO offers information on patents and trademarks (call 1-800-PTO-9199 or visit www.uspto.gov). Other good free sources of information include the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) and the National Congress of Inventors Organizations (www.inventionconvention.com/ncio). You can also get information about local support groups for inventors through the United Inventors Association (www.uiausa.org).

            In addition, you can contact a law firm that specializes in intellectual property matters. Most patent attorneys will provide an initial consultation for a small fee, and sometimes for free. If you do not know of an intellectual property attorney, ask your personal attorney for a referral or contact your local bar association for a listing of local patent attorneys. A skilled patent attorney can assist you in obtaining the most legal protections available under the law, and can offer advice on invention development. 

This “Law You Can Use” column was provided by the Ohio State Bar Association. It was prepared by Brice Recker, a Columbus attorney associated with Okuley Smith LLC, and John Okuley, PhD, a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and managing partner of Okuley Smith LLC. Articles appearing in this column are intended to provide broad, general information about the law. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from an attorney.

Q:       What is CERCLA?

A:        The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) is a federal law passed in 1980 to address contamination cleanup. CERCLA created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided broad federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that might endanger public health or the environment. This tax money was used to create a “Superfund” to pay for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.

Q:       Why was CERCLA enacted?

A:        For most of U.S. history, no laws controlled the handling of hazardous chemicals, and little was known about the dangers of chemicals used in manufacturing and their byproducts. Hazardous waste was typically dumped on the ground, buried or poured into rivers and lakes. As a result, thousands of U.S. sites, including dumps, factories, warehouses and harbors, became seriously contaminated and potentially unsafe. Congress passed CERCLA to address the potential long-term environmental and health risks from industrial contamination.

Q:       How does CERCLA work?

A:        CERCLA forces those responsible for causing hazardous waste site contamination to clean it up or pay to clean it up. It also makes corporate successors responsible, even if the problem was created by a predecessor no longer in existence. CERLA also established a trust fund to pay cleanup costs when no responsible party can be identified. Under CERCLA, EPA can take three types of “response actions”: emergency responses, early actions, and long-term actions. EPA issues an emergency response when immediate action is required to eliminate serious risks to human health and the environment (e.g., cleaning up chemicals spilled from an overturned truck on the highway). An early action is used to address an imminent contamination threat  (e.g., by providing clean drinking water to a neighborhood, removing hazardous materials from a site or preventing contaminants from spreading). A long-term action is used where cleanup requires years or decades (such as groundwater cleanups). Early and long-term actions may be performed together, such as when leaking storage drums are removed while contaminated soil is being cleaned up.

Q:       Who pays for environmental cleanup under CERCLA?

A:        Four classes of “potentially responsible parties” (PRPs) can be compelled to pay cleanup costs under CERCLA: 1) the site’s current owner or operator; 2) a person who owned the site when hazardous waste was deposited there; 3) persons who arranged for hazardous substance disposal; and 4) persons who transported the substance to the site. Individuals and companies may be liable under these four categories. EPA often negotiates with PRPs, but if no agreement is reached, EPA can ask a court to order the PRP to do the work. Sometimes EPA pays for the cleanup out of Superfund money and sues the PRPs for its costs. Even when a PRP agrees to perform a cleanup action, EPA still supervises the work and can bill the PRP for its oversight costs.

Q:       What if multiple parties are responsible for site contamination?

A:        Usually, the government identifies several PRPs that can be sued to perform a cleanup action. Sometimes a PRP will identify other PRPs to share cleanup responsibility. Since CERCLA sites can be very old, identifying PRPs can be difficult. Also, those identified as PRPs often argue about who should bear what percentage of the cost. CERCLA allows a PRP to sue the government and other PRPs for a court determination of its fair share of cleanup costs. Federal courts may review decades’ worth of historical records to determine how costs should be shared. These complex cases can take years to resolve.

Q:       How does CERCLA affect me as an average citizen?

