Newsstand

Acting Register of Copyrights Karyn A. Temple has appointed Kevin R. Amer deputy general counsel of the United States Copyright Office, said the United States Copyright Office in a March 5, 2019 news alert.

The United States Supreme Court on March 4, 2019, issued a unanimous decision holding that winning parties in copyright cases can’t collect expert-witness fees and jury consultant costs.

The Supreme Court on March 4, 2019, ruled that a copyright holder must register their work with the US Copyright Office before suing for infringement, and “registration” within the meaning of 17 USC §411(a) occurs not when an application for registration is filed, but when the Copyright Office registers the copyright.

The American Intellectual Property Law Association filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court arguing that the Lanham Act ban against registering immoral and scandalous marks violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment because it has a viewpoint-discriminatory effect.

The US Patent and Trademark Office on February 25, 2019, issued a notice concerning a change affecting fees to Venezuela’s intellectual property office. The Venezuelan Ministry of National Commerce sent a notification to the USPTO on February 1, 2019, that patent and trademark fees should be paid in the Venezuelan cryptocurrency “PETRO.”

The US Patent and Trademark Office on February 22, 2019, issued a warning asking US attorneys to stay vigilant as many are receiving emails from people in China and perhaps elsewhere, offering to pay to use their information in trademark filings.

Join AIPLA on March 21-22, 2019, for the 2019 Trade Secret Law Summit in New York City.

Due to recent technical issues, the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s PKI authentication and migration deadlines associated with the authentication change for EFS-Web and Private PAIR are no longer applicable until further notice.

The United States Patent & Trademark Office has opened sign-ups to attend its May 7-9 Stakeholder Training on Examination Practice and Procedure (STEPP) Attorney/Agent 3-day course held at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, announced on February 13, 2019, that it reached a political agreement on a new Copyright Directive that would require online platforms to compensate publishers and creators for the content that appears on their websites.

EFS-Web and Private PAIR users will no longer be able to authenticate using PKI certificates on February 15, 2019

The United States Patent & Trademark Office on February 11, 2019, released a report on the trends and characteristics of U.S. women inventors named on US patents granted from 1976 through 2016.

The US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) on February 7, 2019 released its International IP Index, “Inspiring Tomorrow,” which assesses the intellectual property environments of 50 world economies.

President Donald J. Trump signed the documents for the US to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty on January 28, 2019.

The Federal Circuit on February 6, 2019, affirmed a district court decision against Athena Diagnostics, holding their patent covering methods for diagnosing neurological disorders invalid because it was directed to a natural law and lacked an inventive step.

President Donald J. Trump on February 5, 2019, highlighted intellectual property during the State of the Union speech to Congress.

Beginning July 1, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will accept new international applications to the IP5 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Collaboration Search and Examination Pilot (CS&E).

The United States Patent and Trademark Office correctly interpreted the Lanham Act as requiring an award of attorneys' fees, win or lose, to the Office in district court proceedings that review decisions of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held on February 4, 2019.

The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) on January 31, 2019, published its Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) for the 2018 fiscal year; the PAR serves as the USPTO’s annual report, which it publishes each year to update the public on its performance and financial health.

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on January 29, 2019, ruled that Inguran LLC’s patent infringement suit against ABS Global will need a new trial because it found that the jury’s assessments of two out of the three patent claims at issue could not be reconciled under the rules governing dependent claims and enablement.