2018 Farm Act has important IP Implications

By Heidi Sease Nebel

At long last, the 2018 Farm bill has been approved by Congress and forwarded to the President for signature. As I blogged earlier, the bill has important Intellectual Property Implications. The first is that it adds PVP protection for asexually reproduced plants. The  addition will allow asexually reproduced plants, which are now protectable under the […]

Music Modernization Act Signed Into Law

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Earlier today, the Music Modernization Act (MMA) was signed into law. The MMA is a sweeping reform to music licensing and copyright related royalty payments and marks the first significant copyright legislation passed in decades. The House unanimously approved the bill in April followed by the Senate unanimously approving the legislation in September. The MMA […]

Bills in Congress would Revoke the PTAB and Restore Patentability of Several Products

Several bills have been introduced in Congress in the last two months that would have a big impact on patent law if passed. The first, introduced at the end of June is HR6264, referred to as The Restoring American Leadership in Innovation Act. Among the provisions of this bill would be elimination of the Patent […]

Inter Partes Review Proceedings (IPRs) Do Not Violate Article III of the Constitution per U.S. Supreme Court

By Jonathan L. Kennedy

The U.S. Supreme held in a 7-2 decision (Justice Gorsuch and Chief Justice Roberts dissenting), Oil States Energy Servs. V. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, that the Inter Partes Review proceedings, commonly referred to as IPRs, do not violate Article III or the Seventh Amendment. The Court was deciding two primary constitutional challenges: (1) whether IPRs violate […]

Copyright Small Claims Bill Introduced

Copyright owners are one step closer to being able to pursue copyright infringement actions through a copyright small claims system. A new bipartisan House bill has introduced the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2017 (“CASE Act”). The CASE Act, H.R. 3945, was recently introduced by Congressional representatives to create a small claims court […]

STRONGER PATENTS ACT

On June 21, 2017, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) introduced the STRONGER Patents Act of 2017 with the goal of strengthening the U.S. patent system by making it easier and cheaper for patent holders to enforce their patents. STRONGER (Support Technology and Research for Our […]

Software patents in the Federal Circuit‚¬¦ One step forward, two steps back.

Following the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in the Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l, (S. Ct. 2014) case (which held that abstract ideas are not patentable), the software and computer industry has been fighting and clawing to peel back the layers of the decision in hopes of finding some clarity as to what is […]

Supreme Court Revisits Standard for Awarding Attorneys’ Fees in Copyright Cases

Earlier this week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments addressing the relevant standard for awarding attorneys’ fees in cases involving copyright law. The Court’s ruling, expected later this spring, will likely have a significant impact on copyright litigation cases. Section 505 of the Copyright Act provides that a district court “may”award a reasonable attorney’s fee […]

Will the U.S. Enact a Federal Trade Secret Law? (Part 4 of Trade Secret Series)

In this Filewrapper® series relating to all things trade secrets, we have previously posted on the role and value of trade secrets (available here), described how the value of trade secrets are commonly assessed (available here), and provided an overview on the current protection schemes available for trade secrets in the U.S. (available here). In […]

Innovation Promotion Act Could Mean Income Deductions for Patents and Other Intellectual Property

  Current tax laws do not permit deductions or other preferential tax treatment for income derived from intellectual property. This may change based on proposed tax reforms. On July 29th the House Ways and Means Committee members Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Richard Neal (D-MA) released a legislative proposal for public comment outlining the Innovation Promotion Act. […]