Articles on Intellectual Property

Intellectual Improbabilities™ By Daniel Kegan Intellectual Property, March 2021 An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
ISBA IP Section Council Patents/Trade Secrets Updates By Kenneth Matuszewski Intellectual Property, March 2021 Thumbnail summaries of recent precedential federal circuit opinions.
Join the Intellectual Property Section Social Events Intellectual Property, March 2021 Notification of upcoming Intellectual Property social events.
A Seventh Amendment Right to Fair Use Determinations? By Justin Hughes Intellectual Property, March 2021 Is there a Seventh Amendment right to jury determinations of fair use for copyright claims? Consider the Statute of Anne and other pre-1791 copyright history.
Reflections From the Trenches of a New Law Firm By Steven L. Baron International and Immigration Law, January 2021 A lawyer reflects on why and how to start a law firm after practicing law for 30 years with other law firms.
Trademark Searching and Freedom to Operate Advice – Balancing Legal and Commercial Risk By Blake Knowles International and Immigration Law, January 2021 Trademark clearance searching is essential for any business looking to launch a new brand. Failure to conduct a proper clearance search can lead to adoption of a brand that infringes pre-existing rights of another trader in an identical or very similar trademark. Unfortunately, trade mark clearance searching has become increasingly complicated. This means that any professional providing trademark clearance advice needs to be able to balance commercial and legal factors in order to provide commercially practical and pragmatic advice.
California Voters Approve the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 By Aaron W. Brooks Intellectual Property, December 2020 On November 3, 2020 California voters approved Proposition 24, causing the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 to become law when the California Secretary of State has certified the election results. The new law is a significant expansion of the already enacted California Consumer Privacy Act. While much of CPRA will not become operative until 2023, several key provisions become effective right away. Perhaps most importantly, California now has the funding and mechanics available to create the new California Privacy Protection Agency. The new agency will have the power to interpret the California Consumer Privacy Act and to enforce its requirements.
Copyright Worries By David Shayer Intellectual Property, December 2020 Apple doesn’t want to waste time and money fighting copyright infringement lawsuits over watch faces. Vintage faces were also designed before smartwatches existed, so licensing such faces for digital use means negotiating with a copyright owner that may not understand the issues involved in digital licenses. Worse, the App Store supports dozens of countries, and the copyright owner could be different in each country. It’s a legal nightmare.
Machine Versus the Tax Man: AI Inventors and the Research Tax Credit By Robert J. Kovacev Intellectual Property, December 2020 Artificial intelligence is now involved in the invention process. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office doesn’t want to grant patents for an invention by AI. What happens when the owner of the owner of an AI algorithm attempts to claim a research and development tax credit? Issues raised for AI-generated inventions under the current requirements for the R&D credit.
Reflections From the Trenches of a New Law Firm By Steven L. Baron Intellectual Property, December 2020 A lawyer reflects on why and how to start a law firm after practicing law for 30 years with other law firms.
Trademark Searching and Freedom to Operate Advice – Balancing Legal and Commercial Risk By Blake Knowles Intellectual Property, December 2020 Trademark clearance searching is essential for any business looking to launch a new brand. Failure to conduct a proper clearance search can lead to adoption of a brand that infringes pre-existing rights of another trader in an identical or very similar trademark. Unfortunately, trade mark clearance searching has become increasingly complicated. This means that any professional providing trademark clearance advice needs to be able to balance commercial and legal factors in order to provide commercially practical and pragmatic advice.
When the Mandatory Initial Pilot Program Is No Longer Mandatory By Kenneth Matuszewski Intellectual Property, December 2020 From June 2017 to June 2020 the Northern District of Illinois assigned new non-patent intellectual property civil cases to the Mandatory Initial Discovery Pilot Program (MIDP). The pilot’s goal was to evaluate whether cost and delay of civil litigation would be reduced. That pilot program has now ended.
Brexit & Intellectual Property By Rachel Havard Intellectual Property, September 2020 The UK has left the EU, so what lies ahead for EU trademarks and Community designs, especially from a UK perspective?
