About Erik

Erik J. Heels is an MIT engineer; trademark, domain name, and patent lawyer; Red Sox fan; and music lover. He blogs about technology, law, baseball, and rock 'n' roll at ErikJHeels.com.

Erik has been on the Internet since 1984 and has extensive experience working in high-tech companies such as Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN), Cayman Systems, and Verio Inc. In 1992, Erik wrote... click here to read more.

Drawing That Explains ErikJHeels Blog

Featured

Posted by , in About, Baseball, Domain Names, Domain Names 101, Drawings, Erik's Favorites, IP Law, Law, Music, Patent Law, Patent Law 101, Random, Social Networking, Technology, Trademark Law, Trademark Law 101, Weblogs (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/4195.html)

Technology, Law, Baseball, Rock ‘n’ Roll. Why do I write about more than one thing? Because I think single-subject blogs are, for the most part, boring. Do you like musicians who play only one note? Artists who use only one …

Top 10 Things BigLaw Patent Lawyers Don’t Want You To Know

Featured

Posted by , in Clocktower Law Group, Erik's Favorites, IP Law, Law, Patent Law, Patent Law 101, Random (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/4163.html)

And won’t tell you. Srsly. Clocktower has been on the receiving end of files transferred to us from large law firms, and for the most part, I’ve been unimpressed with what I’ve seen. That said, so were our clients, otherwise …

A Mere Mortal’s Guide To Patents Post-Bilski (Or Why §101 Is A Red Herring)

Featured

Posted by , in Drawings, Erik's Favorites, Patent Law, Patent Law 101 (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/2222.html)

It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing On 06/28/10, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Bilski v. Kappos, a case about what subject matter (including software and business method patents) is eligible for patent …

Domain Name Law

Featured

Posted by , in Business, Domain Names, Domain Names 101, Erik's Favorites, For Sale, Google, Heels.Com, How To, Internet Law, IP Law, Law, Marketing, Politics, Social Networking, Technology, Trademark Law, Weblogs (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/993.html)

White hat domainers are not black hat cybersquatters. Domains Are Valuable? D’oh! I’ve been on the Internet since 1984, watched the Internet evolve from text-based protocols to web-based protocols in the 1990s, and completely missed the generic domain name gold …

The Brand Wars Are Coming, The Brand Wars Are Coming!

Featured

Posted by , in Apple, Branding, Business, Domain Names, Domain Names 101, Erik's Favorites, Google, How To, Internet Law, IP Law, Law, Marketing, Microsoft, nothing.but.net, Politics, Technology, Trademark Law, Trademark Law 101 (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/777.html)

How to defend your brands on the Internet. By Erik J. Heels First published 7/1/2007; Law Practice magazine, “nothing.but.net” column; American Bar Association In 1997, if you had a domain name and a registered trademark for your brand, you were …

How To Name Your Company, Trademark Your Domain Name, And Domain Name Your Trademark

Featured

Posted by , in Business, Domain Names, Domain Names 101, Erik's Favorites, How To, IP Law, Law, Marketing, Technology, Trademark Law, Trademark Law 101 (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/179.html)

Think there are no cool domain names left?  Think again.  I found 201 cool domain names that are taken but six (count ‘em, six) that are not.  Some of them from a box of crayons.  Plus strategies for protecting your trademarks, domain names, and company name.

Beware Of Patent Reform

Posted by , in Erik's Favorites, IP Law, Law, Patent Law, Politics, Random (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/4516.html)

Goodbye first-to-invent, hello first-inventor-to-file. As you may recall, so-called “patent reform” law (The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act – or “AIA” for short) was passed on 2011-09-16 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy-Smith_America_Invents_Act) and has been incrementally taking effect ever since. As such, Friday 2013-03-15 is …

Valentine’s Day Confessions of a Shoe Blogger

Posted by , in About, Best Practices, Business, Erik's Favorites, Heels.Com, How To, Marketing, Milestones, Random, Social Networking, Technology, Web Design, Weblogs (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/4508.html)

Long tail is long. From 2007-2008, I cofounded (along with Eric McCoy) the Heels.com women’s shoe store. One of my initial jobs was getting the blog online and writing the initial content. Over five years later, many of the 99 …

New Website and Blog: Local, Social, Mobile, Good Enough

Posted by , in About, Clocktower Law Group, Erik's Favorites, Facebook, Google Plus, How To, IP Law, Law, LinkedIn, Marketing, Milestones, Random, Social Networking, Startups, Technology, Twitter, Web Design, Weblogs (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/4452.html)

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. A long time ago (actually 2011-01) in a galaxy far far away (actually Boston), I started redesigning my website and blog. Then there was this whole thing with the Death Star. So …