Arlington, VA. September 16, 2022,- The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) filed an amicus brief in support of the Petition for Certiorari currently pending before the Supreme Court in Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, No. 22-148. The decision below, decided by the Ninth Circuit, involved the unauthorized use of trademarks and trade dress owned by Jack Daniel’s in connection with a dog toy product that purportedly parodied the Jack Daniel’s brand. Jack Daniel’s claimed that the dog toys infringed its rights under the Lanham Act. However, the Ninth Circuit held that the First Amendment protects all “humorous” or parodic uses of others’ trademarks regardless of the nature of the underlying product, becoming the first court to apply such protections outside of Lanham Act disputes involving artistic works.

Arlington, VA. August 26, 2022 - The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) filed comments to the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) on the proposed pilot program for instituting a Final Pretrial Conference (PFC) requirement in certain TTAB opposition and cancellation proceedings. Overall, AIPLA supports the pilot program to give the TTAB an opportunity to evaluate its potential effectiveness, recognizing the burden placed on TTAB Administrative Judges and staff when cases with large records are presented for decision. Therefore, AIPLA supports the TTAB in studying and evaluating ways to make these cases more efficient.

Arlington, VA. August 24, 2022 - The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) filed comments on Draft Provisions Prohibiting Abuse of Intellectual Property Rights to Exclude or Restrict Competition issued by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (Draft Provisions).  The comments point out that AIPLA generally believes intellectual property rights (IPR) should not be enforced beyond their effective term limits, given the efficient market realities of portfolio licensing, but recommends the Draft Provisions explicitly permit parties to establish license agreements that license an entire portfolio of IPR, notwithstanding the fact that certain IPRs may expire or be found invalid during the term of an agreement. 

On August 4, AIPLA filed an amicus brief in the two PTAB cases of OpenSky Industries, LLC, Patent Quality Assurance, LLC, and Intel Corporation v. VLSI Technology LLC, which USPTO Director Vidal has taken up to address what actions the USPTO Director should take when faced with assertions of an abuse of process or conduct that otherwise thwarts, as opposed to advances, the goals of the Office and/or the AIA. AIPLA’s brief argues that the review procedures implemented in these proceedings are adequate to address the rare instances of alleged abuse of process or alleged conduct contrary to the goals of the Office and/or the AIA.

On July 5, the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) submitted comments as proposed by the Administrative Office of the US Courts on a potential small claims patent court or small claims patent proceeding and its impacts. AIPLA addressed nine proposed questions and will continue to study these issues.