Can You Register a Country Name for Trademark?By Margo Lynn Hablutzel, J.D., LLM, CISSPIntellectual Property, December 2024An explanation of why Sweden filed for a trademark registration in its name.
Intellectual Improbabilities™By Daniel KeganIntellectual Property, December 2024Updates on trademarks, copyrights, patents, and much more.
Intra-Third-Party Squabble Results in Sixth Circuit Opinion Applying Lanham Act to Political MarksBy Jonathan PhillipsIntellectual Property, December 2024The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently tackled a dispute whether a breakaway faction of Michigan's Libertarian Party could use the Libertarian National Committee's trademark and present themselves as the official Michigan affiliate.The court upheld a preliminary injunction barring it, generally, but allowed the breakaway to continue soliciting donations with the mark with its clear disclaimers which prevented consumer confusion.
AI and Law: An Opportunity to Improve Legal PracticeBy Damien RiehlIntellectual Property, September 2024Recent exponential leaps in advanced large language models have presented both opportunities and challenges that have the capacity to reshape the legal landscape.
Read the Contract Before You SignBy David C. BrezinaIntellectual Property, September 2024A cautionary tale from four cases that remind practitioners to "read the contract."
Association Intellectual Property LawBy Daniel KeganIntellectual Property, June 2024An overview of some of the legal issues that may impact associations.
Bankruptcy Sale or Termination of Copyrights. Which One Rules?By Beverly A. Berneman & Victoria R. LiebermanCommercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, June 2024A battle between a record company and the members and heirs of a famous rap group is brewing in the Southern District of Florida. The primary issue is whether an author’s ability to terminate a transfer of rights under the Copyright Act is negated by a bankruptcy court order permitting a sale of the author’s works.
Bankruptcy Sale or Termination of Copyrights. Which One Rules?By Beverly A. Berneman & Victoria R. LiebermanCorporate Law Departments, June 2024A battle between a record company and the members and heirs of a famous rap group is brewing in the Southern District of Florida. The primary issue is whether an author’s ability to terminate a transfer of rights under the Copyright Act is negated by a bankruptcy court order permitting a sale of the author’s works.
Intellectual Improbabilities™By Daniel KeganIntellectual Property, June 2024An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Marching Forward: How NIH’s Proposed Framework Could Reshape the Bayh-Dole Act’s Use of March-in RightsBy Anthony J. Wenn, Frank Brefo, & Sarah DunkleyIntellectual Property, June 2024In December 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology released a draft framework that includes price as a factor for encorcing "march-in" rights under the Bayh-Dole Act. If implemented, this framework marks a significant policy shift, making it clear that the government can effectively recapture the exclusive rights of technology derived from federally funded research if the price of a product is deemed too high.
USPTO Issues New Artificial Intelligence Guidelines for PractitionersBy Kristen Brooks & Aaron BrooksIntellectual Property, June 2024The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently issued its Guidance on Use of Artificial Intelligence-Based Tools in Practice Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Bankruptcy Sale or Termination of Copyrights. Which One Rules?By Beverly A. Berneman & Victoria R. LiebermanCommercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy, May 2024A battle between a record company and the members and heirs of a famous rap group is brewing in the Southern District of Florida. The primary issue is whether an author’s ability to terminate a transfer of rights under the Copyright Act is negated by a bankruptcy court order permitting a sale of the author’s works.
Bankruptcy Sale or Termination of Copyrights. Which One Rules?By Beverly A. Berneman & Victoria R. LiebermanIntellectual Property, March 2024A battle between a record company and the members and heirs of a famous rap group is brewing in the Southern District of Florida. The primary issue is whether an author’s ability to terminate a transfer of rights under the Copyright Act is negated by a bankruptcy court order permitting a sale of the author’s works.
Don’t Plan to Win, Plan to Avoid LitigationBy Daniel KeganIntellectual Property, March 2024When contract negotiations seem stuck, it can be helpful to temporarily ignore the differing preferred provisions and reflect on the negotiation process and what might be causing the conflict.
Intellectual Improbabilities™By Daniel KeganIntellectual Property, March 2024An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Intellectual Improbabilities™By Daniel KeganIntellectual Property, December 2023An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Legacy Intellectual PropertyBy Daniel KeganIntellectual Property, December 2023Creatives, entrepreneurs, and startups create intangible assets. Many people and too many national media confusedly intermix trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. Each is quite different, with different requirements, ease of creating, registration requirements, costs, durations, and rules for transfer.
Old MacDonald Discovers ChatGPTBy Steve Baron & Shira BaronIntellectual Property, December 2023A cartoon of Old MacDonald discovering artifical intelligence.
The FTC Takes on Fake Consumer Reviews and Auto-Renewal of SubscriptionsBy Steven L. Baron, Jonathan LA Phillips, & Leah HallIntellectual Property, September 2023The Federal Trade Commission is engaging in rulemaking on issues that impact consumer transactions online, namely reviews and endorsements of goods and services and automatic renewals of subscriptions. The proposed rules crack down on deceptive practices relating to reviews and endorsements and make it easier for consumers to know about and terminate automatic renewal of subscriptions.
Intellectual Improbabilities™By Daniel KeganIntellectual Property, September 2023An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Jack Daniels v. Bad Spaniels: Trademarks Are Not Abstract and Free Speech Doesn’t Mean You Can Say Anything You WantBy David C. BrezinaIntellectual Property, September 2023The U.S. Supreme Court was presented with a parody dog toy emulating the Jack Daniels whiskey trademarks and packaging. When presented with the question of whether the First Amendment defense always applied to parody use, the Court decided the case should be narrow: Where the accused use is use in commerce as a trademark—indicating the source of the goods—traditional trademark law applies and it is unnecessary to address application of a rule for artistic use.
Intellectual Improbabilities™By Daniel KeganIntellectual Property, June 2023An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Royalty Payments Treated as Dischargeable Debt in BankruptcyBy Beverly A. BernemanIntellectual Property, June 2023In a bankruptcy reorganization case, an obligation to pay royalties for the use of intellectual property is usually covered by a license. However, royalties paid after the sale of intellectual property require a different analysis. In Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC v. Mallinckrodt PLC, the U.S. District Court determined that royalties were a pre-petition debt that was dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Solicitor General to Advise Supreme Court on Issues of Estoppel in Inter Partes Review ProceedingsBy Anthony Wenn & Daniel HessIntellectual Property, June 2023Over the past decade since the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) went into effect in 2012, the most widely discussed—and often criticized—aspect of the AIA was the creation of modern inter partes review proceedings. Inter partes review (IPR) is an administrative proceeding to challenge the validity of an issued U.S. patent before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Any entity may file an IPR petition at the PTAB to challenge the validity of any issued patents.[1] The PTAB, in its discretion, may then grant or deny the petition to institute a trial to reassess the validity of the issued patent. Statistically, petitioners have a high likelihood of invalidating a patent owner’s patent by instituting an IPR. The current petition to the Supreme Court for certiorari in Apple, Inc. v. California Institute of Technology may affect the scope of the estoppel afforded to patent owners by 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2).
