Alt Legal IP News – Issue # 155
Bri Van Til | September 10, 2019
Vroooooom
– BMW recently patented a motorcycle electric supercharger to increase the fuel efficiency of the combustion engine.
– A new patent application from Volvo seeks to move the head-up display device to the car’s roof.
– Hyundai is suing parts manufacturing company Pantius for trademark infringement and false advertising for allegedly selling parts it claims are “genuine.”
Music to My Ears
– Attorney Ron Bienstock is representing over a dozen guitar manufacturers who are challenging Gibson‘s trademarked guitar body styles. Read more here.
– Pop singer Ariana Grande is suing Forever 21 for allegedly using a lookalike when she refused to agree to endorse the company.
– A New York judge ruled that Notorious B.I.G. was well within his right to use the phrase “party and bullshit” in a song, despite the phrase’s prior existence in a spoken-word piece by The Last Poets.
IP Policy and Practice
– This week the University of Arkansas is hosting a free Patent Bootcamp for women and minorities in STEM.
– This detailed look at China’s recent IP filing practices shows the country’s steady increase in IP protections in many key areas over the past few years.
– Responding to recent backlash, the USPTO has walked back requirements that trademark examiners verify applicants’ immigration statuses. Check out the official guidelines for examiners here.
– This month the USPTO is holding hearings about proposed increases to trademark application and maintenance fees, including an increase of up to 25% for new applications.
Odds and Ends
– WeWork appears to have paid CEO Adam Neumann almost $6 million to license the word “We,” for which he has a trademark, but Neumann recently returned the money and granted the company use of the trademark.
– WTR lists this newly filed trademark application as the world’s largest. With over 10,000 items in 11 classes and a higher word count than novel Sense and Sensibility, it just may be. The application blows LoveFrom Jony’s notably large application out of the water.
– Google just applied for a patent for an AI-assisted baby monitor.
– A Delaware court found L’Oreal’s patent infringement against Olaplex willful and doubled L’Oreal’s $24.9 million penalty.
– Update: LeBron James’s trademark application for “Taco Tuesday” (mentioned in last week’s IP News) is facing opposition from an Illinois restaurant.