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INNOVATE Magazine

INNOVATE is the online magazine by and for AIPLA members from IP law students all the way through retired practitioners. Designed as an online publication, INNOVATE features magazine-like articles on a wide variety of topics in IP law.

The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of AIPLA.

Articles

In This Section

  • Payne headshot square Taking On Amazon: Unauthorized Dealers of "Genuine" Products

    Written by Robert W. Payne on July 22, 2019

    The online retail marketplace bedevils major brand owners. It provides a vast, new market channel; it destroys brand owners’ exclusive channels. Amazon.com is not only a major force in the former but also the prime mover in the second. Take, for example, Versace’s “Bright Crystal” eau d’toilette. As shown in the accompanying pictures, multiple sellers are linked to the product page on Amazon, offering the same, new product, often at reduced prices which may compromise Versace’s authorized dealer network’s profitability and stability.
  • Burgy_Murphy_Irving AIA Supplemental Examination Nuts & Bolts: Get it in your toolbox and don’t leave home without it!

    Written by Adriana L. Burgy; Amanda K. Murphy, Ph.D.; Sneha Nyshadham, Stacy Lewis, Edited by Thomas L. Irving on July 22, 2019

    Effective September 16, 2012, the America Invents Act allows a patent owner to request Supplemental Examination of a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). Supplemental Examination (“SE”) gives patent owners a proactive tool to have the USPTO consider, reconsider, or correct information that the patent owner believes is relevant to the patent. 35 U.S.C. § 257(a). Such information may include issues raised in inequitable conduct or unclean hands challenges against the patent during litigation.
  • Peter Gordon square small Controlling Costs of a Patent Portfolio: The Little Things Do Matter

    Written by Peter Gordon on July 22, 2019

    In this article we will discuss the importance of managing patent-related costs and will provide recommendations on how to improve cost efficiency and provide some tips for "clean" cost management.
  • Damian Hunt square From Black & White to Technicolor to RGB/CMYK: Should the USPTO Implement RGB/CMYK Color Codes in the USPTO Application Process?

    Written by Damian B. Hunt on July 22, 2019

    Any intellectual property attorney that deals with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will tell you that while they have modernized in many ways, they are partially operating out of the 1950’s. Employee’s aren’t going around in leather jackets and drinking phosphates but turn a corner and you will see a “black and white” world.
  • Slobodan Petošević and Olga Kudoyar PCT National Phase Steps in the Russian-Speaking Region

    Written by Slobodan Petošević and Olga Kudoyar on July 22, 2019

    Most companies with an international patent portfolio have to consider protecting their patents in the so-called “Russian-speaking” region, namely in Russia, Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries, these markets being of interest for nearly all businesses which operate globally. However, it is not rare for foreign applicants to be unfamiliar with basic prosecution steps in this region, due to a language barrier, a lack of clear information readily available online, or their local counsel’s incomplete advice. This is why we will try to elucidate a few general prosecution do’s and don’ts before the Ukrainian and Russian PTOs and before the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO), as it provides an alternative way to obtain patent protection in Russia and in other post-Soviet countries, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
  • Heather Bowen Licensing Intellectual Property 101: What Every Entrepreneur and Business Owner Should Know

    Written by Heather Bowen on July 22, 2019

    Licensing intellectual property increases a company’s ability to grow its business, launch new products and services, and expand into a wider range of geographic markets. Companies are willing to pay substantial sums of money to use another company’s intellectual property in their own products and services. Licensing can therefore serve as an additional source of revenue for many companies.
  • Jessica Patterson USPTO’s Work Sharing Efforts: Increasing Certainty of IP Rights While Reducing Stakeholder Costs

    Written by Jessica Patterson on March 5, 2019

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) established the Office of International Patent Cooperation (OIPC) in 2014 to support and improve the international patent system. The office leads efforts to assist U.S. inventors and businesses in protecting their patent rights worldwide and supports the global innovation community.
  • Hill & Pate Avoiding Confusion of Phosita

    Written by Gordon K. Hill and A. John (Jack) Pate on March 5, 2019

    A major confusion persists in applying patent law, exhibited by judges, attorneys, and scholars alike. This confusion is based on the conflation of a totally hypothetical, legal construct with an actual human being.
  • Matthew Moldovanyi So, When Can I Start Selling My Idea?