A Helpful Guide to Ribbon Copies, Certified Patents, Patent Plaques, and More By Michael Nye & Michael Kella Intellectual Property, September 2020 A guide to the differences among the seven types of physical copies of U.S. patents, their purposes, and how to obtain them.
Intellectual Improbabilities™ By Daniel Kegan Intellectual Property, September 2020 An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
ITC Litigation: How Discovery in the ITC Is Different From Federal Court By Jacqueline Tio, Joseph Dorris, & Thomas Fusco Intellectual Property, September 2020 ITC Section 337 investigations typically proceed quickly. In addition to the speed at which parties are expected to gather evidence, there are key differences in discovery in an ITC proceeding as opposed to district court litigation. 
Nike and Puma Battle in a ‘Footware’ Fight By Michael J. Weil Intellectual Property, September 2020 The Internet of Things has expanded from household appliances to wearables such as smart watches. Nike has a smart sneaker. Will its ‘footware’ trademark be seen as distinctive or as just a misspelled, descriptive ‘footwear,’ as opposer Puma asserts?
Intellectual Improbabilities™ By Daniel Kegan Intellectual Property, May 2020 An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Hollywood Versus a Film School Project By Richard Stobbe Intellectual Property, February 2020 In 1998, high school student Pourshian conceived the idea for a film in which a character’s internal organs were portrayed as personified characters. In 2000 Pourshian, a film school student in Ontario, wrote a screenplay and produced a short film, Inside Out, based on his idea. In 2015 Pixar, Disney’s animation company, released Inside Out, with characters personifying emotions. Pourshian sued. In this decision, the Canadian court found a real and substantial connection between the claims and Ontario.
Intellectual Improbabilities™ By Daniel Kegan Intellectual Property, February 2020 An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Joint Authorship of Copyright: UK Court of Appeal Tears Up the Script By Ben Milloy International and Immigration Law, February 2020 A look at joint authorship under UK copyright law.
Political Trade Secrets: Intellectual Property Defense to Political Hacking By Daniel Kegan Intellectual Property, February 2020 An effective Defend Trade Secrets Act litigation may not immediately reverse an election result, but it might severely weaken the conspirators.
Starlink and Mega Constellations: Finding a Viable Legal Solution By Charles Lee Mudd, Jr. Intellectual Property, February 2020 The first launch of SpaceX Starlink satellites in 2019 prompted significant outcry about the effects the Starlink mega constellation system could have on our night sky. The images of Starlink satellites streaking across the dark night certainly suggested the degradation of unfettered star gazing. Indeed, the astronomical community quickly voiced concerns that the Starlink mega constellation would degrade both optical and radio astronomy. Since then, critics of Starlink point to the Federal Communications Commission’s “failure” to conduct or require an environmental assessment that included astronomical concerns. In fact, some critics advocate litigation against the FCC or SpaceX. While there exist well-founded concerns about Starlink, litigation would be misguided, ineffectual, and possibly counter-productive at this time. Consequently, immediate focus should rather be directed toward advocacy, education, and policy change.
Intellectual Improbabilities™ By Daniel Kegan Intellectual Property, December 2019 An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Joint Authorship of Copyright: UK Court of Appeal Tears Up the Script By Ben Milloy Intellectual Property, December 2019 A look at joint authorship under UK copyright law.
Mission Accomplished: Supreme Court Ratifies Seventh Circuit’s ‘Rejection-as-Breach Rule’ for Trademarks in Bankruptcy By Phillip R. Van Ness Intellectual Property, December 2019 The U.S. Supreme Court recently addressed a split among the appellate courts as to the consequences when a trademark licensor files for bankruptcy.
Inside the USPTO-TM By Daniel Kegan Intellectual Property, September 2019 A summary of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office visit to Chicago on July 11, 2019.
Intellectual Improbabilities™ By Daniel Kegan Intellectual Property, September 2019 An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Thinking Like the Herd Intellectual Property, September 2019 Linda Holser interview Temple Grandin, one of the world’s compelling voices in science and innovation.
‘Who Owns the News? A History of Copyright’ by Will Slauter: A Review By Daniel Kegan Intellectual Property, September 2019 Modern U.S. copyright law has had a number of picky technicalities, some of which were only clarified this year.

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