Commercial Law & Contracts, Administrative Law, Intellectual Property

Obama Administration Reports on Efforts to Prevent Trade Secret Misappropriation

by Kevin E. Noonan | McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP on 2/26/2013

The Obama Administration issued a Report earlier this month, entitled "Administration Strategy on Mitigating the Theft of U.S. Trade Secrets," that sets forth its efforts to prevent trade secret misappropriation. The Report...more

Supreme Court Hears Argument on States’ Ability to Exclude Public Records Access for Non-Citizens

by Jason Britt, John Zabriskie | Foley & Lardner LLP on 2/22/2013

On February 20, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in McBurney v. Young, No. 12-17, a case with potentially major implications for businesses that use state freedom of information acts (FOIAs) to obtain...more

Chinese Government Decision May Help Brands Protect Themselves

by Stephanie Cohen, Harley Lewin | McCarter & English, LLP on 1/14/2013

Anyone trying to stop Chinese counterfeiters learns almost immediately that most of the information that would ordinarily identify China-based owners of a URL or website is false. That makes it costly or impossible to...more

Supreme Court Upholds Nike’s Promise to “Break the Wrist, and Walk Away”

by Steve Baird | Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. on 1/10/2013

Not every day does the United States Supreme Court weigh in on a topic impacting the trademark world, but it did so yesterday in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., a case illustrating what can happen when a trademark plaintiff wants...more

IP 101 – 10 Things to Know About Trademarks

by Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP on 1/8/2013

1. What is a trademark? A trademark is a brand name for a product. It can be a word, phrase, logo, design, or virtually anything that is used to identify the source of the product and distinguish it from competitors’...more

BLG Monthly Update for January 2013

by Neil Guthrie on 1/3/2013

Pot-smoking teens, ownership of e-mail, insider trading on false info -- all this and more in the BLG Monthly Update for January 2013!...more

Are the Regulators Coming after the Patent Trolls?

by Bill Devinney | BakerHostetler on 12/24/2012

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice recently held a workshop to discuss the effects of patent assertion entities (PAEs) on innovation and competition....more

Fashion Law Making Strides off the Runway: 2012 Year in Review

by Ladas & Parry LLP on 12/20/2012

This year has been marked by significant judicial and legislative developments relating to the fashion industry in the United States....more

FTC/DOJ Workshop Shines Spotlight On Competitive Harms and Benefits of Patent Assertion Entities

by Ropes & Gray LLP on 12/20/2012

On Monday, December 10, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice held a joint workshop (Agenda) on the activities of patent assertion entities (“PAEs”). PAEs, sometimes...more

USPTO Proposes to Require Disclosure of Patent Ownership, Exclusive Licenses

by Courtenay C. Brinckerhoff | Foley & Lardner LLP on 12/18/2012

Last year, on November 23, 2011, the USPTO announced that it was considering collecting information on patent ownership and requiring disclosure of patent ownership information throughout the patent application process....more

No Plaque on This Scope Bottle Trademark

by Steve Baird | Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. on 12/18/2012

Would you place this mouth wash bottle on your bathroom counter or hide it under the counter? The answer to this question, it appears, can have a material impact on whether the shape and design of the bottle functions as...more

Corporate Compliance with Licensing Requirements

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 12/18/2012

Software and technology licensing fees are often tied to the number of users or devices that access an application or database. More users, or more devices, will often mean higher licensing fees. The terms and conditions...more

Momentum for Additive Manufacturing Continues to Grow: USPTO Customer Partnership Meeting Announced

by J. Steven Rutt | Foley & Lardner LLP on 12/17/2012

Momentum for “additive manufacturing” (aka “3D printing”) continues to grow. The USPTO recently announced a customer partnership meeting to be held on January 23, 2013....more

Patent Watch: Cummins, Inc. v. TAS Distrib. Co.

by Lawrence M. Sung | BakerHostetler on 12/14/2012

[R]es judicata [may attach where] the present matter relates to patent invalidity, misuse, and unenforceability [and] the prior case dealt only with enforcing the "all reasonable efforts to market and sell" under [a license...more

Pizza And Trade Secrets: These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

by Joshua B. Durham | Poyner Spruill LLP on 12/13/2012

Earlier this year, the U.S. Commerce Department released a report titled "Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industry in Focus," which made clear the following point...more

U.S.-China Trade Concerns Highlighted In Report To Congress

by King & Spalding on 12/11/2012

On November 14, 2012, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (“USCC”) released its annual report to Congress on developments in both bilateral trade relations with the People’s Republic of China (“China”) and...more

Antitrust Monopolization Considerations in Licensing Cutting-Edge Food Technology Patents

by Paul D. Swanson | Lane Powell PC - Food, Beverage and... on 12/6/2012

The term pioneer patent is often misapplied with hyperbole and exaggeration. When it comes to the shrimp peeling machine invented by Fernand and James Lapeyre, however, that blockbuster label is spot-on. Their automated...more

The Unforeseeable Transaction: Apple Argues that the California Song-Beverly Credit Card Act Should Not Apply To Online Retailers

by Mintz Levin - Privacy & Security on 11/21/2012

When is a gallon of gas like an iTunes track? That may sound like a riddle from a Lewis Carroll novel, but it was one of the questions considered by the California Supreme Court during oral arguments in Apple v. Superior...more