INVESTIGATIONS FAQs:

QUESTION: Our company finally settled on a trademark, only to discover that someone else seemed to file for the same name a few days before we did. Can you find who used the name first in commerce?

ANSWER: A discreet and confidential investigation to discover priority is key. Not only will we research the Internet, news databases, business directories, fictitious business name filings, and corporate records. We will also contact the other party under pretext in an effort to corroborate their first use date with as many internal sources as possible. Additionally, we'll speak with the principals up and down their avenues of trade and channels of distribution if necessary.

QUESTION: We're clearing a large number of names in several countries. Can you help clear all the specific names we've chosen and variations on those names?

ANSWER: Investigating high volume international requests and turning the information around quickly without sacrificing quality is a Marksmen specialty. We save you time and expense through our flat-rate billing while pro-actively winnowing down the field to a clear choice.

QUESTION: Do you have offices around the world in order to conduct investigations internationally?

ANSWER: No we do not. We make direct contact with the trademark registrant or infringer ourselves from one of our offices in the U.S., as investigating issues peculiar to IP are our specialty. We do however rely on a network of 35,000 operatives around the world to go on-site, purchase products, establish jurisdiction, and take photographs and digital recordings.

QUESTION: Is language an issue in conducting an international investigation?

ANSWER: No. We make every attempt to conduct our investigations in English, but in some countries this is difficult, if not impossible. In these instances, we use local operatives who are native language speakers or utilize a translation service that covers over 170 languages worldwide and will, in real time, translate our investigations over the phone while we are conducting them.

QUESTION: What kind of information do we need to provide to Marksmen in order to conduct an investigation?

ANSWER: Anything you know about the entity we are investigating and anything you have done to date in trying to determine that. A short checklist would include:

• Correct spelling of the name of the entity/individual
• If known, any contact information you have (including old address/phone number)
• Your source of concern (where and how did you become aware of a problem that needs investigating)
• Contact made with target entity? Yes or No, if yes, how?
• Goals for the investigation (clearing a mark? Need info prior to a C&D letter? Need a hard address to serve process?)
• Is this time sensitive? (pressing court deadline or filing date)
• Budgetary concerns

(Please see our Investigative Primer for more details on information exchange for a successful investigation.)

QUESTION: What is the standard turnaround for an investigation?

ANSWER: Five business days for clearance/infringement investigations. Ten days for investigations that involve going on ground (to take photographs of signage, purchase product and/or gather any other evidence at the location in question). We also offer expedited delivery at a premium.

QUESTION: What do your investigative reports include?

ANSWER: Our reports can include any or all of the following:

• Brief profile of the entity we are investigating
• Detailed description of the goods/services associated with the trademark
• First use date and current use of the mark
• Avenues of trade
• Channels of distribution
• Geographic scope
• Use of the mark on the Internet
• Abandonment disposition

QUESTION: What do your investigations cost?

ANSWER: We charge a flat rate for clearance/infringement investigations that corresponds to where the registrant is located in the world (plus disbursements). Any special project investigations or on-site investigations are billed hourly (plus disbursements). Please note, we estimate four hours billed on average for on-site investigations. Please contact us for current rate sheets.

QUESTION: How do I order an investigation from Marksmen?

ANSWER: If you are new to our site, complete this form with your contact information and for the service you require. You will then be set up as a client and can make future requests (and pick up your reports) through your online account.

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ACQUISITIONS FAQs:

QUESTION: Another company beat us to a dot COM domain name. It appears they are using it in good faith. What now? Do we investigate their use? Do we buy the name?

ANSWER: Our expert team has handled thousands of IP acquisitions. Our results oriented approach, coupled with the backing of our Investigative division, helps you in many ways. We can handle the entire process from start to finish or provide a helping hand in any of these areas:

• Locate and verify the identity of a registrant
• Determine scope of use
• Craft the negotiation strategy and execute it through completion
• Provide purchase agreements
• Arrange for payment
• Facilitate transfer worldwide

QUESTION: There's a domain name we'd like to purchase but the registrant seems to live in Seoul, Korea. Can you help us purchase this name?

ANSWER: We've successfully negotiated for the purchase of domain names from sellers all around the world, including: Korea, China, Singapore, Philippines, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Australia and various European countries. So, yes, we’d be glad to help.

QUESTION: How long does it take for Marksmen to begin negotiations?

ANSWER: We will do our best to accommodate you and make every attempt to start each case within one business day of its receipt. Please note, if you are a new client (non-law firm), we will require you to sign our standard Letter of Engagement prior to proceeding.

QUESTION: How many hours does an acquisitions case typically take to complete?

