IP News Alerts
Supreme Court Limits Copyright Protection for Software
April 8, 2021
By: Brian T. Moriarty, Mary Lou Wakimura, and Timothy J. Meagher
On April 5, 2021, the United States Supreme Court, in Google v. Oracle, issued a landmark decision concerning the application of Copyright Laws to protect software. The Court ruled...
The Transition is Over: Evaluating Your Trademark and Design Portfolios in the EU and UK Now That BREXIT is Official
January 11, 2021
As of January 1, 2021, registered European Union (EU) Trademarks and Community Designs are no longer effective in the United Kingdom (UK). The United Kingdom Intellectual Property...
USPTO COVID-19 Response Update
June 5, 2020
The USPTO announced that it has launched the COVID-19 Response Resource Center to provide improved access to USPTO initiatives, programs, and other helpful intellectual property-related...
Federal Circuit Decision Shows How Software Improvements to Computer Technologies are Patentable
May 6, 2020
The Court held that “software can make patent-eligible improvements to computer technology, and related claims are eligible as long as they are directed to non-abstract improvements...
Justices Say Willfulness Not Needed For Trademark Profits
April 24, 2020
By: John L. DuPré and Timothy J. Meagher
Supreme Court clarifies that there is no willfulness requirement for awarding profits in trademark cases Defendant’s mental state is important in determining whether...
USPTO Extends Certain Patent and Trademark Deadlines Under the CARES Act
April 2, 2020
By: John L. DuPré and Deirdre E. Sanders
In accordance with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is providing for extensions of the time...
Does a “Full Moon” Mean Mars too?: Supreme Court Issues a Pair of Copyright Decisions Limiting Litigation Options
March 6, 2019
By: Brian T. Moriarty and Timothy J. Meagher
Supreme Court resolves conflicting decision by lower courts in copyright cases A plaintiff may not file a copyright litigation until the U.S. Copyright Office registers the copyright...
A Secret Sale Might be Prior Art and Bar Patentability
January 31, 2019
Under 35 U.S.C. § 102, a sale or offer for sale of an invention may bar patentability. Prior to enactment of the AIA in March 2013, § 102 barred patentability of an...
USPTO Updates Guidance on Subject Matter Eligibility - Improving Chances for Grant of Software Related Patent Applications
January 28, 2019
By: Philip T. Mazoki
The USPTO published revised guidelines enumerating subject matter groupings of abstract ideas and clarifying that a claim reciting a judicial exception is patent eligible if the judicial...
Supreme Court Includes Lost Foreign Profits In Patentee's Recovery
June 26, 2018
Damages adequate to compensate for infringement include lost foreign profits when the underlying infringement is for supplying components of a patented invention in or from the United...
Federal Circuit Decides that State Law is Preempted by Biosimilar Act in Amgen v. Sandoz
December 19, 2017
The Federal Circuit held that the Biologics Price Competition and Invention Act of 2009 (BPCIA) provides the exclusive remedy for failure to comply with its disclosure requirements...
Online Re-registration of DMCA Agents Required by the United States Copyright Office by December 31, 2017.
December 8, 2017
By: Susan G. L. Glovsky and Samuel J. Sussman
A new registration requirement places companies at risk of copyright suits over material hosted on their websites. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) "safe...