Intellectual Property

The newsletter of the ISBA’s Section on Intellectual Property Law

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1999 Articles

Challenges to selling products in Europe: The EU metric-only labeling requirement September 1999 Article 3 of EU Council Directive 80/181 requires that all products sold in the European Union--whether domestically produced or imported--must have metric-only labeling beginning January 1, 2000.
Congress calls a time-out on Internet taxes By Miriam V. Hallbauer February 1999 The Internet is a booming marketplace. Internet sales, already reaching billions of dollars annually, likely will reach the hundreds of billions in the next decade.
The hows and whys of Web site audits By Lynn E. Rzonca & Patricia M. DeSimone May 1999 By now your company's Web site is up and running. Monthly "hit" reports show that more and more "visitors" (read: potential clients) are accessing your site.
Intellectual improbabilities By Daniel Kegan November 1999 DOJ antitrust guidelines for competitor collaboration. The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission October 1, 1999 released and sought comment on proposed guidelines for lawful and illegal collaboration among competitors.
Intellectual improbabilities™ By Daniel Kegan May 1999 Popular patents. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a record 151,024 patents in 1998, up 33% from 113,720 in 1997. For the sixth year in a row, IBM was the leading patentee, with 2,657 issued patents, up 54% from 1997.
IP Q&A November 1999 John Augustyn offers these questions to sharpen our patent analyses. We welcome your suggestions of interesting intellectual property questions--with your suggested answers, for publication in following issues.
Jack-o-lantern lawn bags— utility patent protection for decorating a utilitarian product? By Phillip L. Bateman June 1999 The patent bar rejoiced when the court of appeals for the Federal Circuit was created in 1982.
Native American tribe insignia under study June 1999 Federal law requires the Patent and Trademark Office to study a variety of issues surrounding trademark protection for official insignia of federally and state recognized Native American tribes.
The “Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act” By David Loundy February 1999 An important piece of legislation was signed by President Clinton in October, the "Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act," passed as part of the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" (Public Law 105-304), that affects Internet service providers and copyright holders that are infringed online.
Recent changes to trademark opposition and cancellation practice By Joseph T. Nabor February 1999 The Patent and Trademark Office has recently issued its amendment to the Rules of Practice in inter partes proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Safe IP By Daniel Kegan February 1999 Filing a document. To an intellectual property attorney, "filing a document" generally means ensuring the document is accepted by the proper government office, often the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Copyright Office, or a foreign government office.
Safe IP: Corporate name and trademark differ By Daniel Kegan May 1999 Don't be confused between corporate names and trademarks. Incorporation, partnership, and other business and nonprofit organization status is governed by state law.
Safe IP: derivative infringement By Daniel Kegan November 1999 Obtaining a patent, copyright, or trademark is no guarantee that you do not infringe. Your patented invention may be an improvement on an earlier patented invention, and read on the earlier patent's claims
Safe IP: Signing applications By Daniel Kegan June 1999 Priority is often paramount in deciding trademark rights and disputes.
Sausage maker scores $11 million verdict in trade secret case By Steven L. Baron February 1999 Meatpacking giant, IBP, Inc., learned the literal truth of von Bismarck's famous quip the hard way.
Selected U.S. domain name case decisions By David Loundy May 1999 The first Internet domain name case decision was released in 1994, the second domain name case decision was a year later.
States gain IP immunity By Daniel Kegan June 1999 A narrow but consistent 5-4 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that state sovereignty prevents suing a state for patent infringement or for unfair competition damages.
The times, they are a-changin’: time changes in the Trademark Law Treaty Implementation Act of 1998 By Marc E. Fineman November 1999 On September 28, 1999, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published a Final Rule implementing the Trademark Law Treaty Implementation Act of 1998 (TLTIA), Pub. L. No. 105-330, 112 Stat. 3064 (15 U.S.C. 1051).
Trademark Law Treaty changes Lanham applications June 1999 The Trademark Law Treaty Implementation Act (Pub. L. 105-330) was signed by President Clinton October 30, 1998.
Trademark Law Treaty Implementation Act of 1998: changes to the rules of practice By Joseph T. Nabor November 1999 As a result of the enactment of the Trademark Law Treaty Implementation Act of 1988, the Trademark Branch of the PTO has undertaken a rather extensive review of its Rules of Practice.