Choice of words can have a significant impact on conveying meaning. Patent drafting is no different. For example, the smallest word such as “a” can significantly change the scope of a construed claim. Patent practitioners must continue to ask, what
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Ebook Lending Library Infringes Publishers’ Copyrights
In a decision that could have wide reverberations on the internet, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District Court of New York granted summary judgment in favor of book publishers and against Internet Archive (“IA”) in a copyright infringement…
Prosecution Pointer 383
The USPTO’s Office of Patent Legal Administration (OPLA) services range from the drafting of regulations and development of policies for the examination of patent applications through the implementation of these new regulations and practices. Rule packages, Official Gazette notices, collection…
Prosecution Pointer 382
Failure to Follow DMCA’s Safe Harbor Procedures Does Not Create Affirmative Cause of Action
The Western District of Wisconsin recently held that an internet service provider (“ISP”), cannot be held liable for claims that that ISP failed to follow the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (“DMCA”) takedown provisions.Read more
SCOTUS: Fair Use Defense Fails to Protect Warhol’s Licensing of Orange Prince
The question presented to the U.S. Supreme Court in the copyright infringement case, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, was whether the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. (AWF)’s decision to license one of…
Behind the Rejection: How the USPTO Trains Its Examiners to Look at Your Application
Any seasoned patent practitioner has undoubtedly been in this situation before: a non-final rejection comes to your inbox, and while reviewing, you’re beside yourself how the Examiner arrived at § 101, § 102, § 103, and § 112 rejections of your pristine, unassailably allowable…
Is a New York Right of Publicity Claim IP Under Section 230: SDNY Says No
Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, a statute passed when the Internet was in its relative infancy, gives broad immunity to online platforms, generally protecting them from lawsuits stemming from third-party postings—but with a notable exception. Section 230…
Prosecution Pointer 381
The USPTO does not calculate expiration dates for patents. In response to patent owner and public inquiry, the USPTO provided a downloadable patent term calculator as a resource to help the public estimate the expiration date of a patent. The…
MPEP Update: What Practitioners Need to Know
Although it does not have the force of rule or law, the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (“M.P.E.P.”) is the guiding document for patent examiners. As such, it is a fundamental tool for patent prosecutors trying to guide patent applications…