News

  • kelly-sikkema-YK0HPwWDJ1I-unsplash web 3rd Cir. Finds Programmer Abandoned Marketing Software Rights

    May 21, 2020

    The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on May 18, 2020, held that computer programmer Peter Brownstein does not own a copyright stake in an updated ethnicity prediction program because he had relinquished his rights to the program.
  • k8-7iLmkodYBQQ-unsplash web USPTO Releases Additional Information on the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program

    May 20, 2020

    On May 8, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, permitting COVID-19-related applications filed by small and micro entities to be put on a fast track for patent examination.
  • Taxes web ‘Engineered Tax Services’ Trademark Revived by 11th Cir.

    May 19, 2020

    The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on May 14, 2020, reversed and remanded a lower court decision to invalidate Engineered Tax Services Inc.’s (ETS) trademark covering its name, finding that the phrase “Engineered Tax Services” may be distinctive enough to function as a valid trademark.
  • Chalk web Fed. Cir. Affirms Toys “R” Us, Dollar General, Chalk Toy Design Win

    May 18, 2020

    The Federal Circuit on May 14, 2020, affirmed a lower court win for Toys “R” Us Inc. and Dollar General Corp. in a design patent, copyright, and trade dress infringement suit over a toy chalk holder designed to look like a pencil.
  • Jeans Supreme Court Dismisses ‘Defense Preclusion’ in Designer Jeans Trademark Fight

    May 14, 2020

    On May 14, 2020, the US Supreme Court reversed and remanded the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's decision in Marcel Fashions Grp., Inc. v. Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc., et al. No. 2017-0361, (2nd. Cir.), ruling that federal preclusion principles do not bar Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc. (Lucky Brand) from raising a defense it failed to litigate in an earlier suit between it and Marcel Fashions Group, Inc. (Marcel).