Alt Legal IP News – Issue #40
Hannah Samendinger | May 30, 2017
Will You Change the Rules?
– The European Union is proposing some changes to their copyright rules. The EFF is not thrilled, and a group of 80 filmmakers has come together to call for a unified vision for EU copyrights.
– Here is a wonderful review of the split between the registration and application approaches in the United States.
– Wikipedia is pushing for Australia to introduce a “fair use” provision to their copyright laws.
– A French court found Jeff Koons appropriated a copyrighted work, but did they have jurisdiction?
The Head Honchos
– Are patent plaintiffs already eyeing a way around the Supreme Court’s TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods ruling?
– The Supreme Court also just issued a decision in the Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc. case. Here’s a copy of the opinion.
– Marvel filed a trademark application for Hail Hydra shortly after someone discovered that hail-hydra.com redirected to the White House website.
– The USPTO is proposing a faster and cheaper cancellation option to shed some dead weight.
– There is no decision on Lee v. Tam yet, but while you wait, this is a great podcast episodeon the topic to check out.
– Trump is still being granted Chinese trademark registrations.
Outside the U.S.
– Following a trademark application filing spree, business owners are not happy with the UKIPO.
– When should people start learning about intellectual property protections? If you’re in Dubai, you might start as young as 13 years old.
– The EUIPO created a report documenting the impact of intellectual property-intensive industries in the European Union. Almost 38% of all employment in the EU can be attributed (directly or indirectly) to those industries.
– Brazil has implemented several changes to their intellectual property regime since 2016. One of those changes is giving priority to green technology.
– To succeed, you must fail. Sweden is highlighting some of the world’s worst innovations in their Museum of Failure.
Odds and Ends
– For anyone who attended INTA, INTA is investigating the complaints surrounding the grand finale.
– Cartier creates an iconic bracelet. What are the legal protections behind such a simple but classic piece of jewelry?
– PayPal is suing Pandora over their new logo. Twitters users have been complaining about the similarity since Pandora’s rebranding.
– Jefferson Starship’s guitarist is claiming that the right to perform using that name died with a fellow bandmate.
– Uber’s troubles are not getting any better. A judge has ordered a due diligence report to assist in the investigation of theft of trade secrets in Uber’s case against Waymo. Uber will also be walking away from their Otto trademark dispute. And lastly, Uber is hiring a General Counsel.