Studio Ghibli, the iconic Japanese animation studio founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, has consistently served as a pillar of creativity, producing animated films that blend unique visuals with heartfelt...more
I recently spoke with TechRadar about the recent social media trend of AI-generated images in the style of beloved animation company Studio Ghibli and the IP considerations surrounding such works. Copyright law in the US...more
Using AI to Build Cyber Resilience for Critical Infrastructure - "Cyber resilience serves as a literal survival strategy, offering a framework to detect threats, understand attacks, recover swiftly, and adapt to...more
Since 2014, the state government of Karnataka has exempted companies operating in the IT, animation, gaming, computer graphics, telecom and certain other specified knowledge-based industries from the requirements of ‘standing...more
The Federal Circuit recently affirmed a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of patent claims directed to changing the position of components in an image to create the appearance of movement, i.e., animation. The court agreed that the...more
As a law firm looking to stay ahead of the competition, investing in a modern website design is increasingly essential. It is important to make sure that your website represents who you are as a firm, as well as being...more
The Animation Guild (TAG) is on a roll. The union very recently announced a settlement with the AMPTP, the studios’ bargaining representative, on a new blanket contract, up for a ratification vote in late June. This closely...more
After coming perilously close to its first strike since 1945, the below-the-line union IATSE ratified an accord with producers in November, 2021. The new Basic and Videotape Agreements covered most, but not all of the locals...more
The Federal Circuit affirmed a California district court's judgment of noninfringement but vacated its judgment of invalidity for lack of enablement since the defendants' proposed non-enabling facial animation techniques did...more
Post-Alice, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) is aggressively rejecting software claims under the Alice two-part test, the parameters of which many examiners are still trying to understand. Not...more
The use of computer-generated animations and simulations is on the rise in courtrooms around the country, and for good reason – animations and simulations can greatly increase jurors’ understanding of complex issues, and are...more
Withdrawal of Claims During Prosecution Can Trigger Prosecution History Estoppel In UCB, Inc. v. Yeda Research and Development Co., Ltd., Appeal No. 2015-1957, the Federal Circuit held that prosecution estoppel can apply even...more
A recent decision by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (Federal Circuit) reversed a summary judgment of invalidity due to patent ineligible subject matter. The two patents at issue cover automating a 3-D animation method...more
The application of the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 134 S. Ct. 2347. (2014) has made it almost impossible to patent software. The United States Patent and Trademark Office is...more
Since the Supreme Court's decision two years ago in Alice v. CLS Bank, courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have found a large percentage of software and computer-related inventions to claim abstract ideas and not...more
The case demonstrates that the eligibility analysis is highly fact-specific and dependent on properly construed claims. In McRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Games America Inc., a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...more
In McRO v. Bandai, the Federal Circuit provides particular guidance and clarity on the issue of preemption, which it describes as “The concern underlying the exceptions to § 101.” In addition to providing another guidepost...more
The Federal Circuit overturned a District Court ruling that a patent directed to automated lip synchronization and manipulation of animated characters’ facial expressions was invalid under Section 101 as being an abstract...more
The Federal Circuit has released its long-awaited opinion in McRo v. Bandai, reversing the lower court’s decision that the claims were ineligible subject matter. McRo’s invention in U.S. 6,307,576 was a method used in 3D...more