A:        CERCLA helps to provide citizens with a cleaner environment and enables the remediation of old hazardous waste sites that might otherwise be ignored. Also, EPA encourages community involvement in CERCLA actions by listening to community concerns, informing the community of ongoing and planned activities, changing planned actions when community concerns have merit, and explaining what EPA has done and why. For information about CERCLA community involvement, visit www.epa.gov/superfund/community/index.htm.

This “Law You Can Use” consumer legal information column was provided by the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA). It was prepared by attorney Leslie G. Wolfe, a senior associate in the Cleveland office of Walter | Haverfield LLP and a member of the firm’s environmental law group. Articles appearing in this column are intended to provide broad, general information about the law. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek the advice of a licensed attorney.

Q:       Can I enroll in health insurance coverage any time I want?

A:        No. If you want to buy coverage directly from a health insurance company, the company is required to offer you coverage only during an annual open enrollment period except if you have a “qualifying event” that allows you to enroll outside of the annual open enrollment period. If you have coverage through an employer, you must enroll in your employer’s health plan during your employer’s open enrollment period, although you can enroll at other times of the year if you have a qualifying event. 

            Qualifying events occur when a person loses coverage for one of the following reasons:

• the person is covered as a spouse or dependent on an employer plan and the employee passes away;
• the person is covered by an employer policy and the employee loses coverage because of a reduction in working hours or employment termination (whether voluntarily or involuntary); 
• the person loses coverage because of a divorce;
• the person becomes entitled to Social Security benefits;
• a dependent child becomes too old to stay on a parent’s plan;
• the person gains citizenship, leaves incarceration, or gains status as an Indian tribe member;
• the person moves outside his or her current insurer’s coverage area;
• a change in income or household status affects the person’s eligibility for federal health insurance subsidies or cost-sharing reductions;
• a person loses coverage because his or her employer goes bankrupt. 

            Marriage or the birth or adoption of a child can also be qualifying events, allowing you to add a new spouse or child to an existing plan. Also, if you qualify for Medicaid (generally available to individuals and families with incomes of less than 138 percent of the federal poverty limit), you can apply for Medicaid without restrictions at any time of the year. 

Q:       Do the rules about open enrollment periods and qualifying events apply to coverage under the new Affordable Care Act?
A:        Yes. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to offer coverage to anyone who applies only during open enrollment periods, except when a qualifying event requires an insurer to offer coverage outside of an open enrollment period.  

Q:       When are the open enrollment periods if I want to buy insurance from an insurance company for me or my family?
A:        If you want to buy coverage directly from an insurance company, the 2014 open enrollment period ended on March 31, 2014. The next open enrollment period (for 2015 coverage) will begin on November 15, 2014 and end on February 15, 2015, unless you have a qualifying event before that date. 

                                             

Q:       When are the open enrollment periods if I get coverage from my employer?
A:        When you are first hired, you may be able to enroll in employer coverage immediately or you may have a waiting period of up to 90 days. If you do not enroll at your first opportunity, you will have to wait until your employer’s next open enrollment period, which occurs once each year, and you may face tax penalties. Your employer will send you a notice before the open enrollment period about when you need to apply. If you miss your employer’s open enrollment period, you will need to wait for next year’s open enrollment, unless you have a qualifying event before that date. 

Q:       What are my options if I have a qualifying event?   
A:        You can enroll in your employer’s coverage, if available, you can buy coverage directly from an insurance company, or you may be able to convert the insurance coverage you are losing into an individual policy you can keep. 

Q:       If a qualifying event occurs, can I wait as along as I want to enroll in coverage?

A:        No. After a qualifying event, you must enroll in employer coverage within 30 days or get individual coverage within 60 days. If you fail to do so the special opportunity to enroll ends, and you may have to wait until the next open enrollment period.    

Q:       If I have questions, where can I go?

A:        Ask your employer’s human resource staff, an insurance company or an insurance agent to get more information. You can also visit the Ohio Department of Insurance website at www.insurance.ohio.gov or call its consumer hotline at 800-686-1526. 

