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The Great IDEA: Proposed Legislation to make Inventors Race to the Patent Office
The United States is one of the only industrialized countries in the world to have a "first to invent" patent system. Currently, if inventor Adam files a patent application and later inventor Ben files a patent application for the same invention, Ben could still be awarded the patent. This would happen if Ben proved he came up with the invention before Adam. Most of the world uses a "first to file" system. Here, the patent would go to Adam because he filed his application before Ben.
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The Great IDEA: Apple Faces Trademark Opposition from Microsoft
The creator of the iPhone is now facing opposition from Microsoft as they attempt to trademark the name "App Store" for their popular software application. In general, trademarks are granted different levels of protection based on originality and creativity. The more bespoke a trademark is, the more protection the government is willing to grant. A trademark which is comprised of a totally made-up word such as "ShamWow" is labeled fanciful and given the highest level of protection.
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The Great IDEA: Net Neutrality and the Impact on Your Copyrights
In a recent 3-2 vote, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) came out in favor of Net Neutrality. This name was given to the principle that all web traffic must be treated equally without restriction or limitation on the content individuals can access. The decision marks the first time the commission has taken up enforceable rules to direct the web.
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The Great IDEA: The Supreme Court Takes On Microsoft Patent Case
It used to be that one rarely heard about the Supreme Court reviewing a Patent Law issue. These cases were historically relegated to the Federal Circuit. The reasons being the Judge's experience with science and technology and the complexity associated with patent law. However, perhaps in growing recognition of the important role patents play in our economy, the high court has once again cast its gaze on this area of intellectual property law.
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The Great IDEA: Freedom of Speech on the Net backed by U.K. Supreme Court
Today, the U.K. Supreme Court issued a ruling that enhanced speech rights of it’s citizens on the internet. Traditionally, you could get into a lot of trouble for things you said about others on networking sites such as facebook and twitter. If the comments you made were not true and caused harm to another, you may be found liable for defamation
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The Great IDEA: Gerard Butler Sued for TM Infringement
The well-known leading man is being sued for injunctive relief and $2 million in damages for naming his production company "Evil Twins Entertainment."
The trademark infringement lawsuit is being brought by Kristen Armfield and Harri Mark. They are the owners of a production company called "Evil Twin Productions" who prudently registered the trademark in 1996. Their screen credits include High School Musical 3, The Dark Knight and the band Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, as well as others.
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The Great IDEA: LimeWire found Liable for Copyright Infringement
Popular file sharing software LimeWire was in litigation over four years before it was shutdown on November 6. If you try to access it now, all you will find is a banner that reads: "This is an official notice that LimeWire is under a court-ordered injunction to stop distributing and supporting its file-sharing software. Downloading or sharing copyrighted content without authorization is illegal."
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The Great IDEA: DOJ Shocks the Patent Community…Are Gene’s Still
Patentable?
Patent practitioners in the United States have long understood that isolated and purified gene sequences constitute patentable subject matter. Now, however, the Department of Justice is trying to change that.
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The Great IDEA: The FBI Requests New Legisation which may make your Personal Data more Vulnerable
Relatively new communication services such as Google Chat, Skype, or Blackberry Messenger use special types of encryption to protect confidential information from hackers. The FBI is now seeking to gain more access to user information...
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The Great IDEA: Twitter and the Law…How to avoid getting in Twouble
Twitter makes it easy for users communicating to large audiences over the Internet. There’s very little preparation that needs to go into what you’re going to say and in seconds you can conceivably communicate your message to millions of people.
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The Great IDEA: Apple Awarded Sexting Patent
As technology increases our access to limitless information so does the need for parental controls on advanced devices. Clearly recognizing this need, Apple was recently awarded a patent for a "Text-based communication control for personal communication device."
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The Great IDEA: Trademarks: USC v. USC… USC wins
By refusing to hear the University of South Carolina’s appeal, the Supreme Court ended a 13- year-old dispute over interlocking letters "SC". Prior to this appeal, the Federal Circuit held the University of Southern California and not South Carolina is the proprietor of intellectual property rights in the mark. Their ruling stands.
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The Great IDEA: Copyrights and Copycats: Prevent others from Stealing your
Creative Works
On September 28, 2010 the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that could ban
access to websites violating United States copyright laws..
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