Category: United States

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Katy v Katie: The importance of reputation and early brand protection  

By Jessica Bell of Kalus Kenny Intelex on Posted in Australia, Legislation, Trademarks, United States
By Jessica Bell, Lawyer – Kalus Kenny Intelex, Melbourne, Australia Pop star Katy Perry has successfully appealed a Federal Court ruling over the use of an Australian designer’s trade mark registration for the words KATIE PERRY. The recent decision by the Full Court of the Federal Court unanimously overturned Justice Brigitte Markovic’s findings in Taylor … Continue Reading

New Year’s Resolutions?: Intellectual Property Questions That May–Or May Not–Get Decided In 2025

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, Legislation, Online Content, Protection & Enforcement, United States
As we head into a new year after a US election year, we are sure to see two things in the media, all kinds of articles on New Year’s Resolutions and all kinds of articles on what we can anticipate occurring in the inaugural year of the new administration.  So I thought that I would … Continue Reading

THAT’S NOT TRUE: Thoughts, Novel or Not, On Truth, Context, & Defamation

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Case Studies, Protection & Enforcement, United States
Defamation cases are hard ones in the real world. Recent US matters involving Dominion Voting,  Sara Palin, and even Cheetos show that these cases continue to interest the general public as well as legal cognoscenti. Resolving these lawsuits is dependent on understanding concepts of truth, accuracy, fact, opinion, and all manner of issues that define … Continue Reading

Can Design Patents Be Invalidated?

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Legislation, Patent Infringement, Patents, United States
Suppose you have a design for an ornamental appearance of an article and start producing the article. Subsequently, you receive notice from an owner of a design patent that you are infringing their patent. You conduct a prior art search and find some references related to the design. Can you invalidate the design patent through … Continue Reading

One Sheet To Rap Sheet: Evaluating Proposed Federal Rule For Using Lyrics & Creative Writing To Prove Crimes

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Legislation, Protection & Enforcement, United States
In a list of Music Industry Terms Every Artist Should Know, “One Sheet” is defined as a “single-page document that highlights an artist’s new music and summarizes their bio, stats, and achievements. It’s given to media, promoters, or anyone else who can further the artist’s career in some way — for example, by hiring them … Continue Reading

Can a Slide Show Be Considered a Printed Publication to Prevent Patentability?

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Case Studies, Legislation, Patent Infringement, Patents, Privacy Compliance, Protection & Enforcement, United States
Suppose you have an invention and disclose it in a slide show to an audience attending a conference. Can this slide show be considered a printed publication to prevent the invention from being novel and patented? Are there protective measures that can be taken to prevent the slide show from being considered a printed publication? … Continue Reading

Seedlings of Ideas For Artificial Intelligence: Learning From A Genetic Resources/Traditional Knowledge Treaty, The Plant Patent Act, & Nico Tanner

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Foreign Protection, Legislation, Patents, Protection & Enforcement, Trade Secrets, United States
The World Intellectual Property Organization announced on May 24, 2024, a treaty on intellectual property, genetic resources, and associated traditional knowledge that was twenty-five years in the making.  As WIPO’s press release noted, “[n]egotiations for this Treaty began at WIPO in 2001, initiated in 1999 with a proposal by Colombia, where discussions were notable for … Continue Reading

IP ├ IP???: The Logic Of Election Year Legal Disputes Over Proprietary Intangibles

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Copyright, Legislation, Privacy Compliance, Trade Secret Protection, Trademarks, United States
Title? Typo? Cryptic code? Equation? Really it is a combination of three of the four. In other words, it is not a typo (You can look elsewhere in this piece for those). One key to understanding the reference above is the mathematical logic symbol ├, which is known as the “’turnstile’…because of its resemblance to a … Continue Reading

U.S. House Unveils the Latest Attempt at a U.S. Privacy Law: The American Privacy Rights Act

By Gary A. Kibel of Davis+Gilbert LLP, Richard Eisert of Davis+Gilbert and Zachary Klein of Davis+Gilbert on Posted in Legislation, Privacy Compliance, United States
The United States is among the minority of large economies in the world without a comprehensive national privacy law. In the absence of such a law, numerous states are filling the void with a complex assortment of often inconsistent privacy laws. However, unexpected legislative developments in the U.S. House of Representatives will potentially resolve the … Continue Reading

Should Disclaimers Always Be Made in U.S. Trademark Applications?

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Case Studies, Protection & Enforcement, Trademarks, United States
Suppose you have a pending U.S. trademark application for your trademark on goods or services for your business and a term or wording in the trademark is descriptive of your goods or services. During the examination of your trademark application, the examining attorney refuses registration because the term is merely descriptive of your goods or services … Continue Reading

Comma, Comma, Comma, Comma, Comma Chameleon: How Punctuation Can Color IP & Other Legal Rights

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Case Studies, Copyright, Famous Marks, Legislation, Patents, Protection & Enforcement, Trademarks, United States
“[T]he comma…this capricious bit of punctuation…” United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc., 489 US 235, 249 (1989) (O’Connor, J, dissenting) For want of a comma, we have this case.” O’Connor  et al. v. Oakhurst Dairy et al.,851 F.3d 69, 70 (1st Cir. 2017) “But, when pressed, I do find I have strong views about … Continue Reading

Can U.S. Trademark Registrations Be Strengthened Against Invalidation?

