Intellectual Property

January 17, 2020

PART 1: IP ISSUES CURRENTLY PENDING BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT In the first part of our series, we briefly summarize the intellectual property issues that the Supreme Court has already agreed to address in 2020. In particular, we provide a brief overview and key takeaways for the Supreme Court’s consideration of: Whether adding “.com” to a generic mark creates a protectable trademark; The scope of appeals from IPR proceedings; The ability to copyright software interfaces;…

The IP Breakdown

How Can Copyright Law Be Reformed to Avoid Results Like “Blurred Lines” and “Dark Horse”?

By Rick Sanders

January 17, 2020

Share on Facebook Share Share on Messenger Share Share on Twitter Share Share on Linkedin Share Share on Email Share Share on Print Share Reforming Copyright Law Last time, I questioned the premises and theses of the common notion that the “Blurred Lines,” “Stairway to Heaven” and “Dark Horse” cases are chilling creativity. My main point was that the only way to determine whether this was happening is to assess whether quality of popular…

Trade Secrets Trends

A Crowell & Moring Webinar Recap: “Protecting Trade Secrets and other IP with Blockchain”

By Crowell & Moring

January 17, 2020

On January 14th, 2020, Crowell & Moring hosted a webinar session discussing blockchain and its implications for trade secret protection, as well as its potential implications on other areas of intellectual property (IP). Introduced by Crowell & Moring partner Mark Klapow, attorneys Josh Rychlinski and Kayvan Ghaffari explained general principles of trade secret law, general principles of blockchain, and discussed how blockchain could be used to protect trade secrets, as well as other forms…

The IP Law Blog

Copying by Competitors is Evidence of Nonobviousness of an Invention

By Audrey A Millemann

January 17, 2020

The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) may reject a patent application on several different grounds. One of those grounds is obviousness. Under 35 U.S.C. § 103, if an invention is obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, then it is not patentable. In determining whether an invention is obvious, the PTO compares the invention to the “prior art” – all similar inventions that are publicly available at the time the application is…

Chicago IP Litigation

CLE: Potential Pitfalls in Copyright: Fair Use & Data Compilations

By R. David Donoghue

January 17, 2020

UIC John Marshall’s Center for Intellectual Property, Information and Privacy has another excellent program, this one focuses on two key copyright issues – fair use and copyright data protection. Every practitioner can use some time working through the complexities of fair use. This program promises to be excellent. It will be led by McDermott Will’s Jennifer Mikulina and Catalina USA’s Executive Director & Senior Corporate Counsel Ariana Voight. The program is on January 22, 2020,…

The Traklight Blog

YouTube Rolls Out Updates to Improve Copyright Claims Process

By mwillee@traklight.com Mike Willee

January 16, 2020

There’s been much written about the manifold issues facing YouTube as it comes to copyright complaints — not only the inevitable problem of copyright violation but the manner in which the tools offered to try and address the problem are weaponized by bad-faith actors or overzealous entities in an attempt to simply remove videos and creators from the site, regardless of the merit or severity of the alleged violation. Users compiling enough strikes for copyright…

Patentology Blog

Chinese Mobile Tech Company OPPO Comes from Nowhere to Top Australian Patent Filing Table for 2019

By Mark Summerfield

January 16, 2020

Last calendar year, the number of standard patent filings in Australia fell by 1%, from 29,957 in 2018 to 29,666 in 2019. While this represents only a small decline, it follows two years of growth, by 1.8% for 2016-2017 and 3.6% for 2017-2018, and thus represents a reversal of the recent upwards trend. While international data on 2019 patent filings is not yet available, I think it doubtful that when IP Australia releases the 2020…

The Brand Protection Blog

Are IP Australia costs awards set to finally reflect costs incurred? Proposed changes to trade mark hearing cost awards

By Rebecca Brenikov (AU) & Frances Drummond (AU)

January 16, 2020

In December 2019, after much anticipation, IP Australia released a draft of proposed amendments to the costs that may be awarded in relation to trade marks proceedings heard before IP Australia. IP Australia comments that these changes should ensure awards more accurately reflect the actual costs incurred by parties and are based on Federal Court practice. What does this mean for you? The changes (due to be implemented in October 2020) mean a successful party…

Patents Post-Grant

Rehabilitating Failed PTAB Art

By Scott McKeown

January 16, 2020

Adding New Blood into the Estoppel Mix IPR estoppel under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2) provides that “the petitioner in an inter partes review of a claim in a patent . . . that results in a final written decision . . . may not assert . . . in a civil action . . . that the claim is invalid on any ground that the petitioner raised or reasonably could have raised during that inter partes…

The IP Breakdown

Is “Blurred Lines” Hurting Songwriting?

By Rick Sanders

January 15, 2020

Share on Facebook Share Share on Messenger Share Share on Twitter Share Share on Linkedin Share Share on Email Share Share on Print Share And What Should We Do About It? Ever since the shocking “Blurred Lines” jury verdict, there has been a steady drum beat about how that case, and some subsequent music-and-copyright cases, has chilled songwriting. Since “Blurred Lines,” the same U.S. District Court has seen contentious, high-profile jury verdicts in a case…

Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property Outlook: Cases and Trends to Follow in 2020 – PART1

How Can Copyright Law Be Reformed to Avoid Results Like “Blurred Lines” and “Dark Horse”?

A Crowell & Moring Webinar Recap: “Protecting Trade Secrets and other IP with Blockchain”

Copying by Competitors is Evidence of Nonobviousness of an Invention

CLE: Potential Pitfalls in Copyright: Fair Use & Data Compilations

YouTube Rolls Out Updates to Improve Copyright Claims Process

Chinese Mobile Tech Company OPPO Comes from Nowhere to Top Australian Patent Filing Table for 2019

Are IP Australia costs awards set to finally reflect costs incurred? Proposed changes to trade mark hearing cost awards

Rehabilitating Failed PTAB Art

Is “Blurred Lines” Hurting Songwriting?

Intellectual Property Blogs

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