    Written by Matthew Moldovanyi on March 5, 2019

    Did the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) change when a sale becomes a sale? Prior to the AIA, under U.S. patent law a person was entitled to obtain a patent unless the invention was “on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of the application for patent in the United States.”
  • Francesca Rodriguez Spinelli CHILE: Bill seeks to intervene in the commercialization of pharmaceuticals drugs.

    Written by Francesca Rodriguez Spinelli on March 5, 2019

    The Chilean Congress is currently discussing the so-called Bill “Drugs II” (2015), which seeks to amend the Health Code (1967) and update the regulations concerning bioequivalence, while preventing the vertical integration between pharmacies and pharmaceutical laboratories.
  • Gladys Mirandah The Patent Landscape for Autonomous Vehicles in Singapore

    Written by Gladys Mirandah on March 5, 2019

    Self-driving or Autonomous Vehicles (“AV”) are set to be a reality, and no longer the stuff of science fiction. In Singapore, pilot trials are ongoing at the one-north district, a business park located in Queenstown, an area recognized for innovation, with the likes of Exploit Technologies (the commercialization arm of the government body Agency for Science, Technology and Research) and NUS Enterprise based there.
  • Osipov_photo square Pharmaceutical Patents In Russia

    Written by Kirill Osipov on March 5, 2019

    The imposition of sanctions by Western countries has affected Russia’s economy and compelled Russian officials to support domestic manufactures to promote their products. Nevertheless, Intellectual Property rights are respected in modern Russia, which results in an incessant search for an optimal balance of interests.
  • David Fortunato Practical Tips For Protecting Your "Secret Sauce"

    Written by David M. Fortunato on March 5, 2019

    How do you compete? Certainly, you compete by doing things better, faster and cheaper. You compete by offering goods/services that are superior to your competition. You compete through continuous improvement. Yet asking “How do you compete” begs another question – Are you using every tool, resource, etc. at your disposal to improve your competitive stance?
  • DeWitty head shot How much is that trademark worth online? A Model for Valuing a Trademark’s Ad Positional Right

    Written by Robert M. DeWitty on March 5, 2019

    Many trademark owners are not aware that their trademarks (or “marks”) possess value as keyword search terms (or “keywords”). Unawareness by trademark owners juxtaposed against high online advertising revenues, valued at over US$30 billion in 2017, means many trademarks are being undervalued in the marketplace.
  • Jim Moeller Programmatic Patent Searches Using Google’s BigQuery & Public Patent Data

    Written by James H. Moeller on March 5, 2019

    Google’s combination of its BigQuery data warehouse service along with its public patent datasets is providing a new type of patent information resource that’s better positioned for the growing trend of integrating patent information together with data science programmatic analysis for more customized solutions by data-savvy practitioners.
  • Young & Sawicki The DNA of an NDA

    Written by James L. Young & Z. Peter Sawicki on March 1, 2019

    Recently, the acronym NDA (non-disclosure agreement) has been tossed around in the news and in some highly publicized settlement agreements both political and otherwise. Such agreements to keep information secret in a business setting are common and may come in many forms.
  • Stephen Janoski Another Record Year for Seizures of Knock-Offs Entering the US, And How to Try to Stop More Knock-Offs

    Written by Stephen G. Janoski on November 16, 2018

    The economic, health and safety impact of counterfeits is a persistent global problem.
  • Nic Marais Weaponizing Follow-On Petitions to Defeat IPR Estoppel

    Written by Nicholas Marais on November 16, 2018

    Under §315(e), a petitioner is estopped from bringing a claim before the PTAB or district court that it “raised or reasonably could have raised” during a previous inter partes review. Now, under General Plastic, the PTAB may also deny a claim when the seven-factor test is met.
  • James Arnold Jr Joint Development and Background Intellectual Property

    Written by James Arnold, Jr on November 16, 2018

    As innocuous as the term “Background IP” may sound, there are potential pitfalls for the drafter of Background IP provisions in Joint Development Agreements (JDAs).
  • Evgeny Alexandrov Protection of Patents and Trademarks In the Eurasian Economic Union

    Written by Evgeny Alexandrov on November 16, 2018

    The legal environment on IP protection within the Eurasian Economic Union is quite unified and harmonized with the major International Treaties.

 

 

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Innovate Volume 19 Timeline

submit articles to innovate@aipla.org

Submission Window Open

August 1

Submission Deadline

October 31

Publication Date

December 12, 2025


 

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