Intellectual Property Law Articles

Like virtually every other activity Americans engage in on a daily basis, even video games are subject to the restrictions and protections of the law. This is also an area of increasing interest as hundreds of new companies come into the video game market every year by developing the wildly popular game apps played on mobile phones and tablet devices.

If a copyrighted work is considered a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was made is deemed the owner of the copyright unless there has been a written agreement to the contrary signed by both parties. Therefore, it is important for employees and consultants to understand the meaning of a “work for hire.”

If you want to see how your intellectual property (IP) knowledge stacks up, you can check out a new web-based IP Awareness Assessment Tool recently unveiled by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). It is designed to help manufacturers, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and independent inventors easily assess their IP knowledge.

One of the pieces of information you’ll need to disclose to the government during your trademark application process is whether or not you’re currently selling your products or services. The following article covers "intent to use" in more detail.

Yes, you can patent happy hour, but it is not what you think. A patent was recently granted for a “virtual happy hour” that offers discounted products on gaming and social networking sites at designated times.

Highway signs for famous roadways are increasingly popping up on a variety of consumer merchandise from home décor to t-shirts. But can companies who use these logos obtain trademark protection?

There are four main areas of intellectual property that any company or individual must protect because it is so easy to do so and can save you a great deal of money and time on litigation.

British manufacturer Dyson, famous for their revolutionary vacuum cleaners and bladeless fans, has instituted legal action against electronics giant Samsung, citing patent infringements.

Copyright protection does not come automatically with an appealing architectural design that meets the eye.

Many companies have developed their own unique means of doing what they do, making their product, or handling their information. If your way of doing things is better than your competition's, they may naturally want to find out how you are doing it. So, protecting your competitive advantage – your trade secrets – can be critical to growing your business. And, one of the best ways to do that is through the use of the nondisclosure agreement.

A patent is a valuable property right because it excludes others from “making, using, offering for sale, or selling your invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States” for a certain period of time. However, before embarking on the patent process, the first step is to determine if your invention can indeed be patented.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office allow trademark applicants to conduct much of their business electronically through the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).

Tilaknagar Industries Ltd. ("Applicants") had applied for three trademark applications for the stylized version of the mark "Savoy Club" ("Applicants' marks") while Distileerderij En Likburstokerij Herman Jansen B.V. ("Respondents") filed a trade mark application for the word mark "Savoy Club" ("the Intervening Application"). Notices of Opposition against the Applicants' marks were filed in July 2011.

U.S. law no longer requires the use of a copyright notice. However, prior law did contain such a requirement, and the use
of a notice is still relevant to the copyright status of older works.

The question whether someone is the copyright holder of a film is answered by the Copyright Act and within that framework by the general principle of creativity.

If you feel strongly about karaoke (most either love it or hate it), you should keep a close eye on a recently filed California copyright infringement case.

You own a business and have come up with a great new logo or phrase you want to use that will be synonymous with your company's place in the market. What do you do to protect it from others who might try to borrow from your company's reputation or good will in the market?

For those who have ever engaged in creative pursuits, the term “fair use” is often greeted with equal measures of delight and disdain. Fair use is an important part of copyright law that provides some flexibility for how copyrighted works can be used by others. In essence, fair use ensures that there are some kinds of uses that do not require someone to obtain permission or pay licensing fees to use certain works in certain ways.

We have all seen commercials making claims that our common sense told us simply cannot be true. For example, miracle weight loss supplements or exercise equipment. And yet, somehow these commercials make it to television and are not immediately removed as part of a lawsuit. How is that? What is the difference between false advertising and simply inflating the truth about your product (a practice called “puffing”)?

The latest Transformer battle doesn’t involve Autobots and Decepticons. Instead, it involves two powerful companies and one famous trademark.

If you run a website, you may already be familiar with the concept of website's terms of service (“TOS”). If you are just starting out with your own site, you may not be familiar with these and need to get a handle on what is involved. In either case, terms of service can help to protect the owners of a website from liability to those who use the site or others, and should be an essential part of any website you own or design.

As the world becomes increasingly connected to the Internet, concerns from the real world are spilling over into the Web. For example, what are the legal concerns when registering a domain name? Can one violate a trademark or copyright with a domain name? If so, what kinds of remedies and protections exist?

Social media posts featuring an image of Humphrey Bogart wearing a Burberry trench coat in the final scene of Casablanca were not “the beginning of a beautiful friendship” between the fashion retailer and the award-winning actor. Burberry Group Plc. and representatives of the late Humphrey Bogart have filed dueling intellectual property lawsuits over the rights to the image.

App developers, users, and regulators alike are all grappling with the possibilities and implications of app technology in the health sector. As use of these apps grows, increasing attention is also being paid to privacy issues where those apps involve the collection and use of personal information including patient data. This article highlights some of the privacy fundamentals to consider, in particular when developing a medical app.

