In a rare Federal Circuit decision under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), 18 U.S.C. § 1836 et seq., the court reversed the grant of a preliminary injunction by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. ...more
On May 21, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, sitting en banc, overruled its longstanding test used to assess the obviousness of design patents....more
On May 9, 2024, the United States Supreme Court clarified that the “Copyright Act entitles a copyright owner to recover damages for any timely claim.” This seemingly simple rule of law, however, rested on shaky ground as soon...more
On May 18, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its first decision this century on copyright fair use in the artistic context. Andy Warhol Found. for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, 143 S. Ct. 1258 (2023). The 7-2...more
6/13/2023
/ Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc v Goldsmith ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Artists ,
Commercial Use ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Derivative Works ,
Fair Use ,
Fine Art ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Photographs ,
Prince ,
SCOTUS ,
The Copyright Act ,
Transformative Use
A great deal of news and public discussion has been fixated on the increasing popularity of generative AI — a category of artificial intelligence algorithms that can generate content (textual, visual, or audio) by “training”...more
In a decision that is likely to trigger a rush to register trademarks that may be seen as obscene, vulgar, or profane, the U.S. Supreme Court recently determined, in a 6-3 opinion authored by Justice Elena Kagan, that a...more
7/3/2019
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Viewpoint Discrimination ,
Vulgar or Offensive Marks
On Jan. 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether the 113-year-old ban on registration of “immoral” or “scandalous” trademarks violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.
The case involves Erik...more
1/15/2019
/ Appeals ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Vulgar or Offensive Marks
On March 21, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a highly anticipated 7-1 decision, held that laches cannot be invoked as a defense against damages for patent infringement occurring within the six-year damages limitation period...more