Now nearly a year on from its 2023 Notice of Inquiry, the U.S. Copyright Office has now released Part 1 of its findings and recommendations on the legal and policy issues at the juncture between artificial intelligence (AI)...more
8/5/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Communications Act of 1934 ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Office ,
Deep Fake ,
Fraud ,
FTC Act ,
Information Reports ,
Lanham Act ,
Notice of Inquiry ,
Proposed Legislation ,
The Copyright Act
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently published its annual Madrid Yearly Review, offering a comprehensive overview of the facts, figures, and analyses of the international registration of marks....more
On Thursday, May 9, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that plaintiffs in copyright litigation no longer are bound by a three-year statute of limitations for bringing a claim to recover damages....more
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recently held that window shade systems designed for hiding wires in a power shade system and described as “clean” and “seamless” were not entitled to trade dress...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office recently published the results of their co-study (on the interplay between non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and intellectual property. ...more
3/15/2024
/ Blockchain ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Office ,
Cryptoassets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Information Reports ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Patents ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Wayfarers Chapel, a Rancho Palos Verdes church, sued Malibu wedding chapel Calamigos Ranch on trademark and trade dress infringement grounds, as well as unfair competition. Interestingly, Wayfarers Chapel alleged in their...more
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina rejected several claims brought by Design Gaps, Inc. a Charlotte custom cabinetry company against a former employee and a competitor. Design Gaps, Inc. v....more
The USPTO has finalized plans to create a design patent practitioner bar, which will expand who is allowed to practice before the USPTO. The agency published a final rule in the Nov. 16 Federal Register making the change...more
Furniture manufacturer admits intentionally copying designs, asks Supreme Court, What does copying really say about trademark status of design?
While offering a new design for sale without obtaining a patent often means...more
We have discussed New York-based lighting and furniture designer and manufacturer Hudson Furniture, Inc. in a previous post. While that case has since been terminated, Hudson recently won summary judgment—a finding that...more
A New York-based design studio has filed a Federal lawsuit asserting infringement of one of its “most prominent and coveted products”; namely, a frosted glass orb chandelier. According to the complaint filed August 8, 2023,...more
Charity seeking to register product designs as trademark icon not met the “very high burden” for showing acquired distinctiveness -
On September 1, 2023 the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) issued a nonprecedential...more
Kohler Co. v. Sweethome d/b/a Sweethome247.com, Case No. 2:23-cv-06889 (C.D. California, Aug. 22, 2023) -
The Kohler Co. is pursuing design patent infringement claims for one of its many fixtures. The Wisconsin-based...more
Plaintiff alleges infringing sales also breached exclusive manufacturing agreement -
New York corporation Hudson Furniture, Inc. claims a former manufacturer violated Federal and state law by selling and offering for sale...more
Lurline Bay LLC v. Harbor Classic LLC, Case No. 23-cv-05652 (C.D. California, July 13, 2023) -
Recently, we wrote about a Chicago-area furniture retailer Darvin Furniture & Mattress suing e-commerce company Wayfair for...more
LKQ Corporation, Keystone Automotive Industries, Inc. v. GM Global Technology Operations, LLC, Case No. 21-2348 (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, June 30, 2023) -
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit...more
Darvin Furniture And Appliance Of Orland Park, Inc. V. Wayfair LLC, Case No. 1:23cv4121 (N.D. Illinois, June 27, 2023) Darvin Furniture And Appliance Of Orland Park, Inc., a Chicagoland retailer which does business as Darvin...more
AR Design Innovations LLC v. Rove Concepts Ltd., Case no. 2:23cv310 (E.D. Texas, June 26, 2023) -
Virtual and augmented reality technology increasingly is finding a place in a wide range of industries, and home...more
A June 29, 2023 Supreme Court ruling limits the reach of the Lanham Act to essentially only domestic use of a mark in commerce.
The Supreme Court’s opinion in Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic Int’l Inc. overturns a Tenth...more
7/3/2023
/ Abitron Austria GmbH v Hetronic International Inc ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Sales ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Use in Commerce
“No harm, no foul.” That was the message the U.S. Supreme Court delivered Feb. 24 in ruling that a copyright infringement verdict should not have been overturned because of inaccurate information in the copyright registration...more
Forfeiting profits is a worst-case-scenario for companies accused of trademark infringement. The possibility of turning over profits certainly is a threat that trademark defense teams want to avoid. The United States Supreme...more
On September 12, 2019, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) of a design patent infringement case using the title and claim to limit the claimed design to a...more
On Monday, March 4, 2019, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion that clarified the long-standing issue of whether a plaintiff bringing a copyright infringement action has to have an issued registration or just a...more
3/6/2019
/ Appeals ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Exhaustion ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Registration ,
Damages ,
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp v Wall-Street.com LLC ,
SCOTUS ,
Solicitor General ,
Split of Authority ,
The Copyright Act ,
Uniformity
On December 6, 2016, the United States Supreme Court threw out a $399 million damages award against Samsung for infringing three design patents, opening the door on a new era in design patent infringement damages and the...more
With their newly issued design patent in hand, Fatboy the Original B.V. and Fatboy USA have quickly acted to defend their place on the sand. ...more