On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the petitioner in Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic International Inc. However, the justices were divided 5-4 as to the precise reasoning and what facts...more
7/7/2023
/ Abitron Austria GmbH v Hetronic International Inc ,
Appeals ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Foreign Sales ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trademark Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Use in Commerce
Does My Video Game Violate Consumers’ Privacy Rights?
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is the first broad-based state statute aimed at enhancing personal privacy rights for consumers. Following the example set by...more
7/13/2020
/ Abstract Ideas ,
App Developers ,
Appeals ,
Apple ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Celebrities ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
COPPA ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dilution ,
False Designation of Origin ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
First Amendment ,
Google ,
Interactive Gaming ,
Lanham Act ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Right of Publicity ,
Sports ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Video Games
On June 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided United States Patent and Trademark Office et al. v. Booking.com B.V. and resolved a circuit split by ruling that adding “.com” to the end of an otherwise generic name may...more
7/2/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
On April 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 590 U.S. ____, that pursuant to the “government edicts” doctrine, annotations to Georgia’s state code could not be...more
4/30/2020
/ Annotated Case Law ,
Appeals ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyrightable Subject Matter ,
Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org Inc ,
Government Edicts Doctrine ,
Legislative Duties ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Code ,
The Copyright Act
On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a plaintiff is not required to prove that a defendant’s misconduct was willful in order to obtain an award of a defendant’s profits in trademark infringement...more
4/26/2020
/ § 1125(a) ,
§ 1125(c) ,
Appeals ,
Burden of Proof ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Compensatory Awards ,
Dilution ,
Lanham Act ,
Lost Profits ,
Popular ,
Remand ,
Remedies ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Vacated ,
Willful Infringement
The use of third-party trademarks in video games is not a new phenomenon. In fact, conflicts between game developers and trademark owners have existed for almost as long as the medium itself.1 Now, however, as games continue...more
3/20/2020
/ Appeals ,
First Amendment ,
Gaming ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Gaming ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Rogers Test ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Video Games
On December 11, 2019, in Peter v. NantKwest, Inc., 589 U.S. __ (2019), the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision holding that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) cannot recover the salaries of its legal...more
12/14/2019
/ 35 U.S.C. § 145 ,
American Rule ,
Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Civil Claims ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Lanham Act ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Patent Act ,
Patent Applicants ,
Peter v NantKwest Inc ,
Prevailing Party ,
Remedies ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 145 ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Main Quest: Does Your Gaming Stream Violate the Copyright Act?
Streaming platforms, such as Twitch, Mixer and YouTube Gaming, are quickly becoming household names, with daily viewership rates that rival those of more...more
11/13/2019
/ Abstract Ideas ,
Affirmative Defenses ,
Appeals ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Contributory Infringement ,
COPPA ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Ownership ,
Defense Strategies ,
Derivative Works ,
DMCA ,
False Advertising ,
False Designation of Origin ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Games ,
Gaming ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Internet Streaming ,
Loot Boxes ,
Name and Likeness ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Public Performance Rights ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Software Patents ,
The Copyright Act ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Unfair Competition ,
USPTO ,
Vicarious Liability ,
Video Games
On June 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-3 decision in Iancu v. Brunetti, 588 U.S. ____ (2019), that Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act’s ban on the registration of “immoral” or “scandalous” trademarks violates the...more
6/26/2019
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Viewpoint Discrimination
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two unanimous decisions interpreting the Copyright Act.
In Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com LLC, 586 U.S. ___, the Court resolved a circuit split over when...more
3/5/2019
/ Appeals ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Applications ,
Copyright Exhaustion ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Registration ,
Damages ,
Expert Fees ,
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp v Wall-Street.com LLC ,
Judicial Discretion ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Popular ,
Prevailing Party ,
Reaffirmation ,
Remand ,
Remedies ,
Reversal ,
Rimini Street Inc v Oracle USA Inc ,
SCOTUS ,
Solicitor General ,
Split of Authority ,
The Copyright Act ,
Uniformity
On July 27, 2018, the Federal Circuit ruled that a patent applicant’s obligation to pay the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (PTO) “expenses” for district court proceedings to review patent application rejections does not...more
7/31/2018
/ 35 U.S.C. § 145 ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
American Rule ,
Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
En Banc Review ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Patent Examinations ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Reversal ,
Split of Authority ,
Sua Sponte ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Vacated
On June 28, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court granted petition for writ of certiorari in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, on appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s May 18,...more
7/2/2018
/ Appeals ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Registration ,
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp v Wall-Street.com LLC ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Solicitor General ,
Split of Authority ,
The Copyright Act ,
Uniformity