Whether an invention is abstract or new. They are different issues.
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) is not a Federal court – in many ways, it’s better than a Federal court where U.S. patents are concerned. The USITC is a U.S. administrative agency charged with, among other things, handling claims by a U.S. patent owner that imported products infringe a U.S. patent. To trigger USITC […]
About a decade ago, there was a huge uproar over ‘patent trolls,’ also known as ‘non-practicing entities’ – companies that did not make products but that owned patents. The business model of the patent troll was to sue or threaten infringers and to collect patent infringement damages. The coordinated attack on the U.S. patent system […]
Dear Doc: Last month, you promised to follow up with some of the rules under which the new Copyright Claims Board (CCB) plans to hear “small claims” copyright cases. So? Signed,Still Sick of Being Ripped Off Dear SSoBRO: As the Doc said last month, the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) will be a three-judge panel within […]
When is a chair just a chair (and not a trademark)? The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board” or “TTAB”) recently considered this question in an opinion on whether Herman Miller, Inc. (“Herman Miller”) could claim trademark rights in a famous chair design dating back from the 1940s when Charles and Ray Eames developed a technique for molding […]
Should the Covid vaccines be set free in the world, so that everyone can gain immunity? Few would argue that’s a bad idea, since more variants may arise in under-vaccinated populations, those variants will undoubtedly spread to us, and those variants may be resistant to our vaccines. But what about the rights of the creative […]
Dear Doc: I’ve heard that copyright cases are going to be tried in the Copyright Office, and not in federal district courts. What gives? Is this good for authors, songwriters, artists and other creative folks? Signed,Sick of Being Ripped Off Dear Victim: What you have heard is partially correct. Big changes are on the way […]
First your headlamp failed and then your backup light and then the light on your phone. It’s pitch black. Not just shadowy black, but absolutely, completely black – so black that the fish have no eyes. You’re in a limestone cave, deep underground. You’ve been utterly lost for hours. There are no paths, only the […]
The WIPO website devotes a whole page to the “benefits of the Madrid System”. From it, you can glean four principal advantages: (1) it is equitable, that is, it is available to “small startups” or “large multinational” organizations alike; (2) it is convenient; (3) it is global in reach; and (4) it is cost effective. Let’s examine each […]
Dear Doc: What’s the difference between an “Intellectual Property Attorney” and a “Patent Attorney”?Signed,Thinking of Applying Dear Thinker: You may not know it, but the Doc is BOTH! Under the Patent Law (37 U.S.C. §11.5), a person who wishes to represent others before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in patent matters (a […]
