Outside an infringement claim: the use of sovereign immunity and an attempt to limit its’ use The sovereign – that is the government or government owned entities – are immune from lawsuit by the Eleventh Amendment. Thus, the United States government, state government, or a state-owned university are protected from legal action, including a lawsuit for patent infringement. Universities that are state owned thus can proceed with their research without concern […] Continue Reading →
Hollywood Studios Prevail Against Family-Friendly Video Streaming Site In a 3-0 ruling, a federal appeals court sided with Disney, Warner Bros., and Twentieth Century Fox by affirming an injunction that shut down movie filtering service VidAngel, Inc., saying that a ruling to the contrary would “create a giant loophole in copyright law”. VidAngel is a video filtering service that lets users stream films […] Continue Reading →
Surge in Patent Applications Related to 3D Printing: Is Yours One of Them? The USPTO recently released statistics that over 8,000 patent applications were filed in 2016 related to 3D printing (additive manufacturing). Some of the interesting 3D printing inventions that have been subject to publicity include,prosthetic hands and fingers for children without fingers, three-dimensional bioprinting of human-compatible vascularized tissue developed by graduate students at Harvard, and a […] Continue Reading →
Spotify Settles Class Action Lawsuit for $43.4 Million In February of last year, I wrote a blog discussing the filing of a class action lawsuit against Spotify seeking $150 million in unpaid mechanical royalties (Read the previous post here). In a settlement announced on Friday, Spotify has agreed to set up a fund worth $43.4 million to compensate songwriters and publishers whose compositions […] Continue Reading →
USPTO Heightens Post-Registration Requirements for Trademarks The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently made changes to the post-registration requirements for U.S. trademark registrations. Effective March 21, 2017, the USPTO will implement a post-registration audit program intended to obtain additional evidence and ensure accuracy of claims that a trademark is in use in commerce in connection with the goods/services listed […] Continue Reading →
Does Spotify Owe You Money? Streaming Service Sued for $150 Million in Unpaid Royalties David Lowery, the frontman of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, has recently filed a class action lawsuit seeking at least $150 million dollars in damages against Spotify. Lowry alleges Spotify knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully reproduces and distributes copyrighted compositions without obtaining mechanical licenses. According to the complaint, which was filed December 28th in the Central […] Continue Reading →
Streamlined, Expedited Patent Appeal Program for Small Entities Announced by USPTO As of September 18, 2015, small or micro entities with only a single ex parte appeal pending before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) will be able to expedite review of their appeal in exchange for streamlining the process. According to the information provided on the USPTO website, the criteria for qualification for this […] Continue Reading →
Patent Office Extends After Final Consideration Pilot Program The After Final Consideration Pilot (AFCP 2.0) program provides patent applicants at the USPTO with the opportunity to address issues that may remain in an application after a final rejection has issued. The AFCP 2.0 program is something of an exception to typical procedure, wherein a patent examiner has considerable discretion as to whether to […] Continue Reading →
MVS Biotech and Chemical Group Renews Membership in Iowa Biotech Association The Iowa Biotechnology Association–the state affiliate organization of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)–was founded in 1994 to unify Iowa’s bioscience industry, academic research institutions and economic development organizations. BIO is a national organization representing more than 1,000 biotech companies, academic institutions, state biotech centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other […] Continue Reading →
Innovation Promotion Act Would Mean Income Deductions for Patents Currently tax law does not permit deductions or other preferential tax rules for income derived from intellectual property. Proposed tax reforms consider changing this. 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 that would, in […] Continue Reading →