News

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on May 27, 2020, further extended the time to file certain patent-related documents and to pay certain required fees under its temporary authority provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

The proposed rule provides that if the Board institutes inter partes review, post-grant review, or transitional program for covered business method patents proceedings, trial will proceed on all challenged claims and on all grounds of unpatentability.

The Eight Circuit on May 20, 2020, awarded a victory in a trademark infringement case to the owner of a Missouri lawn care company against his ex-wife’s lawn care company because her company continued using his mark after their post-divorce licensing agreement expired.

The US Copyright Office on May 21, 2020, announced that it completed its public study to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the safe harbor provisions contained in section 512 of title 17, United States Code.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) first Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP) webinar on oral advocacy will take place today, Thursday, May 14, from noon to 1 p.m. ET.

National Geographic Partners LLC beat back trademark infringement claims by the makers of the PBS nature series “Wild America” after a federal court in Colorado found National Geographic TV had an artistic motive for naming its nature show “Untamed Americas.”

The Federal Circuit on May 8, 2020, affirmed a lower court ruling that found that Slayback Pharma LLC’s generic version of the leukemia drug Belrapzo didn’t infringe four Eagle Pharmaceuticals Inc. patents because the drugs weren’t the same under patent law.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on May 8, 2020, announced a new COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that it will temporarily permit the filing of plant patent applications and follow-on documents via the USPTO patent electronic filing systems (EFS-Web or Patent Center) until further notice.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) on May 5, 2020, designated as precedential Apple Inc. v. Fintiv, Inc., IPR2020-00019, Paper 11 (March 20, 2020).

The American Intellectual Property Law Association is saddened to learn of the passing of Q. Todd Dickinson, former AIPLA Executive Director and former Director of the USPTO.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on May 4, 2020, unveiled a new web-based intellectual property (IP) marketplace platform, Patents 4 Partnerships, to provide the public with a user-friendly, searchable repository of patents and published patent applications related to the COVID-19 pandemic that are indicated as available for licensing.

On May 4, 2020, the tradition-bound Supreme Court head oral arguments by telephone for the first time in USPTO v. Booking.com B.V., a case about whether “Booking.com” and similar marks are entitled to federal trademark protection.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit on April 27, 2020, affirmed a Nebraska federal jury’s award of over $11 million in a copyright dispute based on a database of business information.

The Seventh Circuit on April 24, 2020, upheld Prevagen maker Quincy Bioscience Inc.'s trademark win over the unauthorized sale of its popular memory supplement by Ellishbooks Corp.