In general, intellectual property rights are territorial in nature, meaning that the protection afforded under U.S. laws does not expend beyond the boundaries of our country. Copyrights are no exception.

The amendments of Chinese trademark law has been presented in last years, and we has been trying to update news on this matter. Here is the updated news about it.

A case that captured the attention of many Peruvian university students was the prohibition of the words ‘pontifical’ and ‘Catholic’ in the name of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) by the Vatican.

British boy band One Direction has been taking America by storm in recent weeks, with a response that is reminiscent of the U.K.’s most famous musical export. However, it now appears that a trademark lawsuit may put a damper on the band’s growing success. The problem—another band in the U.S. already calls itself One Direction.

The U.S. Copyright Office describes copyright as “a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression” covering both published and unpublished works.

As you may have heard, one of the country’s most closely guarded trade secrets has changed locations. Coca-Cola has created a high security vault in Atlanta to house its “secret formula” for the popular soft drink.

The U.S. Copyright Office recently published a report that addresses one of the most controversial areas of copyright law right now—the mass digitization of books. According to the agency, the report is intended to facilitate further discussions among the affected parties and the public regarding possible approaches to the issue, including voluntary initiatives, legislative options, or both.

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO) to establish a two-year Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme between the two intellectual property offices. The pilot program is scheduled to commence on 1 September 2013.

Of all human rights, privacy can be one of the most difficult to balance. This is exacerbated by the Internet where free, easy and voluntary dissemination of information is routine both in the business and privately.

On 8 April 2013, India finally deposited the instrument acceding to the Madrid Protocol. The international trademark registration system is expected to come into force in India from 8 July 2013. It became the 90th contracting party to join the Madrid Protocol.

If an external brand name is used as a component for one’s own advertising, the trade-mark proprietor can potentially file for injunctive relief.

A new subscription service that would allow users to watch broadcast television over the Internet on devices like smartphones and laptops is facing legal trouble before it even officially launches. Facing allegations of copyright infringement by Fox Television, PBS, ABC, and other leading networks, the start-up’s defense hinges on tiny rabbit ears.

Highway signs for famous roadways are increasingly popping up on a variety of consumer merchandise from home décor to t-shirts. But can companies who use these logos obtain trademark protection?

How can you protect your assets against creditors as a film maker?

The Supreme Court issued an important copyright decision, ruling that Congress acted constitutionally when it restored copyright protection to foreign works that had once been in the public domain. The 1994 law was part of an effort to implement the Berne Convention, a treaty that gives U.S. works reciprocal protection overseas.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently ruled that an eBay reseller of copyrighted software could not rely on the first sale doctrine. The decision centered on the distinction between a sale and a license, as the Ninth Circuit previously held that the first sale defense is unavailable to licensees.

First of all it is important to note that the dynamics of debates exiting nowadays among public institutions, businesses, and mass media regarding such issues as the use and protection of intellectual property is a certain indicator of the beginning of an innovative growth and understanding of the role and meaning of intellectual property in economic development of a certain company in particular as well as the economy of a certain country as a whole.

The blockbuster jury award issued in the ongoing and high-profile patent litigation between Apple and Samsung has certainly caught everyone’s attention. The jury concluded that Samsung infringed on several Apple patents and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages.

Crowdsourcing, which involves outsourcing tasks to a distributed group of people largely via the Internet, could become a key part of the patent examination process, particularly given the increasing role of third parties.

The holder of a right is entitled to various rights of copyright including, for example, moral rights.

Pinterest, a social networking website that allows users to create a virtual bulletin board of their favorite online content, is rapidly gaining popularity. Unique visits to the website reportedly topped 11.7 million. However, questions have surfaced about whether Pinterest could be held liable for copyright infringement by encouraging the unauthorized sharing of protected images and videos.

Trade secrets have long been recognized as a valuable tool in competing with local and foreign companies. Key to maintaining the value of trade secrets, is a strong local regulatory regime. Despite many comments to the contrary, China has a strong legal system in place regarding the protection of trade secrets, with relevant provisions and enforcement paths being found in the PRC Law Against Unfair Competition, PRC Criminal Law, and PRC Contract Law.

Groupon Inc. has filed a trade secret lawsuit against two former sales managers, accusing them of taking confidential trade secrets with them when they left to join a competing venture run by Google Inc. Lawsuits like these are extremely common in the technology industry, where the competition to roll out innovative products is intense.

In a dispute concerning the egg-shape of chocolate marshmallows, the Düsseldorf Regional Court ruled that the egg-shaped design of chocolate marshmallows should not be considered stolen.

With the sharp increase of the number of patent applications in China, the number of patent disputes is also increasing – according to various announcements of statistics, more than 100 cases have been reviewed by Beijing Higher People’s Court in the first half of 2013. We will briefly analyze four typical and noteworthy recent patent dispute cases in this article.

