Author: John Richards | Practices: , | Tags: , , , , ,

ECJ DECISION IN SKY v. SKYKICK FINDS THAT TRADEMARK REGISTRATIONS WILL NOT BE INVALIDATED FOR HAVING UNCLEAR AND IMPRECISE LISTS OF GOODS AND SERVICES AND ALSO CLARIFIES TESTS FOR BAD FAITH TRADEMARK FILINGS

The eagerly anticipated decision of the European Court of Justice in the case of Sky v. SkyKick was delivered on January 29, 2020. The Court’s decision came as a relief to trademark owners after the Advocate General’s opinion was followed in...

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Author: John Richards | Practices: , , | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Return Mail Inc. v. United States Postal Service

On June 20, 2019, the United States Supreme Court held that government entities could not be considered “persons” entitled to challenge patents owned by others before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board...

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Author: John Richards | Practices: , , | Tags: , , , , , , ,

DESIGN PATENT PROTECTION FOR REPLACEMENT PARTS

The fight between insurers and car manufacturers as to whether and, if so how, to protect the design of spare parts for cars delayed the implementation of an EU regulation on design protection for well over a decade and ended in an uneasy...

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Author: Jose Landivar | Practices: , , , | Tags: , , ,

THE MUSIC MODERNIZATION ACT: A PRIMER FOR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS

On October 11, 2018, the Music Modernization Act (MMA) was signed into law resulting in one of the most significant legislative changes to the copyright law in the United States in the last 50 years. The bipartisan legislation, which was written by...

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Author: John Richards | Practices: , | Tags: , , , , ,

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT HAS HELD THAT NEITHER STATE AGENCIES NOR INDIAN TRIBES ENJOY SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY, WHICH WOULD PROTECT THEIR PATENTS FROM CHALLENGE IN THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD OF THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

Introduction On July 20, 2018 in Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, Allergan, Inc. v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Dyk, Moore and Reyna JJ) held that Native American (“Indian”) Tribes...

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Author: John Richards | Practices: , | Tags: , , , ,

Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc: Prior Public Sale may destroy novelty without disclosure of inventive feature

In Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc, the United States Supreme Court held that a prior public sale of a patented product could destroy the novelty of a patent for that product even though there was no disclosure of the...

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