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Features

An NDA Is Not a ‘Magic Talisman’ for Trade Secret Protection Image

An NDA Is Not a ‘Magic Talisman’ for Trade Secret Protection

Stephen M. Kramarsky

An NDA can cover information that would not qualify as a trade secret under state or federal law, and it can provide limited contractual protection to that information. But it is not a “magic talisman” for the protection of intellectual property, and it cannot create trade secret protection where it would not otherwise exist.

Columns & Departments

IP News Image

IP News

The Intellectual Property Strategist Staff

A look at the latest developments in intellectual property law.

Features

Artist Challenges Copyright Office Refusal to Register Award-Winning AI-Assisted Work Image

Artist Challenges Copyright Office Refusal to Register Award-Winning AI-Assisted Work

Emily Bullis

Copyright law has long struggled to keep pace with advances in technology, and the debate around the copyrightability of AI-assisted works is no exception. At issue is the human authorship requirement: the principle that a work must have a human author to be eligible for copyright protection. While the Copyright Office has previously cited this "bedrock requirement of copyright" to reject registrations, recent decisions have focused on the role of human authorship in the context of AI.

Features

The Federal Circuit Clarifies Who Can Be an Expert In Patent Cases Image

The Federal Circuit Clarifies Who Can Be an Expert In Patent Cases

Jim Day & Raven Quesenberry

In September 2024, the Federal Circuit clarified the necessary qualifications for a technical expert to testify in a patent lawsuit, holding that while an expert must possess ordinary skill in the art, they need not have possessed such skill "at the time of the alleged invention."

Features

Knockoffs: Are They Always Infringing? Image

Knockoffs: Are They Always Infringing?

Steven D. Lustig

When something is referred to as a "knockoff" it typically implies that the knockoff product is similar in appearance to an earlier product and is unlawful. But that is not always the case. Indeed, there can be infringing knockoffs and noninfringing knockoffs. It depends on the facts and circumstances. To appreciate the difference, a look into the general rules and some specific cases is needed.

Features

Fifth Circuit Remands Recording Labels' Copyright Suit Against ISP Image

Fifth Circuit Remands Recording Labels' Copyright Suit Against ISP

Adolfo Pesquera

A federal appeals court departed from five sister circuits determining damages in a copyright infringement case, taking a position the Copyright Alliance called "a cruel joke."

Columns & Departments

IP News Image

IP News

Jeff Ginsberg & Ryan J. Sheehan

Federal Circuit: Falsely Claiming That a Product Feature is Patented Can Give Rise to a False Advertising Claim Under the Lanham Act Federal Circuit: A Prior Decision in an IPR Does Not Collaterally Estop the Patentee in a Subsequent Litigation Where Invalidity Must be Proven by 'Clear and Convincing Evidence'

Features

Pleading Importation: ITC Decisions Highlight Need for Adequate Evidentiary Support Image

Pleading Importation: ITC Decisions Highlight Need for Adequate Evidentiary Support

Daniel Muino & Charles Provine

The International Trade Commission is empowered to block the importation into the United States of products that infringe U.S. intellectual property rights, In the past, the ITC generally instituted investigations without questioning the importation allegations in the complaint, however in several recent cases, the ITC declined to institute an investigation as to certain proposed respondents due to inadequate pleading of importation.

Features

Ex Parte Trademark Appeals to District Court — Lessons Learned from the Front Lines Image

Ex Parte Trademark Appeals to District Court — Lessons Learned from the Front Lines

Christopher P. Bussert & Jonathan E. Moskin

Although pursuit of an appeal to the Federal Circuit may under some circumstances prove to be quicker and less expensive, appeals to district courts are becoming increasingly attractive given recent changes in the law and USPTO practice in defending these actions.

Features

Can a Licensor Receive Royalty Payments Beyond the Life of Patent Protection? Image

Can a Licensor Receive Royalty Payments Beyond the Life of Patent Protection?

Matthew Golden

How do you determine if ongoing royalty obligations that extend beyond the life of underlying patent protection, even if agreed to by the contracting parties, are enforceable? A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit shows what types of license arrangements pass the test.

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