The Intellectual Property Strategist

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Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.

If the Federal Circuit affirms a lower court verdict holding a patent not invalid over a prior art reference, may the losing party ask the Patent Office to invalidate that patent via re-examination over the same prior art reference? In the case of <i>In re Construction Equipment</i>, the Federal Circuit answered yes, raising important issues bearing on the scope of the re-examination statute, the finality of judgments, and the relationship between the Patent Office and the federal judiciary under the separation of powers doctrine of the Constitution.

With the explosion of the Internet in the last several decades, courts have struggled with whether tortious conduct on a website is expressly aimed at any, or all, of the forums in which the website can be viewed. Two recent Ninth Circuit cases expanded the reach of Internet jurisdiction and may carry significant implications.

On Jan. 18, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-to-2 decision in <i>Golan v. Holder</i>, ruling that the Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994 &mdash; which restores U.S. copyright protection for certain foreign works formerly in the public domain &mdash; fits within Congress' constitutional authority to "adjust copyright law to protect categories of works once outside the law's compass." <i>Golan</i>, like <i>Eldred v. Ashcroft</i> before it, solidifies the constitutional authority of Congress under the Copyright Clause to control the terms and duration of U.S. copyright protection.

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Features

Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.

The year 2013 may be a watershed in the music industry. It is the year that opens a new window in the Copyright Act through which many post-1977 grants of rights under copyright potentially could be terminated.