IP and Technology

High-speed internet service is essential to our economy and job growth. It is also essential for our elementary and high school students. Remote online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the digital divide in education. The need to bring high-speed internet to low-income families will continue whether the schools are fully open or not. The long-term implications of…

If you own, have applied for, or are preparing to apply for federal registration of a trademark, you might be wondering whether there are any extensions to responses or renewal deadlines. The short answer is no, the Trademark Office has not extended filing dates. In short, it’s pretty much business as usual at the Trademark Office. But this does not…

This is the third installment of a three-part blog post series about governments fighting with commercial entities over trademarks. At the beginning of 2017, all three were embroiled in litigation in one or more of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), the federal courts, or a state court. As 2017 ends, only one of the legal fights is over.…

Update: Issues in P&G Proxy Contest Not Resolved The proxy contest between Procter & Gamble and Nelson Peltz is not over, either literally or on Wall Street. The shareholder vote two weeks ago is so close that the outcome remains uncertain. P&G management declared victory after the vote based on its own “preliminary estimates” of the voting results. Not so…

A version of this blog post was published as a column in The Daily Record. Businesses are often the unintended victims of scams, including advanced fee scams and fake domain name scams, many of which involve the misappropriation or “spoofing” of a legitimate business’s identity and reputation to entice victims. Business reputations and goodwill can be irreparably harmed as a…

What do Baltimore City, the National Park Service, and the State of Michigan have in common in 2017? Each began the year fighting with commercial entities in federal court and in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) over trademarks, registered or to be registered. In Baltimore, the fight goes on. LIGHT CITY Baltimore On March 31, 2017, Baltimore City…

This is the first installment of a three-part blog about governments embroiled in trademark litigation. What do the National Park Service, the State of Michigan, and Baltimore City have in common as 2017 begins? Each is fighting with commercial entities in federal court and in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) over trademarks, registered or to be registered. Two…

The distressed and disjointed state of U.S. copyright law is highlighted by three copyright events this month. First, on April 15, UB Law Professor William Hubbard hosted a top quality symposium on “Copyright Realignment” at which several panelists stated that infringement remedies are so limited and so costly that many owners do not challenge infringement. Other panelists called for overhaul…

There are always lots of surprises as the federal courts apply copyright law to an unlimited array of creative works, both old and new. Three recent court decisions are reviewed in this blog, (1) a copycat unsuccessfully tried to use the “fair use doctrine” to justify his wholesale electronic copying of the Merriam Webster dictionary, (2) a mother who posted…

The thousands of products and services on display at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show can crowd out perspective, like so many trees that you cannot appreciate the forest.  Attending a keynote address or an informational program or two brings larger perspectives to what one sees at CES. I attended the one-on-one interview of Julius Genachowski, FCC Chairman, and the keynote…