News & Publications

AIPLA co-sponsored two spectacular events in Washington DC in celebration of World IP Day.

AIPLA, AIPPI and FICPI jointly organized a high-level colloquium on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with a focus on AI and Patent, Copyright and Trade Secret protection in Turin, Italy on 28-29 March 2019.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on April 25, 2019, released its annual Special 301 Report on the adequacy and effectiveness of trading partners’ protection of intellectual property rights and the findings of its Notorious Markets List, which highlights online and physical markets that reportedly engage in and facilitate substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting.

The Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology on April 24, 2019, announced 15 key findings from a final version of a new “green paper” on maximizing U.S. innovation from government-funded research.

The US Copyright Office on April 24, 2019, announced that Maria Strong will serve as Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Policy and International Affairs at the United States Copyright Office, effective April 23, 2019.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 18, 2019, invalidated three of Trading Technologies LLC’s patents on a user interface for electronic trading technology, affirming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s finding that the patents were ineligible under § 101 after the Board instituted Covered Business Method (CBM) Patent review.

The US Patent and Trademark Office on April 22, 2019, issued a notice of information concerning existing office practice available to a patent owner during the pendency of a trial proceeding under the America Invents Act (AIA); specifically pertaining to the reissue and reexamination procedures available for amending claims involved in the trial. 84 Fed. Reg. 16654.

On April, 17, 2019, Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE), and Representatives Doug Collins (R-GA), Hank Johnson (D-GA), and Steve Stivers (R-OH), released a bipartisan, bicameral framework to reform Section 101 of the Patent Act.

The USPTO on April 16, 2019, designated three PTAB decisions as precedential.

The Supreme Court on April 15, 2019, heard oral argument in the Brunetti case on whether the statutory ban on registering “immoral ... or scandalous” trademarks violates the First Amendment. Iancu v. Brunetti, U.S., No. 18-302, oral argument 4/15/2019.