Alt Legal IP News – Issue #26
Hannah Samendinger | February 21, 2017
Trademarks at the Top
– Another day, another unprecedented presidential move- Trump has been awarded a Chinese trademark. Is that a violation of the Emoluments Clause?
– China also has a first to file trademark system. It looks like this may be a problem for Ivanka.
– What will Neil Gorsuch mean for intellectual property?
Stop Taking My Picture
– Refinery29 is being skewered (sorry) for reprinting a story on chicken cutlets.
– Zillow, the popular real estate website, was ordered to pay $8 million for infringing real estate photo copyrights.
– A photojournalist is suing Tiffany and Co. for reproducing one of his photographs on their website without his permission.
The Cutting Edge
– Did these 3 patent cases bring software patents back to life?
– The Broad Institute, affiliated with MIT and Harvard, was permitted to keep valuable gene editing patents, despite objections from a rival academic team. How much are those patent licenses worth?
– Australia is toying with the idea of tearing down barriers to oil and gas related intellectual property.
– Apple won 58 patents today.
– Oracle filed their opening brief (and 11 additional amicus briefs) in their case against Google over a software API. The brief is already creating speculation that the case will result in interesting precedent.
Odds and Ends
– The Trademark Company, run by Matthew Swyers, has been excluded from practice before the USPTO for at least 5 years.
– A clever copyright trap ended up creating an imaginary town.
– A sexual harassment parody video was found to not violate the Lanham Act, even if it was in bad taste.
– The Walmart Smiley is back after 10 years and some trademark litigation.
– There are shocking dangers of purchasing counterfeit goods.