News & Publications

Senator Tillis speaks on his tenure as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary IP Subcommittee, the need for strong intellectual property protection, Section 101 reform, DMCA review, oversight over the USPTO and the Copyright Office, and more.

On June 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the addition of “.com” to a generic term can create a protectable trademark, affirming a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V., U.S., No. 19-46. In doing so, the Court rejected the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) "nearly per se rule" that when a generic term is combined with a generic top-level domain the resulting combination is generic.

The Ninth Circuit on June 22, 2020, reversed a district court’s dismissal of a copyright infringement lawsuit against the award-winning movie “The Shape of Water”, finding that David Zindel adequately alleged that Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc. copied aspects of his father’s play. Zindel v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., 9th Cir., No. 18-56087.

The US Copyright Office on June 23, 2020, released an updated version of Copyright Law of the United States and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 16, 2020, affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) win by videogame developers Riot Games Inc. and Valve Corp. in validity challenges to two computer-networking patents.

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on June 17, 2020, held that a wellness store’s copyright claims against a former employee didn’t require an attorneys’ fees award, finding that several circumstances justified denying the award.

Fees are proposed to be increased for all application filing types, with proposed per-class fee increases ranging from $25 for a TEAS Plus application to $150 for a paper application.

The USPTO is revising the rules of practice pertaining to the patent term adjustment provisions of 35 U.S.C. 154(b) in view of the decision by the Federal Circuit in Supernus Pharm., Inc. v. Iancu, 913 F.3d 1351 (Fed. Cir. 2019). 85 Fed. Reg. 36335.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 10, 2020, held that Twilio Inc. can’t revive parts of its telephony patents that were canceled by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Pursuant to Subsection 12004(a) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and 37 C.F.R. § 1.183, and in response to the requests from stakeholders, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is extending the time period for petitioning for certain rights of priority or benefit in a patent application and waiving the associated petition fee.