The US Copyright Office on May 21, 2020, announced that it completed its public study to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the safe harbor provisions contained in section 512 of title 17, United States Code.

The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on May 18, 2020, held that computer programmer Peter Brownstein does not own a copyright stake in an updated ethnicity prediction program because he had relinquished his rights to the program.

On May 8, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, permitting COVID-19-related applications filed by small and micro entities to be put on a fast track for patent examination.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on May 14, 2020, reversed and remanded a lower court decision to invalidate Engineered Tax Services Inc.’s (ETS) trademark covering its name, finding that the phrase “Engineered Tax Services” may be distinctive enough to function as a valid trademark.

The Federal Circuit on May 14, 2020, affirmed a lower court win for Toys “R” Us Inc. and Dollar General Corp. in a design patent, copyright, and trade dress infringement suit over a toy chalk holder designed to look like a pencil.