Alt Legal IP News – Issue #52
Hannah Samendinger | August 30, 2017
Check out our most recent podcast episode! Our guest is Suzann Moskowitz of the Moskowitz Firm. We discuss the Slants case in our first NSFW episode. Check out the episode here.
In the Office
– If confirmed by the Senate, Andrei Iancu is set to be the next head of the USPTO.
– The USPTO admitted to stacking PTAB panels to achieve desired outcomes.
– General Mills was unsuccessful in their attempt to register a trademark for the yellow of the Cherrios box.
Hollywood
– Hollywood studios had a victory in the 9th Circuit over VidAngel, a content-filtering service.
– Last week, I included a story about Chateau Marmont sending a cease and desist to Cateau Marmont. The cat groomer returned a rather humorous response. Several attorneys also provided some tips for responding to these types of letters.
– Several California artists who run an e-marketplace created a fake male colleague to help them dodge sexism.
Bots
– Sure, robots may vacuum your home or fight parking tickets for you, but they can also create art. Who owns the rights to robot-created art?
– Before a robot can create art, they must learn from humans. Here’s a great read on the fair use dilemma created by machine learning.
– Another fascinating read is this Law Review article on How Copyright Law Can Fix Artificial Intelligence’s Implicit Bias Problem.
Odds and Ends
– Two YouTubers won a copyright victory in a case questioning whether using copyrighted clips constituted copyright infringement, a format that is common in reaction videos.
– China says they will crack down on intellectual property violations.
– Coachella is asking courts to fast-track their case against Filmchella.
– California is taking the first steps towards passing cannabis-related trademark laws.
– Even though I’m no longer in school, from this list of back-to-school patents, I’d love a banana suitcase.