Intellectual Property Lawyers in the USA

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.

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.

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.

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 former Sony Corp employee has been awarded $30.2 million in damages resulting from his claims that Nintendo infringed on his patent for 3D technology. Plaintiff claimed that the globally recognized video game leader used his technology in producing the Nintendo 3DS, a handheld, 3D capable gaming console. What makes the product and plaintiff’s invention unique is that it allowed the effect of 3D visuals without the need for 3D glasses - a major step forward in 3D technology.