 

This “Law You Can Use” column was provided by the Ohio State Bar Association. It was prepared by Douglas L. Anderson, an attorney in the Columbus office of Bailey Cavalieri LLC. Articles appearing in this column are intended to provide broad, general information about the law. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from an attorney.

Q:       What is a health care power of attorney?
A:        A health care power of attorney (HCPOA) is a legal document authorizing a person you trust (your “agent”) to make health care decisions with or for you in any health care situation (involving, for example, hospitals, nursing homes, dentists, doctors, pharmacists and EMTs).

Q:       When can my agent make health care decisions?
A:        Depending on the option you choose, your agent can make health care decisions with or for you:

·       with you, beginning immediately and at any time for as long as the HCPOA is in effect;

·       for you, beginning immediately, but ending on a specific date (following surgery, for example, or continuing if, on the end date, you cannot make health care decisions for yourself);

·       for you, but only when you cannot make health care decisions for yourself.

Q:       What if I want to name a different agent?
A:        You can execute a new HCPOA, which automatically revokes the earlier document.

Q:       Will my agent make choices I would want?
A:        Your agent must make decisions consistent with your HCPOA instructions, but it is wise to discuss your wishes with your agent.

Q:       Can my agent make any and all decisions about my health care treatment?
A:        No. For example, your agent cannot:

• order the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment unless two physicians confirm you are in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state with no reasonable possibility of making decisions;
• order the withdrawal of artificially or technologically supplied nutrition or hydration unless you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious and two physicians agree that nutrition and hydration will no longer provide comfort or relieve pain;
• order the withdrawal of health care treatment you have previously consented to, unless the treatment is no longer helpful;
• order the withdrawal of treatment given for comfort care or to relieve pain; or
• (if you are pregnant) refuse or withdraw informed consent to health care, if either would end your pregnancy, unless the pregnancy or health care would create a substantial risk to your life or two physicians determine that the fetus would not be born alive.
  
  

Q:       Can my health care power of attorney agent make end-of-life decisions for me?

A:        Yes. Many people use a living will to directly dictate their end-of-life instructions, which removes the burden of end-of-life decisions from your health care power of attorney agent. If, however, you choose to have only a health care power of attorney, you are authorizing your agent to make all health care decisions, including the use or termination of life-support and artificial nutrition and hydration, subject to the restrictions noted above.

Q:       Must I choose a family member to be my health care power of attorney agent?
A:        No. You may appoint any adult you wish, except for your doctor or the administrator of a health care facility in which you are being treated, or any employee of your doctor or a health facility in which you are being treated.
 
Q:       Can I use a health care power of attorney to take care of my mother’s finances?

A:        No. You must use a different (“financial”) power of attorney document to address your mother’s business affairs.

Q:       Can I use a health care power of attorney to nominate a guardian for me, my minor children, or my adult disabled children?

A:        Yes. With a health care power of attorney, you can usually avoid the need for a guardian, but you can nominate a guardian through this document. Your guardian should be someone you trust to handle your person, your estate, or both (and those of your minor or adult disabled children). You may also allow the guardian you name to nominate a successor guardian. 

Q:       Where can I find a health care power of attorney form? Can I draw up my own?
A:        The Ohio State Bar Association has developed standard health care power of attorney and living will forms with Midwest Care Alliance, the Ohio State Medical Association, the Ohio Hospital Association and the Ohio Osteopathic Association. For a copy of these forms, visit www.midwestcarealliance.org or ask your physician or attorney. You do not have to use the standard form, but the standard form is widely recognized, and includes the necessary specific language required by Ohio law.

  

Q:       What do I do after I complete my health care power of attorney?
A:        Make several copies. Keep copies with your personal papers and in your car, and give copies to your agent, family members, your physician and your lawyer.

This “Law You Can Use” column was provided by the Ohio State Bar Association. It was prepared by Lima attorney Michelle Baumeister.  Articles appearing in this column are intended to provide broad, general information about the law. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from an attorney.