EPA Provides Draft Guidance for Regulation of Gene Edited Plants

By Cassie J. Edgar

Background Although the USDA gets the most attention related to the regulation of gene edited plants, in the United States products of biotechnology are regulated by the USDA, FDA and EPA under the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology, updated most recently in 2017. Under this framework, the USDA, FDA and EPA each regulate in […]

40 Years on, Bayh-Dole is Stronger than Ever

The Bayh-Dole Act was passed in 1980 and is arguably one of the most successful pieces of bipartisan legislation ever passed. The first line of the Act says, “It is the policy and objective of the Congress to use the patent system to promote the utilization of inventions arising from federally supported research or development….” […]

Rapper Sues the Makers of Fortnite Claiming Copyright Infringement of Dance Moves

By Brandon W. Clark

Rapper 2 Milly has filed a copyright and right of publicity lawsuit against the makers of the Fortnite video game claiming that they are illegally using a dance move that he created in their wildly popular video game. The Brooklyn-based rapper, whose real name is Terrence Ferguson, alleges that Fortnite-maker Epic Games is misappropriating his dance […]

Music Modernization Act Signed Into Law

By Brandon W. Clark

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 […]

Being Old Does Not Equate to Being Less Valuable

By Blog Staff

Last Friday, a Delaware federal jury awarded IBM Corp. more than $82 million after finding Groupon Inc. infringed four e-commerce patents (5,796,967; 7,072,849; 5,961,601; and 7,631,346). These patents relate generally to online customized advertisement services and so-called single-sign-on technology. The oldest patent has a priority date of July 15, 1988 and was granted on August […]

AUTM’s Recommends Narrow Changes to NIST on the ROI Initiative

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently issued a public Request for Information for the Return on Investment (ROI) Initiative. The Association of Technology Managers (AUTM), who supports the ROI Initiative, stresses in their response that the fundamental principles of the Bayh-Dole Act be preserved. As pointed out by AUTM, Bayh-Dole has significantly […]

Copyright Office Proposes New Fee Schedule

By Brandon W. Clark

The Copyright Office recently announced a new proposed fee schedule that would increase the majority of fees associated with filings at the Copyright Office. The proposal comes after an extensive assessment performed by consultants Booz Allen Hamilton. The proposed fee increase would help the Copyright Office offset regular costs, while also providing the Copyright Office […]

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 […]

Patent Proposals in Congress

By Kirk M. Hartung

Since the creation of patent reviews at the Patent Office Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) by the America Invents Act of 2011, a very high percentage of reviewed patents have been declared invalid. Now, a bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives which could change these statistics. The bill also could revive issuance […]

Federal Judge Rules Embedded Tweet Violated Copyright

By Brandon W. Clark

In a surprising ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine B. Forrest, recently ruled that several news organizations and publishers violated a photographer’s copyright when they “embedded” a photo from Twitter on their websites without permission. Judge Forrest’s decision to grant the plaintiff’s motion for partial Summary Judgement is sure to be controversial and could prove […]