ANSWER: A successful gTLD (.com/net/org) averages between 5-8 hours of billable time. Successful ccTLD cases (i.e., foreign extensions such as .co.uk or .de) as a rule takes a few hours longer due to the complication of dealing with language barriers, time-zone differences, and most notably differing Registry transfer processes for each country. Of course, the biggest factors are the seller's responsiveness and willingness to be agreeable during the entire process.

QUESTION: Can we place a cap on the amount of hours Marksmen works on an acquisition?

ANSWER: Certainly. However, if we successfully negotiate a deal, we will not be able to simply stop during the middle of a transaction if we reach the hour cap. We will keep you apprised of time we are billing and get permission from you prior to reaching the cap to exceed original estimates in order to achieve the transaction's completion if necessary.

QUESTION: How long in real time will a case take to complete?

ANSWER: This is impossible to predict prior to researching and contacting the seller initially. However, we have completed successful cases in as little as a few days, and upwards toward several months or longer. If there is a deadline involved, it is best that Marksmen is aware of the deadline from the start in order to negotiate appropriately with it in mind.

QUESTION: Does Marksmen provide updates during the case?

ANSWER: Yes, we will provide frequent updates throughout the case, particularly during the negotiation phase in order to keep you abreast of the offers and counter-offers being bandied back and forth between the parties. You can always contact us directly for an update as well.

QUESTION: If Marksmen successfully negotiates a deal, can Marksmen advance the purchase funds for the IP?

ANSWER: We will bill you later for our time, but we are unable to float funds for the actual purchase price of the IP we are acquiring. You are responsible for providing the purchase funds once a deal is reached with a seller (or sooner if possible).Ê We will not proceed with the transfer of the IP until we receive the purchase funds and they have cleared our bank account. Wiring funds or providing us with a retainer offers the quickest turnaround time and limits the risk of losing the IP while waiting on the funds to clear.

QUESTION: Do we need a purchase agreement signed between both parties?

ANSWER: Purchase agreements are always advised for trademarks and patent acquisitions. The use of a purchase agreement for a domain name is left to your discretion. Obviously it provides for better protection in securing the transaction but can slow the process down.

QUESTION: Can Marksmen provide the purchase agreement?

ANSWER: We have excellent templates of purchase agreements we have used successfully for domain names, trademarks and patents, which we will be happy to share with you. However, you or your outside counsel is responsible for the final agreement used in any transaction.

QUESTION: Is there a safe alternative to using a purchase agreement?

ANSWER: We always suggest the use of an escrow service to hold the IP until payment is made and/or rights are transferred, whether or not a purchase agreement is involved. But using only an escrow service (with no purchase agreement) will not involve the transfer of any peripheral IP rights outside what is being acquired. If this is not a crucial issue (particularly for domain name transactions) the transfer process tends to go very quickly when only escrow is involved to protect both parties. And naturally, we have an online escrow service in place for all of our IP negotiations.

QUESTION: Can Marksmen provide valuation of a domain name or trademark?

ANSWER: Yes. This is looking only at the potential of a domain name's value and not at other matrices. Typically this is a combination of about 5-10 hours due diligence on what similar names are being sold on after-market Web sites, review of the USPTO to determine others who in good faith can use the name, combined with a reckoning based on our experience of acquiring over 3,500 names. This service is billed at a flat rate.

QUESTION: We have already negotiated a deal for a domain name. Can Marksmen complete the transaction?

ANSWER: Certainly. Contact us and provide us with the details, and we will proceed accordingly. We have relationships in place with most major registrars and can facilitate a speedy transfer when that is possible.

QUESTION: What do your acquisitions cost?

ANSWER: We bill hourly for all acquisitions (plus disbursements). Please contact us for current rate sheets.

QUESTION: How do I order an acquisition from Marksmen?

ANSWER: If you are new to our site, complete this form with your contact information and for the service you require. You will then be set up as a client and can make future requests (and pick up your reports) through your online account.

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eBeagle® FAQs:

QUESTION: We've come across a number of sites that tarnish our trademark. We want to search for others but don't want to get overwhelmed with information. Can you filter the results for me?

ANSWER: Based on your parameters, we offer both an enterprise subscription service called WebPup^sm and project-based Ad Hoc reports delivered only when you need them. We can filter sites based on various factors such as: ownership, franchisee status, site traffic, ecommerce and/or objectionable content -- returning relevant, actionable hits.

QUESTION: Can you monitor our trademark in domain name registrations worldwide?

ANSWER: Yes. We offer a one-time global wildcard search that covers 180 countries and 240 jurisdictional domain name registries, and/or a monthly ongoing subscription watch.

QUESTION: Can you monitor the Internet for other things besides text?

ANSWER: Yes. We monitor Web and FTP sites using meta-data, context and keyword searches associated with your logos or design marks to locate alterations or legacy issues in digital imagery. We also seek out multimedia files appropriating your content and/or being traded outside of your commercial channels.