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Case Studies, Trademarks, United States
Suppose that you have obtained a U.S. trademark registration for your trademark on goods or services for your business. Can your trademark registration be cancelled with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office based on it being invalid? Can you file anything to strengthen your trademark registration against invalidation? The answer is YES! if the trademark … Continue Reading

Trademark Considerations for Copyrighted Works in the Public Domain

By Joy J. Wildes of Davis+Gilbert LLP and Claudia G. Cohen of Davis+Gilbert LLP on Posted in Case Studies, Copyright, Protection & Enforcement, United States
In the United States, an original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression (meaning the work can be communicated in a visual or audio form) is a protectable copyright. This means that the owner has the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, publish, perform, and display the work. Because copyright protection has a … Continue Reading

The Good Get: Interviews, The Predicates Of Copyright Ownership, & Divorcing Subjects From Owning Copyright Content

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Copyright, United States
“Headlines” and “titles” are related, sometimes interchangeable, items appearing atop news stories. But, in this space, headlines are usually a source of inspiration (so we can write about intellectual property issues that may interest more than just IP attorneys), and titles a bit of fun (so we can draw in those looking for a bit … Continue Reading

Small Entity Status vs. Micro Entity Status for Patent Applications in the U.S.

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Patents, United States
Suppose you have an inventor or applicant who asks you to file a patent application in the U.S. However, the applicant has limited financial resources for filing the patent application. Should you claim small entity status or micro entity status for the applicant at the time of filing the patent application? The answer depends on … Continue Reading

With Friends Like These: Copyright Implications Of Novelists Drawing Inspiration From The Real Lives They Cross

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Copyright, Famous Marks, Trademarks, United States
Fiction writing has a curious claim on truth.  We learn this at the youngest age, listening to fairy tales when the child in us “intuitively comprehends that, although these stories are unreal, they are not untrue …”  Bettelheim, The Uses Of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales  (at 73).  We hear this in … Continue Reading

Maybe Duct Tape Can’t Fix Everything: Slippery Standards As Copyright Goes Bananas

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Case Studies, Copyright, Protection & Enforcement, United States
Whether one focuses on the word’s connotation of silliness or excitement, or maybe even anger, or analogizes to the raucous and rhymingly-named team from Savannah that makes up its own baseball rules, US copyright law is currently going a little “bananas.” From ongoing debates about the human element (or requirement) of authorship to debates over what … Continue Reading

Can You Use Color Drawings or Photographs in Utility Patent Applications?

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Patents, United States
Suppose that you have an invention disclosure for a utility invention that you want to protect.  When you review the invention disclosure, you notice that the inventor has only supplied color drawings or photographs of the invention.  Can you file the utility patent application with the color drawings or photographs?  The answer is YES! if … Continue Reading

Make Your Mark On History: Connecting Tradenames To Landmark Events, People & Places

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Case Studies, Famous Marks, Trademarks, United States
The phrase “make your mark on history” is a commonplace one with several meanings and connotations.  It is one offered at many high school and college commencement speeches as an exhortation to graduates to have an impact beyond themselves–as future-President, then-Senator John F. Kennedy said when telling Northeastern’s graduating class in 1956 “to make your … Continue Reading

Can You Register a Copyright on a Work that Contains Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence?

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Copyright, United States
Suppose you have expressed your work in a tangible form, but it contains material generated by artificial intelligence (AI). Although your copyright exists at the moment of creation, does the work contain enough human authorship on which to base a claim for copyright registration? Should you register the copyright on the work with the U.S. … Continue Reading

Defining Boundaries: IP Law Addresses Exterritoriality, Lexicography & Human Touch

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Case Studies, Foreign Protection, Patents, Trademarks, United States
“Yes, the law is about words…,” says Ben Chiriboga in writing about the essential skills that lawyers must have.  And Ken White noted more recently that “the entire project of the law is about words meaning specific things.”  But our problem often is that the law, or lawyers, frequently use unfamiliar or exotic terms that … Continue Reading

The Training Wheels are Off: The Copyright Implications of Training Generative AI

By Marc J. Rachman of Davis+Gilbert LLP, Sarah Benowich of Davis+Gilbert and Eva M. Jiménez of Davis+Gilbert on Posted in Case Studies, Copyright, Famous Marks, Online Content, Protection & Enforcement, United States
With the introduction of several readily available applications, artificial intelligence (AI) has leaped into the mainstream and brought with it a host of legal questions.  Following the release in November of the now popular generative AI platform ChatGPT by OpenAI, companies including Microsoft and Google are rushing to release their own generative AI services or … Continue Reading

Free Speech, Chatting About Friends, Kraken/Crackin’ On AI, & Thinking About Fred & Ginger: Generated Content, Amici Curiae, & A Case About Jack Daniels That Dances Around Trademark Issues And Leaves Some Things To Chew On

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Case Studies, Copyright, Famous Marks, Patent Infringement, Trademarks, United States
Lots of people are talking about ChatGPT. Some, like those at Microsoft, see it as a valuable tool to be integrated into their products and platforms; indeed, one of its lawyers thought that the answer provided by ChatGPT to his legal question “sounds like a pretty good lawyer 😉.” But others are wondering whether we … Continue Reading
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