News

  • Curse of the Black Pearl 400x200 Disney’s Win in ‘Pirates’ Copyright Suit Reversed by Ninth Cir.

    July 24, 2020

    The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on July 22, 2020, revived a copyright suit brought by writers Arthur Lee Alfred II and Ezequiel Martinez Jr. and producer Tova Laiter alleging that Walt Disney Co. ripped off a screenplay for the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” film.
  • andpizza v atpizza thumbnail &pizza Loses Copyright Claims Against UK Replica @pizza

    July 23, 2020

    The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 17, 2020, dismissed American fast casual pizza restaurant &pizza’s copyright suit against the operator of the “@pizza” restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland, because it failed to show that @pizza violated their copyright and that the restaurant would harm their US commerce.
  • USPTO Publishes Report on Trends of US Women Inventors USPTO Releases Updated Study on Participation of Women in The US Innovation Economy

    July 22, 2020

    The new report updates the previous findings based on a review of an additional nearly one million issued patents and three years of new data, and it provides further insights into the participation of women in America’s intellectual property systems.
  • USPTO Crest USPTO Patent Center Beta Webinars

    July 21, 2020

    Patent Center is a new tool for electronic filing and management of patent applications in a single, unified interface.
  • Van Halen Guitar 400 Metropolitan Museum of Art Escapes Copyright Claims Over Van Halen Photo

    July 20, 2020

    A photograph of legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen displayed without permission on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s (Met) “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll” online exhibition did not violate copyright law because its use was for historical purposes and was therefore protected by the fair use exception, said the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 14, 2020.