Dear Doc: I heard that it’s now illegal to put links to photos and videos on your webpages and in social media posts? Really? Won’t that just destroy the entire Internet? Asking for a friend. Signed,Every Internet User, Ever Dear Every: Yup. You heard right, at least as far as New York Federal District Court […]

In March 2019, we wrote with some concern, that as early as 2017 Chinese companies had filed more than 12 times the number of trademark applications with the USPTO than in previous years. At that time the director of the USPTO stated that “forecasts indicate that annual increases are expected to average 10% during the next 8 […]

What happens when Congress is unable – for almost 50 years – to figure out how to protect recorded music? Specifically, music recorded before 1972? Messy litigation involving the Turtles is what happens. First, some background. Almost 50 years ago, Congress passed the Sound Recording Amendment to the 1909 Copyright Act, which provided copyright protection […]

When most inventors think of a patent, they think of a better-mousetrap type patent, known as a utility patent.  A utility patent protects what an invention is and how it works.  U.S. Patent 269,766 for a mousetrap that plugs a mouse with  a bullet from  a  .44 is an example of a utility patent.  Our […]

Dear Doc: For years, it’s been nearly impossible to do repairs on some kinds of equipment. For instance, unless you had a handheld computer that cost over $4,000, it was impossible to diagnose and fix a GM-Saab automobile. The same is true of John Deere farm equipment. Manufacturers use copyright and trade secrecy laws to […]

The sound of popping beer cans on a hot summer day may evoke memories: quenching a thirst on a hot day, backyard barbecues, days at the beach, or sunny afternoons at the ballgame. Beer can sounds are not going away. The beer can market is going gangbusters. According to one industry source, in 2020, approximately 90.2 […]