Insights
CASE Act Enforcement Moves Forward: New Rules to Know
After a thoughtful two-year preamble, the Copyright Claims Board (CCB), precipitating from the 2020 CASE Act, is beginning to take solid form. The final rules for its copyright infringement proceedings were released in late March, to take effect April 25, 2022. Part...
How a Design Patent Infringement Case Works
Welcome to part two of our two-part series on design patents. In the first part, we covered what a design patent is, what they protect, the increase in design patents over the past several decades, and a few specifics regarding how they work. Below, we are going to...
Understanding the Basics of Design Patents
Design patents can be a useful and valuable tool when seeking to protect a new and original ornamental design. This is part one of a two-part series that will delve into the basics to help you in understanding design patents. In this first part, we will focus on what...
Budget and Craft Beer Go Head to Head Over Trademark Confusion
As the days warm, you may find yourself cracking open a cold beer on the porch. If a friend asked you, “Is that a ‘Stone or a Stone?” would you know how to answer? That question is at the heart of a trademark infringement and trademark dilution lawsuit between two...
SoCal Professor Sues Students for Copyright Infringement with Surprising Motivations
Can copyright lawsuits ever be used for purposes other than protecting your own intellectual property? A recent case in Southern California shows a novel copyright infringement suit.David Berkovitz, a professor at Chapman University, taught his Business 215 class...
McDonald’s, Russia, and the Territoriality of IP Rights
On March 9, 2022, McDonald's announced it would be temporarily closing over 800 locations in Russia. Three days later, a trademark application was submitted to the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property for a logo with familiar arches and recognizable color...
Defense Research Institute Intellectual Property Conference 2022 – Houston, TX
I am writing to you from Houston, TX this week. I spent the past few days attending a Defense Research Institute (DRI) conference on Intellectual Property Litigation here. For two days, I have listened to speakers and watched presentations about copyright,...
Copyright Infringement at the Winter Olympics: House of the Rising Sun
What do you imagine when you hear “Winter Olympics”? Steep hills of snow, racers on skis, lyrical ice skaters… And copyright infringement? Musicians and brothers Robert and Aron Marderosian – known as the musical artist “Heavy Young Heathens” – are waging a copyright...