Month: September 2020

Intellectual Property Rights in the Workplace | Business News Daily

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In many cases, intellectual property (IP) created on behalf of a business in exchange for compensation is considered the property of the business that commissioned it.

The terms of a signed business agreement might stipulate who owns any intellectual property created on company time or using company equipment. Review all agreements carefully before signing.

Though intellectual property laws favor businesses, employees have rights. Consult with an attorney if you believe a business agreement you’ve signed violates state or federal law.

This article is for professionals and creatives who regularly develop intellectual property on behalf of businesses and need to know who owns the rights to their work.

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Why You’re Not Interested in Anything And Have No Motivation | Life Hack

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Let’s clarify something before we move forward: This article is in no way meant to cure, treat, or diagnose depression. Actually, this article isn’t even about depression. Depression is the result of a combination of unique events and genetic, psychological, and environmental predispositions. When you’re depressed, you lose all hope for the future, always have no energy, consistently feel sad without knowing why, and are not interested in anything. If you feel like you might be suffering from this illness, you need to seek psychiatric help as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, what we’re talking about here focuses on something similar to yet entirely different from depression: lack of motivation or interest.

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On launching new subscription model for recyclable shoes | Fast Company

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The Swiss running brand On will become the latest athletic company to meet the challenges of sustainable footwear—but with a notable difference: The Cyclon, its new, fully recyclable shoes, made primarily from castor beans, will be available solely via a monthly subscription. For the three Swiss founders of On, creating recycled, bio-based shoes is only a small slice of the company’s long-term sustainability vision. They also want to achieve full circularity, so that discarded clothing items are reused in their entirety to create new ones. But, as other brands have explored this vision, they’ve hit roadblocks. Adidas publicly shared that its Futurecraft.Loop pilot struggled because consumers wouldn’t send the shoes back in time for Adidas to generate the next batch and keep the circle in motion.

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‘No One Knows What’s Going On’: Unease Lingers Over TikTokers After Oracle Claims Victory In Acquisition Race

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The past few weeks have been one of the more stressful periods in 16-year-old Parker Pannell’s life. His comedy vlogs had amassed sizable fanbase on TikTok, some 2.2 million followers, and he was earning thousands of dollars from creating sponsored content for businesses like Cash App and House Party. Much of that work evaporated over the last month. “Super discouraging,” says Pannell. “But who wants to put money into a brand that could potentially be on the decline?” Companies were shying away from advertising on TikTok as the Chinese-owned app raced to appease President Trump’s demand for it to sell itself or face a ban in America.

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Ready to Get Back to Business? Now Is the Perfect Time to Up Your E-Commerce Game | AllBusiness.com

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As many years as I’ve been out of school, September still feels like a time of renewal. An opportunity to start anew, to reinvent some aspect of your life or your business, to refocus on tasks that got forgotten in the heat and lazy days of summer.

This year has been tough for most of the country, with so many of us trying to live and work under safer-at-home policies. It’s been a rough year for retailers, in particular, with so many stores closed for months due to the coronavirus. In fact, eMarketer has adjusted its 2020 retail sales forecast from its original projection of a 2.8% sales increase to $5.6 trillion in total retail sales to a 10.5% sales decline to $4.9 trillion in sales.

But there is a brighter side to that forecast, and it’s e-commerce. Online sales are, according to eMarketer, expected to rise 18% this year to $710 billion. This represents 14.5% of total retail sales, which eMarketer says is “both an all-time high and the biggest share increase in a single year.”

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39 PPP Fraud Prosecutions So Far, and Counting | Small Business Trends

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Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans have aided more than 5 million small business owners, providing a much-needed lifeline during the Coronavirus outbreak crisis. The overwhelming majority of business owners are legitimate and will use the money as intended to retain employees and stay operational.

But the PPP program has attracted a few rotten apples. And you won’t believe how rotten they are.

To date, the Justice Department has filed 39 PPP fraud cases, charging about 56 defendants. Defendants are charged with bilking taxpayers out of tens of millions of dollars. Luckily, the Feds have recovered a large part of the loan proceeds already.

And what’s been recovered tells a wild tale.

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Google Pay vs. Apple Pay vs. Samsung Pay | business.com

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You no longer need to carry a bulky wallet filled with numerous credit cards or cash.

Paper money is so 2015. Today’s mobile payment platforms streamline transactions for consumers by combining cash, credit cards, debit cards and gift cards in one mobile application – you just pull out your phone when you’re in the checkout line and tap to pay your bill. But which app should you use?

What’s the best mobile payment app?

Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay are popular options that are compatible with many merchant card readers, credit cards and banks, but there is also Chase Pay, MasterCard PayPass, PayPal and Visa Checkout to consider.

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Understanding Trademarks vs. Copyright | business.com

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Learn about the subtle differences between trademarks and copyrights.

As a business, you want to protect your assets. This can mean anything from writing a good privacy policy to taking plagiarists to court. When you’re producing graphics for your website, whether it’s a logo for the corner navigation or an illustration for a blog post or landing page, those are assets to your company. You might have paid a graphic designer for them or made them yourself, but either way, they’re worth protecting. So, can you trademark them? Find out with this guide on how to get a registered trademark, how to submit a trademark, and how to decide whether a copyright or trademark is right for your valuable assets.

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Why Your Next Leather Goods Could Be Made Of Fungus | Digital Trends

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Your next leather jacket, pair of shoes, or bag could be made from specially engineered fungi, if research coming out of the University of Vienna, Imperial College London, and RMIT University in Australia turns out to be prophetic. Scientists at these institutions have been investigating the possibility of creating a sustainable leather substitute made from mushroom material — and it may compare very favorably to both traditional animal-based leather and the more recent plastic-derived versions.

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If You Have AT&T, Alexa Is Now a Giant Speakerphone | Digital Trends

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Amazon Alexa can now make and receive calls if you’re an AT&T customer, essentially turning your smart home device into a giant speakerphone.

The tech giant announced the new feature called “AT&T calling with Alexa.” Starting Wednesday, September 9, AT&T customers can use Alexa-enabled devices to answer incoming calls or start a new call, even if their phone is far away or turned off.

The new feature only works for AT&T customers in the U.S. that have a compatible HD-voice mobile phone like an iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy.

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