U.S. Design Patent 1,000,000 By Kirk M. Hartung On September 26, 2023, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted the 1 millionth design patent to Agustina Huckaby from Fort Worth Texas. The title of this invention is Dispensing Comb, and it looks like this: Design patents protect the ornamental appearance of an object, apart from its functionality. The term for a design […] Continue Reading →
Important to keep claim construction in mind when drafting a patent application By Joseph M. Hallman Claim construction, or how claim terms of a patent are understood, interpreted, and construed, is often a major factor in the outcome of a patent infringement lawsuit. Claim construction also can often be a highly contentious point of disagreement amongst parties in an infringement suit. The meaning of claim terms can often dictate the scope […] Continue Reading →
Debut of New Patent Petitions Webpage By Gregory Lars Gunnerson A petition is a request for the USPTO to take certain action in your patent or patent application. They are aimed to allow the Applicant a mechanism to request third party review of almost all procedural matters before the USPTO that are not the subject of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The Office of Petitions (OPET) […] Continue Reading →
Integrated Circuit Layout Design Protection Series: Part 3 By Gregory Lars Gunnerson Title 17 of the U.S. Code concerns copyright laws. Chapter 9 of Title 17 is entirely dedicated to the protection of Mask Works. 17 U.S.C. § 901 defines a mask work as “a series of related images, however fixed or encoded, having or representing the predetermined, three-dimensional pattern of metallic, insulating, or semiconductor material present […] Continue Reading →
Integrated Circuit Layout Design Protection Series: Part 2 By Gregory Lars Gunnerson A diplomatic conference was held in 1989 in Washington, D.C. The diplomats in attendance were representatives of member states of the United Nations (UN) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or representatives of intergovernmental organizations meeting certain criteria. The diplomats were there to consider whether their Member nations were interested in offering additional protections for integrated […] Continue Reading →
Integrated Circuit Layout Design Protection Series: Part 1 By Gregory Lars Gunnerson Did you know that layout designs (topographies) of integrated circuits are a separate field in the protection of Intellectual Property (“IP”)? Most Americans understand IP to be classified within one of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, yet this is not always how all countries choose to classify all IP rights. Another form of protection […] Continue Reading →
Atari’s Trademark Troubles with Redbubble By Ashley E. Holland It seems to get more difficult for companies with well-known trademarks to go after online marketplaces like Redbubble for trademark infringement. Atari, the well-known video game maker and one of their products Pong, asked the Ninth Circuit to review a district court decision in their case against Redbubble. Atari, and other companies such as the […] Continue Reading →
Apple’s Major Products Do Not Infringe Patents By Joseph M. Hallman On August 14, 2023, in One-E-Way, Inc. v. Apple Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”), in a nonprecedential opinion, affirmed a decision by the Central District of California holding that several popular products sold by tech giant Apple do not infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 10,129,627 (“the ‘627 patent”) or 10,468,047 […] Continue Reading →
Recent Surge in Chinese “Non-Use” Cancellation Proceedings By Christine Lebron-Dykeman In the past several years the total number of new trademark filings in China has exploded—with about nine million filings now made per year. An unfortunate consequence of this upsurge in filings is that non-use cancellation actions have become a normal strategy for trademark applicants who have received provisional refusals based on earlier registered marks. […] Continue Reading →
Most People Are DJs: When Being an Attorney Feels Like a Curse By Nicholas J. Krob As I was getting a haircut last week, I had a revelation: being an intellectual property attorney can be annoying. Most people can enter an establishment and go about their business while enjoying the background music inevitably being played. Me? Not so much. As my barber and I discussed one of our favorite bands (the […] Continue Reading →