QUESTION: Do you offer a Reverse Whois service?

ANSWER: As you may know, this information is limited due to proxy services masking Whois registrations and the issue that not all registrars share the Whois information of their customers. That said, Reverse Whois is one of the features of our WebPup^sm subscription service and is sorted as part of the indexing options we bring back on the data returned.

We also offer a stand-alone service that looks at the registrant content fields and can employ the wildcard domain name registration search mentioned above. We can then leverage our investigative expertise in doing things like determining if the contact info listed is correct, locating registrants by accessing databases we subscribe to and/or contacting the registrant under pretext using anonymous email.

QUESTION: Do you offer a service that can help us prove or disprove dilution on the Internet?

ANSWER: eBeagle® was developed as a policing tool. However, we routinely customize our Ad Hoc reports to accommodate special projects such as finding all the instances possible of a name being used as a trademark for purposes of dilution or as a high level Internet clearance search.

QUESTION: What about brand commentary? Is that something you can track for us?

ANSWER: Yes. We offer an Ad Hoc report that trolls newsgroups, message boards and blogs to identify instance of brand disparagement and/or potentially fraudulent activities. We can also report positive commentary if that is useful.

QUESTION: What do your eBeagle® reports cost?

ANSWER: We charge an upfront yearly subscription fee for WebPup^sm and flat rates for our Ad Hoc reports. Our Global Search for domain name registrations is also a flat rate fee, while our Global Watch reporting monthly on newly registered domain names is a yearly subscription fee paid in advance. Please contact us for current rate sheets.

QUESTION: How do I order an eBeagle® report from Marksmen?

ANSWER: If you are new to our site, complete this form with your contact information and for the service you require. You will then be set up as a client and can make future requests (and pick up your reports) through your online account.

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PATENT SUPPORT FAQs:

QUESTION: We need information to determine another company's business method. How can you help?

ANSWER: Once you have provided us with the information you already know, both in terms of the source of your concern, contact details of the target entity as well as the functionality of the patent, we would develop a strategy on how to best approach them under pretext and corroborate the information we uncover with at least two sources if possible.

QUESTION: Do you locate prior art?

ANSWER: Yes. We investigate patent and non-patent literature, physically examine trade journals, old brochures and out of date product samples, and inspect online auction sites. This would also include investigating any patent marking on product or packaging.

QUESTION: We have a patent case that is about to go to litigation. I need to locate inventors, expert witnesses and former employees who will support the case.

ANSWER: Marksmen has access to resources that have been very helpful in locating witnesses for testimony including skip-trace and cross-referenced directories as well as other proprietary databases.

QUESTION: We'd like to examine a competitors product to see if it is infringing on our patent, but don't want to tip our hand in buying it directly. Do you make these kinds of purchases?

ANSWER: Yes. We do this routinely and coordinate a network of 35,000 licensed private investigators that can go on ground anywhere in the world to purchase product discreetly. This has included medical devices, Internet technology, building materials, software and prescription pharmaceuticals.

QUESTION: What do your patent investigative reports include?

ANSWER: It would depend on the scope of the investigation, but can include a narrative accounting of the following:

• Brief profile of the entity we are investigating
• Detailed description of the business method, process or functionality of the patent under investigation as told to us by employees or distributors of the target entity
• When the patent was first utilized
• Target customers of the service or product employing the patent
• Any additional specific information requested

QUESTION: We have recently acquired another company and are examining their patent portfolio for untapped potential profits and/or liabilities. What can you do to help?

ANSWER: We have assisted in due diligence, fact gathering investigations by chasing down inventors, registered rights and other information helpful to maximizing the protection of what you have purchased.

QUESTION: We represent a Fortune 100 client who wishes to obtain the rights to a patent, but wants to do so anonymously to keep the cost down. Do you conduct straw man negotiations?

ANSWER: We have purchased over 3500 patents; patent licensing rights, trademarks and Internet domain names without disclosing the principals we represent. We would coordinate with you on the crafting of any intricacies of the deal and subsequent agreement(s).

Additionally, we can investigate universities and others to determine rights that have already been licensed for a particular technology or patent, as well as their prescribed licensing/royalty requirements and who to talk with, if you'd like to make contact directly.

QUESTION: What do your patent support services cost?

ANSWER: We have an hourly rate for all patent investigations and a separate hourly rate for anonymous negotiations. Please contact us for current rate sheets.

QUESTION: How do I order a patent investigation or acquisition from Marksmen?

ANSWER: If you are new to our site, complete this form with your contact information and for the service you require. You will then be set up as a client and can make future requests (and pick up your reports) through your online account.

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