The USPTO has recently received criticism about the lack of gender equality in the patent bar, which is composed of people who have passed the USPTO registration exam. To take the patent bar, one does not have to be an attorney, but one has to have some level of technical education and training. To qualify, exam applicants have to have a bachelor’s degree in science, engineering, or computer science (Category A); a combination of some…

On March 2, 2021, Virginia passed the Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA). The CDPA imposes obligations on businesses handling the Personal Data of Virginia consumers and goes into effect on January 1, 2023. Virginia follows in the footsteps of California, which implemented the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in January of 2020. Who Does CDPA Apply To The CDPA applies to entities that conduct business in Virginia or produce products or services that are targeted…

Congress tucked major trademark and copyright legislation into the almost 6,000 page COVID-relief stimulus package it passed in the waning days of 2020. Overall, these changes will make it easier for rightsholders to pursue infringement claims going forward. On the trademark front, the stimulus bill contained the “Trademark Modernization Act of 2020.” The TMA formalizes the ability of third parties to submit relevant evidence regarding the registrability of a proposed trademark to the PTO via…

Does your cannabis company use text message marketing to build customer relationships through a loyalty program? That common practice could bankrupt your company. It is a shock to many that text message marketing can expose you to staggering damages claims for failing to comply with a federal law called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and similar state laws like Washington’s Commercial Electronic Mail Act (CEMA). There is currently an onslaught of plaintiffs’ attorneys bringing…

The United States Supreme Court has denied Jack Daniel’s distillery’s petition for a writ of certiorari from a Ninth Circuit decision holding that a dog toy seller’s use of the Jack Daniel’s trademarks and label design is expression protected by the First Amendment. VIP Products had released a dog toy that resembled the well-known Jack Daniel’s bottle, changing the wording of the familiar label to include blunt jokes and word-plays on the messier aspects of…

On Friday, January 8, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari filed by Minerva Surgical Inc. in a dispute with Hologic Inc. The question presented by Minerva is “whether a defendant in a patent infringement action who assigned the patent, or is in privity with an assignor of the patent, may have a defense of invalidity heard on the merits.” The U.S. Supreme Court took no action on a cross-petition from Hologic,…