Features

Supreme Court Rules States Cannot Be Involuntarily Liable for Copyright Infringement
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that individual states are free to commit copyright infringement. The Court held that Congress attempted to abrogate states' sovereign immunity in an unconstitutional manner when enacting the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act of 1990 (CRCA).
Features

Practical Tips for Securing Patent Rights for AI-Generated Inventions
While AI is rising as a key commercial player at the global scale with an expected market size of almost $400 billion by 2025, are patent laws around the world equipped to incentivize this revolution?
Features

Avoiding Trade Secret Losses During Corporate Collaboration
Effective corporate collaborations — whether close customer relationships, supplier partnerships or formal joint ventures — demand that sensitive information be shared. Without proper agreements and well-defined boundaries, however, those corporate collaborations can lead to loss of trade secret protection and entangle the parties in litigation.
Columns & Departments
IP News
Federal Circuit: Method of Preparation Claim is Patentable Federal Circuit: Same Party Cannot Join IPR Petitions under 35 U.S.C. §315(c)
Features

Attorney's Fees After Octane: More Chances for Defendants to Even the Playing Field
With fewer restraints after Octane, district courts now have broader discretion to grant motions for attorney's fees. But understanding the circumstances under which exceptionality has been found is critical. Recent decisions by the Federal Circuit post-Octane provide some important guidance on when attorney's fees may be available under Section 285.
Features

Swedish Music Industry Views: Part Two
Part Two of a Two Part Article This article discusses, among other things, the Swedish music industry perspective on the European Union's Copyright Directive, the growth of multi-country music licensing hubs and the impact of Brexit.
Features

Kozinski Angle In 9th Circuit's Led Zeppelin Ruling
Defendants Led Zeppelin and its music labels were the winners in the copyright decision by the Ninth Circuit over the song "Stairway to Heaven." But the estate of songwriter Randy Wolfe (p/k/a California) wasn't the only one who got the short end. Among the collateral damage from the ruling was a 2002 precedent written by former Chief Judge Alex Kozinski that endorsed the so-called "inverse-ratio" rule.
Columns & Departments
IP News
VARA Lives On: A $6.75M Lesson on Respecting Moral Rights
Features

You Know What It Is: Taco Tuesday and the Failure-to-Function Doctrine In Trademark Law
The foundational requirement that a trademark function as a trademark has received little attention in the case law. More recently, however, there has been an apparent uptick in scrutiny of trademark use by the USPTO and TTAB, as well as fresh academic attention paid to the issue.
Features

Swedish Music Industry Views as European Union Countries Work on Drafting Home Laws for Enacting EU Copyright Directive
This article is Part One of a two-part article This article examines the Copyright Directive and music-industry structure issues through the lens of Sweden, which has both a robust music business and a strong technology sector, two divergent perspectives in the development of the directive.
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