David Julian Cook

Practice Details

• Languages
  Incoherent
• Firm Information
  Position

  Member

  Firm Name

  Cook Collection Attorneys, PLC
• Representative Cases & Transactions
  Cases

  Gambling that her newly-acquired Ruby Slippers might captivate the imagination of every teenager, Dorothy manufactured
  distributed her famous footwear,
  after spending some time in the Oz boot camp of intellectual property, retained clever counsel who procured a design patent for the Ruby Slippers. Counsel also advised Dorothy that she might be able to copyright these utilitarian slippers but only to the extent that the aesthetic features exist independently of the article. Counsel also suggested that the unique shape might serve as a source-indicator, making the Ruby Slippers' shape capable of supporting protection as trade dress.

  At the urging of counsel, Dorothy embraced the internet as a cutting-edge medium for the advertisement, promotion, marketing,
  sale of her Ruby Slippers beyond the bounds of a traditional brick-
  -mortar storefront. She registered a series of domain names, all referring back to a centralized URL. Additionally, she hired an accomplished website designer who coded a variety of metatags such as “Dorothy,”“red shoes,” “Ruby Slippers,” “Oz,”
  “Yellow Brick Road” into her website.

  Dorothy tried to protect a pair of slippers with a design patent, copyright, trade dress, trademark,
  registered domain names. Oh my.

  In launching her venture, Dorothy successfully amassed significant wealth through her accession of the intellectual property rights, granting her a lawful monopoly for the manufacture, distribution,
  sale of film history's most famous memorabilia. Success in business, however, is never guaranteed. Disaster always lurks around the corner. When it does, is Dorothy's intellectual property subject to the claims of creditors? How that could creditors' claims cause Dorothy's business to crumple, crash,
  crater.

  Dorothy turned that corner
  careened into disaster. Despite the best of intentions
  first-rate counsel's advice, Dorothy swerved off the Yellow Brick Road of success when overseas competitors blocked her path with newer, non-infringing,
  less-expensive footwear. Dorothy stopped paying her suppliers, who, like the flying monkeys, bombarded her with collection actions, leading to judgments
  ensuing writs, levies,
  executions. Her creditors retained Elmira Gulch & Associates, LLP the premiere collection
  enforcement counsel. Elmira Gulch envisioned recovery by seizing the design patent, copyright, trade dress, trademark,
  domain registration associated with the Ruby Slippers. Can Ms. Gulch succeed
  emerge with a defensible chain of title, the prerequisite for st
  ing in any ensuing infringement action?. . .

  You can read the rest of this article, entitled “Post-Judgment Remedies in Reaching Patents, Copyrights
  Trademarks in the Enforcement of A Money Judgment,” published by the Northwestern Journal of Technology
  Intellectual Property, Volume 9, Issue 3 Fall Article 3 which is online (
  free of charge.)

  Transactions

  The Debt Collector's Handbook: Collecting Debts, Finding Assets, Enforcing Judgments, and Beating Your Creditors