Intellectual Property Law

US creates new office to harmonize the global patent system

In a global economy, patents are a problem. So far, no good system exists to harmonize the patchwork of international laws and regulations for patent protection worldwide. While businesses and governments around the world have responded by working on international patent harmonization and expediting claims, there is still work to…

Oct 1, 2014 4:30 AM CDT

Satellite radio services dealt a blow when judge rules for Turtles members in copyright dispute

A federal judge in California has ruled for two founding members of the Turtles music group in a copyright battle with the satellite radio service Sirius XM Radio. U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez of Los Angeles has ruled that Sirius infringed the band members’ copyrights under California law when it…

Sep 24, 2014 10:10 AM CDT

Judge cuts millions from Apple’s cost request, including $1.5M for copies, in Samsung patent case

A federal judge in California has taken a bite out of Apple’s request for $5.8 million in costs in its successful patent case against Samsung. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh of San Francisco allowed only $1.8 million in costs after a partial damages retrial that gave Apple a total award…

Sep 24, 2014 6:15 AM CDT

Activists sue over ownership of Twitter account used in Occupy Wall Street protests

A group of activists who spearheaded the Occupy Wall Street movement has sued one of its own members, contending that he has wrongfully locked them out of a jointly operated Twitter account with 177,000 followers. Filed Wednesday by OWS Media Group in Manhattan Supreme Court, the suit seeks a court…

Sep 17, 2014 4:05 PM CDT

How Patrice Perkins creatively serves her creative clients

Photo of Patrice Perkins by Wayne Slezak. Some lawyers might shy away from associating themselves with the word hustle. Patrice Perkins is not one of them. Her Chicago solo practice focuses on contracts and intellectual property work for creative entrepreneurs. With a firm called Creative Genius Law and a clientele…

Sep 4, 2014 8:30 AM CDT

Perkins Coie lawyer who fought ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ dies in bike accident

A Perkins Coie associate who helped challenge the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy has died in a bicycle accident. Sher Kung, 31, died Friday morning when a truck making a left turn struck her as she was riding her bike to work in downtown Seattle, report the Seattle Times,…

Sep 2, 2014 10:55 AM CDT

ALS Association seeks trademark for ‘ice bucket challenge’

On the heels of a fundraising success, the ALS Association is seeking to trademark the phrases “ice bucket challenge” and “ALS ice bucket challenge.” The popularity of the ice bucket challenge helped the group raise more than $94 million in less than a month, the Washington Post and Ars Technica…

Sep 2, 2014 6:00 AM CDT

Monkey selfies do not qualify for copyright protection, US regulators say

Ape rights will have to wait until the day they take over the Earth, like in Planet of the Apes. The Telegraph reported Thursday that the U.S. Copyright Office announced that it will not issue copyrights to any picture taken by a nonhuman. The Copyright Office issued updated rules and…

Aug 22, 2014 8:12 PM CDT

Patent lawyer faces $5.9M malpractice suit over wrong bra-insert dimensions

A BigLaw attorney got the drawings right in a patent application for silicone bra inserts intended to enhance the purchaser’s cleavage. But Bernard Codd of McDermott Will & Emery didn’t accurately describe the inserts in the written portion of a 2009 patent application, leaving now-former client Debra MacKinnon without enforceable…

Aug 19, 2014 5:40 PM CDT

Hacking software in Batman movie doesn’t infringe on real-life product, says 7th Circuit

Corrected: Saying that moviegoers aren’t likely to confuse fictional hacking software coveted by Catwoman in a recent Batman movie with a similar-sounding real-life product that has a legitimate purpose, a federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a trademark infringement suit. Although Fortres Grand Corp. argued that…

Aug 18, 2014 10:45 PM CDT

Gadfly buys website in DA’s name after he lets registration expire

A Louisiana district attorney set up a website in his name when he was campaigning for election, then let the registration expire after he won a second term in office. Now an unidentified gadfly has purchased the domain name formerly used by District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla and is using it…

Aug 12, 2014 4:55 PM CDT

Judge Judy settles suit over ads with her likeness

Judge Judy has settled her suit that contended a Connecticut personal injury lawyer used her image without her authorization. Judy Sheindlin said in a statement that she and Hartford lawyer John Haymond “reached an amicable resolution of their claims against each other,” according to the Connecticut Law Tribune and TMZ.…

Aug 12, 2014 3:12 PM CDT

Who owns the copyright to monkey’s selfie? Wikimedia denies photographer’s takedown request

A photographer does not own the copyright to selfies taken by a macaque monkey that picked up the photographer’s unattended camera and began snapping pictures, Wikimedia asserts in its first ever transparency report. British nature photographer David Slater contends he owns the copyright to the photos taken during his three-day…

Aug 7, 2014 2:22 PM CDT

Government paralegals making up to $80K had little work to do, report says

Dozens of paralegals hired in 2009 to combat a growing backlog of patent appeals were often idle because a hiring freeze halted hiring of judges to hear the cases, according to a new report. The work-at-home paralegals filled their time surfing the Internet, doing household tasks, watching TV and exercising,…

Aug 1, 2014 12:53 PM CDT

Growing Texas-based IP ‘super-boutique’ plants flag in Philly, plans more East Coast expansion

A growing Texas-based intellectual property “super-boutique” has planted its flag in Philadelphia, opening a new office there with former Blank Rome partner Alfred Zaher and another lawyer who had formerly worked at Blank Rome. Novak Druce Connolly Bove + Quigg also plans further expansion on the East Coast, following a…

Jul 31, 2014 7:40 PM CDT