Oh Na Na What’s My Name?: Rihanna Sues Father for Trademark Misuse of “Fenty” Surname

By Sarah M.D. Luth

Robyn Rihanna Fenty (“Rihanna”) has filed a lawsuit against her father, Ronald Fenty, over the use of the name “Fenty.” Ronald Fenty uses the family surname in his company Fenty Entertainment, a company which recruits artistic talent and also develops television programs, motion pictures, and record producing. Over the last several years Rihanna has developed […]

Questions Remain for Venue Considerations Post TC Heartland

By Luke T. Mohrhauser

A recent decision in a patent infringement case involving John Deere suing both AGCO Corporation and its subsidiary, Precision Planting LLC, in the District of Delaware illustrates that not all answers from the Supreme Court’s 2017 decision of TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Grp. Brands LLC are clear. The TC Heartland decision included, in […]

Update on the Government Shutdown

By Gregory Lars Gunnerson

In December 2018, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) reported it would stay open at least for a temporary time in the event of a government shutdown. Thus far, the USPTO closed only on December 24, 2018 (Christmas Eve), as a result of an executive order issued by President Trump. Christmas Eve fell […]

USPTO Updates 112 Guidance: Presumption Shift of Functional Limitations

Recently, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced plans to update their guidance on functional claim language under 112 and will after a period of public input. This update will likely require a more detailed specification for functional claims or result in narrower claims. Under the proposed 112 guidelines, which are aimed […]

USPTO Updates 101 Guidance: Making Abstract More Concrete

Recently the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced plans to update their guidance on 101 issues and will do so after a period of public input in order to increase clarity during prosecution. This update will replace, not just update, several sections of MPEP 2106. The update will also provide practitioners a […]

Has Alice Killed all the Fun?

Games, both the physical board and the methods of playing them, have had a long history of patent eligibility. For example, in 1904 Elizabeth Phillips patented the game board for Landlord’s Game, which was then later controversially patented by Charles Darrow in 1934 as Monopoly. While both of these patents were to the physical boards […]

“Hottest Fashion Brand in the World” Sues Children’s Clothing Company for Trademark Infringement

By Nicholas J. Krob

In December 2018, high-end streetwear fashion label Off-White filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against children’s clothing company Brooklyn Lighthouse, claiming the Brooklyn company infringed upon Off-White’s trademarks and trade dress. Off-White’s products typically retail between $150 and $2,500 and feature “distinctive graphic and logo-heavy apparel designs.”  Such graphics include the […]

Protecting Your Nanotechnology Inventions – Part 4: Don’t Forget About Trade Secret Protection

By Jonathan L. Kennedy

When you have a new invention, the right question to ask at the outset is whether you want to consider patenting it. This is important because many common activities in research and commercialization can create a bar to patent protection or at least start a one-year clock by which a patent must be filed. Some […]

Can Competitors Use Your Trademarks in their Webpages or as AdWords to Drive Business to their Webpages?

By Mark D. Hansing

The article below discusses state of the law regarding competitors using your trademarks in their advertising or web pages, or competitors purchasing your trademarks as what are called “AdWords” or “keywords” so that your competitor’s website comes up higher in a search engine search when people use your trademarks as search terms. The Problem Many […]

Light at the End of the Tunnel? Expanding Concepts of What is Patentable Subject Matter

Justice Warren Burger in the seminal case of Diamond v. Chakrabarty found that Congress had intended patentable subject matter to “include anything under the sun that is made by man,” holding that an engineered bacterium used in treating oil spills was patentable. Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 US 303 (1980). Yet interpretation of subsequent decisions on […]