For the first time in over 100 years, on June 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case, Georgia v. Public Resource Org Inc., to decide “whether the government edicts doctrine extends to works that lack the force of law, such as annotations in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated [OCGA].” What is the “government edicts” […]
Here’s a challenge for these modern times: How do observant Jews follow the Biblical commandment to observe the Sabbath? Rabbis generally agree that driving is prohibited, and that using electricity is not prohibited – but using switches to manually turn the flow of electricity on or off is prohibited. This is why you may have […]
Mechanical inventions have been free of the uncertainty and chaos created by the Supreme Court in results-driven decisions surrounding the patentability of business methods, medical diagnoses and discoveries, and computer software. That is, until now. The recent American Axle v Neapco decision of a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit Court addressed a patent to a method for tuning a drive shaft to […]
Dear Doc: I have a question about reversionary rights in works made for hire under US copyright law. Blah, blah, blah, blah… Signed,Copyright Law Geek Dear CLG: Perhaps a recent announcement will clarify your understanding of this complicated and arcane area of the law… According to recent press reports, Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean […]
Some patents are valuable and some are not. The claims of a patent determine whether the patent is valuable or not valuable. If the claims are too ‘narrow;’ that is, if the claims protect too little, then the patent is not very valuable and your competitor can make minor changes to a copy of your product […]
It’s not uncommon for our office to receive calls from restaurant owners, complaining that another restaurant in town is infringing its trademark. Frankly, pizza and cheesesteak establishments are just not that creative when it comes to choosing distinctive names. One well-known dispute you may know about involved the Olivieri family members who sued each […]