Intellectual Property Lawyers in the USA

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.

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.