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Columns & Departments

Bit Parts Image

Bit Parts

Stan Soocher

Rick Ross Defeats Trademark Suit over Mastermind Album<br>TV Host's Course of Conduct During Life Bars Estate From Getting His IP and Publicity Rights

Features

Best Practices for Social Media Advertising Image

Best Practices for Social Media Advertising

Amanda H. Wilcox

Social media is growing up, and this means that brands of all sizes and across all industries are using social media as part of their marketing strategy. However, courts have confirmed that the basic tenets of intellectual property law and advertising law still apply. The following guidelines stem from common questions that clients often have in the area of social media marketing.

Columns & Departments

IP News Image

IP News

Jeff Ginsberg & Zhiqiang Liu

Federal Circuit Declines to Follow Patent Office's Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance In Affirming Trial Court's Decision That Claims Are Directed to Patent-Ineligible Subject Matter

Features

U.S. Supreme Court's Ruling on Copyright Registration Image

U.S. Supreme Court's Ruling on Copyright Registration

Robert J. Bernstein & Robert W. Clarida

The Supreme Court had granted cert in <i>Fourth Estate</i> to resolve a split in the federal circuit courts as to whether §411(a) of the Copyright Act could be read to allow commencement of an infringement action once a registration application filed with the Copyright Office is complete (the “application approach”) or, instead, only (subject to limited statutorily specified exceptions) upon issuance by the Copyright Office of the registration (the “registration approach”).

Features

The Supreme Court Finally Resolves An Old, Vexing Question: Does "Registration" Mean "Registration"? Answer: "Yes." Image

The Supreme Court Finally Resolves An Old, Vexing Question: Does "Registration" Mean "Registration"? Answer: "Yes."

James A. Trigg & Bethany R. Nelson

In Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, the Supreme Court resolved a circuit split decades in the making by holding that a copyright is not "registered" within the meaning of the Copyright Act unless and until a registration certificate actually has issued.

Features

SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Case Determining Federal Registrability of Immoral and Scandalous Trademarks Image

SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Case Determining Federal Registrability of Immoral and Scandalous Trademarks

Dana Justus & Monica Riva Talley

This case should determine the availability of federal trademark registration for “immoral” and “scandalous” marks – in this case, the acronym “FUCT” for a clothing line.

Features

Monopolizing the Disruptive Image

Monopolizing the Disruptive

Arthur Beeman

<i><b>The Federal Circuit's Threat to Software Innovation in the </i>Oracle v. Google<i>Decisions</i>&lt;</b><p>The Federal Circuit decisions in the Oracle v. Google copyright case rattled Silicon Valley not simply because the decisions upended software developers' understandings of copyright law, but also because the decisions do not comport with the disruptive ethos of the technology industry.

Columns & Departments

IP News Image

IP News

Christine E. Weller

In celebration of International Women's Day two years ago, State Street Global Advisors unveiled Fearless Girl at Bowling Green in the Financial District in Manhattan. Commissioned by State Street from the artist Kristen Visbal, the work has since become a part of the zeitgeist amidst global conversations about gender parity, diversity, and inclusion on a broader scale. Now, some two years later, Fearless Girl is raising additional intellectual property questions.

Features

Second Circuit Affirms 'ReDigi': No 'Resale' of Digital Music Files Image

Second Circuit Affirms 'ReDigi': No 'Resale' of Digital Music Files

Robert J. Bernstein & Robert W. Clarida

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently issued a long-awaited ruling in <i>Capitol Records LLC v. ReDigi Inc.</i>, affirming summary judgment in favor of Capitol Records and its record label co-plaintiffs in a case that raised issues of first impression concerning first sale and fair use in the age of digital music distribution.

Features

UMG v. Grande Communications: Another Victory for the Music Industry in Its Battle to Hold ISPs Liable for Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Image

UMG v. Grande Communications: Another Victory for the Music Industry in Its Battle to Hold ISPs Liable for Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

J. Alexander Lawrence

Since the advent of the Internet, the music industry has been in a pitched battle to combat online piracy. Initially, the industry focused on shutting down services that offered peer-to-peer or other similar platforms, such as Napster, Aimster and Grokster. For a time, the industry also focused on filing claims against individual infringers to dissuade others from engaging similar conduct. In recent years, the industry seems to have shifted focus toward Internet Service Providers.

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