A few weeks back, as remote working and social distancing were becoming the order of the day (and interesting phrase, given what quickly became the norm in many US states and cities, as executive orders abounded), my son tossed a statement in my direction that was both compliment and challenge:  “Isaac Newton developed calculus, among other discoveries and achievements, and Shakespeare may have written King Lear, during quarantine and social distance periods. …

Canada’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Act came into force on March 25, 2020. Perhaps overlooked amongst emergency relief, health care and financial effects is Part 12 of the Act which makes changes to the Patent Act. Why should the general public care about this? I’m glad you asked.…

Despite the COVID-19 closures and cancellations, some governmental intellectual property offices have not extended deadlines, so parties should remain mindful that protections for individuals and businesses should not be overlooked. Many patent and trademark offices around the world are providing relief for businesses that may have difficulty tending to their intellectual property filings due to other pressing COVID-19-related concerns; some have not. Lewis Rice remains in close contact with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and worldwide foreign…

United States Patent and Trademark Office-USPTO Currently, the USPTO is not offering extensions to patent and trademark application deadlines. The USPTO is, however, offering fee waivers to those affected by the coronavirus in the following situations:…

At the end of 2019, Federal Law No. 405-FZ1 entered into force. This act has significantly increased administrative liability for violations of the requirements on the localization of databases containing personal data of Russian nationals. We already wrote about this amendment earlier. The new provisions have significantly increased the amount of fines for violation of requirements for the personal data localization. At the moment the maximum fine may be as high as RUB 18 million.…

Suppose that you have an assignment of a copyright or a security agreement for a copyright.  Are you required to record this assignment or security agreement against the copyright registration?  Should you record this assignment or security agreement with the U.S. Copyright Office?  The answer is YES! In the United States, 37 C.F.R. § 205 states that “any transfer of copyright ownership or other document pertaining to a copyright may be recorded in the Copyright…