This article looks at two recent cases involving Article 52 of the PRC Trademark Law and its application to parallel imports. Although the laws in China are not settled in this area, we are starting to see a flexible approach being adopted by the courts and administrative authorities when dealing with parallel import infringement claims by a registered trademark owner.

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act modernizes the ways in which patent holders may mark their products. It specifically allows patent owners to mark their products with an Internet address, which then lists the patent numbers associated with the product.

Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has again ordered Apple and Samsung Electronics to pare down the number of claims at issue in their upcoming intellectual property lawsuit. If they cannot do so, the trial will likely be delayed.

A fan of comic books and motorcycle gang movies, in the 1950s Gary Friedrich began to imagine a motorcycle-riding superhero. The hero developed into a motorcycle stuntman when Evel Knievel rose to popularity in the late-1960s and in 1968 Friedrich gave his hero a flaming skull for a head. He then fleshed out a story for this hero.

The use of third-party brands in one’s own advertising can lead to a cease and desist order from the trademark holder.

Patent trolls cost the country’s top tech companies an estimated $29 billion last year, according to a new report. The Boston University School of Law study contends that the rise in opportunistic patent litigation is stifling innovation and harming inventors.

A sequence of yoga poses is not eligible for copyright protection, according to new guidance provided by the U.S. Copyright Office. The agency said the policy statement was required following a series of legal decisions and erroneously awarded copyrights. It also acknowledged that the question of whether a sequence of “preexisting exercises, such as yoga poses” can be copyrighted has “occupied the attention of the Copyright Office for some time.”

The use of external trademarks as part of one’s own advertising can lead to injunctive relief for the trademark holder.

The ongoing patent litigation between Apple and Samsung is not confined to the United States. Similar legal battles are simultaneously taking place all over the world in Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Australia, just to name a few.

This article looks at the most recently issued draft of the new PRC Trademark Law, and highlights a number of concerns for brand owners.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup continues to be a trailblazer when it comes to intellectual property litigation. He has asked Google and Oracle to supply a list of all of the journalists and bloggers on their payrolls.

Copyright in the Arab region has a shorter history than in Europe and the United States but, due to the influence of international conventions, the legislation in most Arab countries is similar and it is also in tune with international legislation.

Intellectual Property (IP) is increasingly becoming one of the main priorities of both Businesses and Individuals in the 21st Century. Its value, despite the difficulty in measuring it due to its nature, has become a main concern in today's economy, referred to as the “new IP Economy”.

The copyright infringement litigation pitting startup Aereo against several major broadcasters is now underway. Because the decision could shake up how consumers get their television, the media and technology industries are closely watching the case.

A proprietor of an internet connection generally should not be liable for copyright breaches of their spouse.

Apple Inc.’s recent blockbuster $1.05 billion verdict in its patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co. may not translate into victories overseas. Apple and Samsung have patent litigation currently pending on four continents, and each company has been able to claim some measure of success in recent weeks.

U.S. and multinational companies continue to face intellectual property challenges in China, particularly when it comes to trademarking their brands. Following Apple’s highly publicized trademark troubles, luxury design house Hermès is the latest company to face a legal setback after losing a trademark appeal in China.

Because copyright laws have changed over the years, the duration of copyright protection is largely determined by when the work was originally copyrighted. This post offers a brief overview of the laws that apply to works copyrighted before and after the 1976 Copyright Act came into effect.

The Hon'ble High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has rejected the Rectification Case No. 3 of 2009 filed by a Bangladeshi Trader, IBN SINA Food Limited.

An overview of key developments affecting doing business in Angola and an introduction to its legal system for foreign investment, currency regulations and incentives, business vehicles and relevant restrictions and liabilities. It provides short overviews on the laws regulating employment relationships including redundancies and on competition law, data protection, product liability/safety, taxation/tax residency and IP rights over patents, trade marks, registered and unregistered designs.

Monitoring employee use of third-party technologies may be the next frontier of trade secret protection. Apple Siri technology recently made news when IBM revealed that it prohibits employees from using Apple's voice dictation features on their iPhones.

The concept issue in this case was a decisive factor for settling the difference between the appellations, and allowing them to coexist in the market.

Intellectual property law generally does not protect recipes. But what about a cut of steak?

Under U.S. copyright law, protection is only given to “original works of authorship.” As we have previously discussed, this means ideas and concepts cannot be protected by copyright. But what else can’t be copyrighted?

A new government report sheds light on the impact of intellectual property theft on the U.S. economy. Counterfeiting and piracy erode the returns on innovation and slow economic growth because of the negative impacts on companies, consumers and governments, according to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee.

