The American holiday of Thanksgiving is tradition-laden and is celebrated as much for the leftovers after that November Thursday as it is for the turkey on that day, at least according to the US Department of Agriculture. Indeed, Americans “idolize Thanksgiving left overs,” and the “[t]he overstuffing of America’s fridges has become something of a … Continue Reading
Suppose that you want to register a trademark that incorporates a name of a person to identify the source of goods or services for your business. Should you register your trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)? What about the right of publicity of the individual? Can you obtain a registration from the … Continue Reading
Leo the Lion has been the most regular star of MGM Pictures since it was founded on this day in 1924, and his roar is probably the sound most commonly associated with the studio. –Kat Eschner, The Story of Hollywood’s Most Famous Lion (2017) There’s no roar quite like a Nittany Lion’s! –Penn State Football … Continue Reading
Legend has it that shortly after Adam was created, he complained: ‘O, Lord! you have given the lion fierce teeth and claws, and the elephant formidable tusks; you have given the deer swiftness of legs, and the turtle a protective shell; you have given the birds of flight wings, but you have left me altogether … Continue Reading
Suppose you have not registered your copyright in a book with the U.S. Copyright Office until someone has infringed your copyright by copying substantial portions of your book. Let’s also suppose you can prove that the alleged infringer has infringed your work and you can prove that the infringement caused you lost sales, lost opportunities … Continue Reading
Art, said Stephen, is the human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an esthetic end.” ― James Joyce, A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN, Chapter V [T]he application…identified the author of the Work as the ‘Creativity Machine,’ and noted it was ‘Created autonomously by machine.’ —Complaint, paragraph 17 in Thaler … Continue Reading
The US Supreme Court in March decided it will revisit a dispute over pop artist Andy Warhol’s images of Prince. In taking up the case, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, the Court aims to more clearly define the scope of what’s known as “fair use” in US copyright law. The … Continue Reading
Suppose that you want to register your copyright by preparing and filing a copyright application with the U.S. Copyright Office. What if you were unaware that you made some mistakes in the copyright application and the copyright application issued into a copyright registration? You subsequently find that someone is infringing your copyright registration and you … Continue Reading
Our favorite thing about spring [is] spring cleaning. It’s a way to say, “I’m dusting off the winter blues and coming out of hibernation.”… At the office, spring cleaning can take on a whole new meaning. It is a chance to reorganize and refresh your workspace and your workflow. Plus, organizing will actually improve your overall focus and … Continue Reading
The war in Ukraine has led to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II; more than 3 1/2 million civilians have already been displaced, and some observers expect the number to reach five million as the war continues to unfold. There has been an outpouring of concerned citizens the world over who are hoping … Continue Reading
On February 8, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that certain restrictions on the ability to challenge the validity of patents are enforceable. Without such restrictions, companies that are being targeted by patent owners do not have any restrictions on the various methods of how they can challenge the patents … Continue Reading
Suppose that you have an invention disclosure for a design of an article that you want to protect. When you review the invention disclosure, you notice that the design is ornamental, for example, a pattern, on an article such as a chair. You want to file a patent application to protect the design. Can you … Continue Reading
Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather were sued in a class-action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on January 7, 2022, over their promotion of the cryptocurrency token EthereumMax (EMAX). The celebrities were named as co-defendants with the creators of the cryptocurrency, and are alleged to have helped bilk … Continue Reading
Let’s suppose that you have not registered your copyright in a book with the U.S. Copyright Office and you find someone has infringed your copyright by copying substantial portions of your book. Let’s also suppose you are able to prove that the alleged infringer has infringed your work and you have notified the alleged infringer … Continue Reading
The FTC has issued a new Enforcement Policy Statement Regarding Negative Option Marketing (Policy Statement), generally warning companies about their compliance obligations relating to negative option programs and against using website design features to deceive consumers into signing up for subscription services (i.e. by using “dark patterns”). The Policy Statement was released in light of … Continue Reading
Admittedly, the second word in that title is a mouthful—but Paraskavedekatriaphobia is a real word, with an etymology and definition. It even has a synonym, friggatriskaidekaphobia. Each means “fear of Friday the 13th.” Though I am tempted to write this October piece about Halloween (whether it is the day or the movies by that name, … Continue Reading
Suppose that you have expressed your idea into a tangible form such as a website or web page. Although your copyright exists upon the moment of creation, do you have a valid copyright on the website or web page? Should you register your copyright on the website or web page with the U.S. Copyright Office? … Continue Reading
Software Patents: When is enough enough?[1] Developing a Disclosure for Software Patents: Discuss with the inventor the technological underpinnings of the novel functional aspects of the software and how those technological considerations support that function. Discuss with the inventor details that link the novel functional aspects of the software description to those technological underpinnings. Ask … Continue Reading
A recent Supreme Court decision has finally put an end to the longstanding fight between Oracle and Google concerning Google’s use of Oracle’s copyrighted Java Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The Supreme Court’s decision held that, contrary to the decision by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals which was discussed in our previous alert, Google’s use … Continue Reading
The title of this piece tracks a common “phrase of exasperation used to emphasize a question or statement.” If that be the case, and I think it is, then the subtitle implies the question this piece will address. That question is “how have various countries’ intellectual property laws addressed efforts to copyright, trademark, or patent … Continue Reading
Suppose that you want to obtain a patent for an invention and, in your claims of the patent application, you recite terms as a structure with functional language or means-plus-function language. What if this language requires an algorithm to carry out the function and you fail to disclose the algorithm in your patent application? Can … Continue Reading
The title is the first thing the reader sees or hears …—and getting it right is the single most important … decision you’ll make. The title forms the basis of the reader’s judgment ….” Tucker Max For those of you who may read my past ILN posts, you will not be surprised that I subscribe … Continue Reading
…Never let me go… I’ll be yours through all the years, till the end of time. [Love Me Tender, performed by Elvis Presley] Elvis sightings have had a long, storied life of their own since the King of Rock-and-Roll’s “death” was reported (or perhaps exaggerated (though neither greatly nor grossly)), in 1977. Indeed, since 1977, … Continue Reading
Suppose that you want to federally register a trademark that has a domain indicator like “.com” at the end that identifies a source of goods or services related to your business. The trademark may have a first part that is generic like “automobile” and a second part that is a domain indicator like “.com”. Should … Continue Reading
