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Supreme Court to Clarify Transformative Use in Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith; CAFC Muddies Standing Requirements for TTAB Appeals

On Monday, April 11, 2022, Chris Kopitzke will lead a discussion of the issues before the Supreme Court in the long-running copyright infringement case based on Andy Warhol’s “Prince” series of artworks, and about the CAFC’s recent holding that a party lacked Article III standing to challenge the TTAB’s ruling on likelihood of confusion involving [...]

By |2022-04-09T12:46:26-07:00April 9th, 2022|Written Description, indefiniteness, Invalidity|0 Comments

An Overview of Generic Marks – If a Mark was Deemed Descriptive Ten Years ago, is it Generic Now?

  On Monday, February 7, 2022 at 1:00 pm, Marina Lang will present on recent caselaw dealing with Generic trademarks. Eleven years into a dispute, a federal court ruled that the "Pretzel Crisps" brand is a generic.  See the opinion. Ms. Lang will discuss the "not so simple" legal standard that is required for a [...]

By |2022-02-06T18:49:15-08:00February 6th, 2022|Copyright, Patent, Trademark|0 Comments

Recent Patent Decisions

On Monday, January 31, 2022 at 1:00 pm, we will discuss the following cases. The first, from the Supreme Court, Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., 141 S. Ct. 2298 (2021) (Justice Kagan), revisits the assignor estoppel doctrine. “That doctrine, rooted in an idea of fair dealing, limits an inventor’s ability to assign a patent to [...]

By |2022-01-28T17:19:25-08:00January 28th, 2022|Copyright, Patent, Trademark|0 Comments

1 hour Ethics MCLE – Practicing Legal Civility in Virtual Communications, especially when the “Connection is Poor”

Join us in watching this webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUWbCZj4WHk After, we will discuss our various thoughts and perspectives on watching ourselves practice law, before our very eyes and behaving civilly when the "connection is poor." We will discuss this webinar on November 15, 2021 via Teams and in-person for those wishing to attend. All are welcome to [...]

By |2021-11-14T21:09:51-08:00November 14th, 2021|Litigation, Trademark, Likelihood of Confusion|0 Comments

TTAB Holds Reckless Disregard Sufficient to Prove Fraud; Ninth Circuit Reverses Copyright Defense Verdict Based on De Minimus Use of Photograph

On Monday, November 8, 2021, Chris Kopitzke will lead a discussion of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s ruling that reckless disregard satisfies the requisite deceptive intent to establish fraud on the USPTO, and the Ninth Circuit’s rejection of de minimus use by an infringer as a defense to the admitted copying of an entire [...]

By |2021-11-05T11:00:43-07:00November 5th, 2021|Trademark|0 Comments

USPTO Crackdown on Trademark Scammers Amazon Crackdown on Counterfeiters

Please join us 9/27/2021 at 1:00pm for a discussion: United States Patent and Trademark Office Crackdown on Scammers. For years, owners of United States Trademark Registrations have been plagued by scam letters requesting payments to renews trademark registrations. Though trademark registrations must be renewed, these letters did not come from the actual USPTO but a [...]

Prosecuting Chinese Counterfeiters: New Enforcement Strategies Learned from Fendi v. Yilang at Shanghai Higher People’s Court

The FENDI Decision is out! After 5 long years, the Shanghai High Court issued its final judgement in the case of Fendi v. Yi Lang. Defendant Yi Lang (no relative of this week's presenter, SoCal IP Partner Marina Lang) can no longer operate his "Fendi" stores in China, stocked with parallel goods.  We will discuss [...]

Prior Art Status of Printed Publications and Unclean Hands in TM Infringement

On Monday, August 12, Michael Harris will conduct a discussion of two cases, one dealing with the prior art status of a printed publication, and the other about unclean hands as a defense to trademark infringement. The 2021, Ninth Circuit case of Metal Jeans, Inc. v. Metal Sport, Inc. (case here) is the unclean hands case. [...]

By |2021-08-13T14:05:37-07:00August 13th, 2021|Litigation, Patent, Sanctions, Trademark, TTAB, Use in Commerce, Damages|0 Comments

Two Gotchas: Derivative Work Denied Copyright Registration; Insufficient Proof of Non-Use in Trademark Cancellation Action

On Monday, August 9, 2021, Chris Kopitzke will lead a discussion of the Copyright Office’s refusal to register the most recent version of the Golden Globe statuette, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s finding that evidence submitted to prove non-use of a trademark was insufficient to establish a prima facie case of abandonment. In [...]

By |2021-08-05T21:16:43-07:00August 5th, 2021|Copyright, Litigation, Trademark, TTAB, Use in Commerce, Damages|0 Comments

The Supreme Court’s 2021 Personal Jurisdiction Decision – presented by Marina L. Lang

Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial Dist. Ct. 141 S.Ct. 1017 (2021) For our discussion, we will analyze how the Supreme Court expanded personal jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants. The majority held that a Court’s specific jurisdiction standard includes suits that sufficiently “relate to” a defendant’s forum contacts, even in the absence of a "causal [...]

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