3D printing is a process of making a three-dimensional solid objects of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3D printing is achieved using an additive process, whereby successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes by a printing machine. 3D printing is considered distinct from traditional machining techniques, which mostly rely on the removal of material by methods such as cutting or drilling (subtractive processes).

The industrial property legislation had significant changes, as: any registered trademark must be used within the Panamanian territory, etc.

A bipartisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives recently introduced legislation intended to combat the illegal distribution of counterfeit goods via rogue websites hosted overseas. The proposed bill greatly expands protections for intellectual property (IP) and, if passed, would bring sweeping changes to copyright law.

Whether or not someone is the originator of a film is determined by the general principle of authorship under Copyright Law (UrhG).

The U.S. Copyright Office recently published a report that addresses one of the most controversial areas of copyright law right now—the mass digitization of books. According to the agency, the report is intended to facilitate further discussions among the affected parties and the public regarding possible approaches to the issue, including voluntary initiatives, legislative options, or both.

The ECJ has ruled that the spreading of television programs via live streaming without the creator’s consent shall not be possible.

James Eliason, CEO of Twittad, indicated that Twitter’s battle for ownership of the “tweet” trademark may finally have come to an end. According to Eliason, Twitter would drop a trademark lawsuit it filed against his company that sought to nullify Twittad’s registered trademark of the word “tweet.” In return, Twittad would transfer its registered trademark of “tweet” to Twitter, he said.

A trademark can last indefinitely, but it will require some action of the part of its holder. In general, you must file the appropriate maintenance filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and adopt certain business practices in order to keep your trademark alive.

A European business group is calling on China to make big changes to its patent system. The European Chamber of Commerce in China argues that the current Chinese patent system hinders the country's ability to innovate and may be detrimental to foreign companies. The group released a report recommending a total of 52 changes.

The Obama Administration is working to develop a new strategy for intellectual property enforcement and is asking for the public’s help.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office allow trademark applicants to conduct much of their business electronically through the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS). Trademark applicants can file an initial application form online, as well as submit other documents including a response to an examining attorney's Office action, a change of address, an allegation of use, and post registration maintenance documents.

Every three years, the U.S. Copyright Office reconsiders exclusions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s provisions prohibiting the circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works.

Unfortunately, the rights granted by a U.S. patent or trademark can only be enforced in the United States and generally have no effect in a foreign country. Therefore, a company who wants to safeguard its intellectual property rights in other countries must take additional steps to ensure international protection.

The U.S. patent and Trademark Office celebrated an important milestone earlier this month. April 10 marked the anniversary of the first U.S. patent law, which was enacted on April 10, 1790.

U.S. firms are indeed among the most innovative. The report, published by Thompson Reuters, examined a series of patent-related metrics to come up with a list of the top 100 leaders in innovation.

If you have done any research into filing a trademark application, you know that there are some decisions to make. One of the most important choices is the depiction of your mark.

Google has long provided the service of blocking search results in pursuance to website takedown requests.

If you have correspondence from the U.S. Copyright Office sitting in a pile of paperwork on your desk, we urge you to read this post. Many communications from the Copyright Office set forth specific timelines for replying. If you miss these deadlines, you could be putting your intellectual property rights at risk.

Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. is parting ways with its oldest bottler, after a trademark dispute soured the business relationship. According to a joint statement, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group has bought all of the bottler's sales and distribution operations under the terms of a settlement agreement.

This article is concerning how to conduct a trademark search on the official website of trademark office of China, the applicant could use this system to conduct a preliminary search before start the filing. For the particular search method please refer to our company website.

Trademark, best known as “brand”, is an intellectual property that designed and used by its holders to distinguish his/her goods or services from others. With the growth of public’s awareness of IPR protection, trademark is no more a simply symbol, but instead, it represents the image of an enterprise, carries the reputation of an entity, and becomes an intangible assets that cannot be overlooked by the company.

The internationally recognised regulator of web addresses Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is constantly seeking new ways to avoid abusive use of domain names. One of the more common abuses is that of cybersquatting, the act of registering domain names consisting in somebody else’s trademark in order to make gains of that trademark’s reputation. There are several types of cybersquatting, however this is the most common.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the launch of another new pilot program. This program aims to incentivize the distribution of patented technologies to address humanitarian needs.

The concept of the Community Trademark (CTM) has long been considered very straight-forward in its approach. The common understanding is that it gives protection of a trademark applicable to all 27 Member States of the EU. Naturally, this could be easily abused if a CTM were registered and only used in one Member State.

Hershey filed a trademark application seeking to protect the shape of its famous Hershey bar. The application describes it as “a configuration of a candy bar that consists of twelve equally-sized recessed rectangular panels arranged in a four panel by three panel formats with each panel having its own raised border within a large rectangle.”

A recent decision of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) demonstrated that a lack of distinctive character, among other things, can prevent a trademark from being registered.