The new, more than 5,000-page spending bill, which includes the latest COVID-19 relief, had a few surprises under its cover. Two of those surprises focus directly on intellectual property and amount to sea changes in the trademark and copyright infringement realms.
Online publication impacts the duration of copyright protection among other purposes, including optimizing creative and ownership rights and the availability of statutory damages and attorney fees. Thus, it is important to determine when Internet distribution constitutes publication.
Federal Circuit: Texas Court Abused Its Discretion By Delaying On Venue Transfer Motion While Proceeding With the Merits of the Case Federal Circuit: PTAB Violates the APA When It Sua Sponte Adopts a New Claim Construction to Support New Theory of Invalidity for First Time
California DMV regulations excluding plaintiffs' personalized plates were like the PTO trademark registration restrictions of SLANTS and FUCT — restrictions struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court for violating the First Amendment.
The audit clause itself is not something to be feared. It is a necessary means for the licensor to protect its interests and to guard against unscrupulous licensees. But it is a mistake to think that the clause is there solely to prevent malfeasance.
The legal implications of branding generally arise initially for companies during the process of selecting a company name and any initial product or service names. For drug development companies, however, careful consideration should also be paid to the implications of branding a clinical trial.
PTAB to Follow Nautilus Standard of Definiteness
The Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a declaratory judgment action based on the "abstention doctrine," despite the declaratory judgment plaintiff's insistence that the underlying contract dispute required resolution of patent validity and claim scope that were within the federal courts' exclusive purview.
A recent Federal Circuit decision denying a petition for a writ of mandamus should serve as a cautionary tale and reminder for corporate entities regarding the critical importance of preserving documentary evidence in a timely and appropriate manner.
It took two years and a last-minute substitution of judges for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to rule that RPX Corp. was too close to a dues-paying member to bring a patent validity challenge.
