Alt Legal IP News – Issue #19
Hannah Samendinger | January 03, 2017
You can now subscribe to our podcast, Alt Trademarks, on iTunes and Google Play. Our latest episode features Radiance Harris of Radiance IP Law in Washington DC. We discuss hashtag trademarks and tips for introverted attorneys.
The Big Bucks
– Pharmaceutical company Merck won $2.54 billion in royalties in a patent infringement suit over a Hep C drug.
– Run DMC is taking on Amazon and Walmart in a TM infringement suit for $50 million.
– A very valuable patent is set to expire in 2017.
The Stakes are High
– In a blow to patent trolls, a court held that attorneys who instigated frivolous litigation are personally responsible for paying the awarded attorney’s fees.
– A family is suing Apple for not implementing a technology the company patented that the family believes could have saved their daughter’s life.
– A California man has plead guilty to a trademark scam in which he defrauded 4,446 people out of $1.66 million.
Say Your Goodbyes
– Goodbye 2016, hello 2017. Check out this review of trademarks in 2016 and some thoughts on what lies ahead.
– Apple is wasting no time in the new year, kicking it off with 49 newly published patents.
– The death of Carrie Fisher is the latest celebrity death to raise questions about posthumous protection of a celebrity’s image and their characters.
Odds and Ends
– “You snooze you lose, you know?” A North Dakota bar owner used trademark law to his advantage, making a move for the title of the geographic center of North America.
– The FDA has given Del Monte the okay to sell genetically engineered pink pineapples, which they patented over a year ago.
– One clothing company owns more patents than Lockheed Martin, Pfizer, and Ford. But why?
– Reddit hoped to trademark the term “AMA” (Ask Me Anything), which is a popular interview format on their site. The USPTO responded with many reasons (and 46 attachments) why they wouldn’t allow the phrase to be trademarked.