The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has again extended deadlines on IP matters until August 10, 2020. Deadlines had previously been extended until July 17, but given the continuing impact…
Blazing the Trademark Trail: Herbs ‘R’ Us Gets Smoked Canadian cannabis dispensary Herbs ‘R’ Us, rolled out a logo a little too reminiscent of the well-known Toys ‘R’ Us logo.…
On July 2, 2020, the USPTO launched the “Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program” which allows applicants to speed up the examination process on their most important inventions and get a decision…
Supreme Court Landmark Ruling on Generic.com Trademarks On June 30, 2020 the Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling in trademark law. It decided generic terms can be registered as…
Why Artists Object to Campaign Use of Their Songs At a recent political rally, the Trump campaign played Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”. The singer’s family found out and…
Patent offices all around the world have been finding ways to adjust to the COVID-19 situation by extending deadlines. In Australia, the IP office gave free extensions to customers until…
Jennifer Lopez posted a picture on Instagram taken by photographer Steve Sands, and was sued for over $150,000 because Sands was the author (i.e., the one who took the picture)…
LMNOPI, a nationally known street artist, sued XYZ Films for copyright infringement for using LMNPOPI's street art in their movie, Bushwick, without her permission. The District Court for the Eastern…
With recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), it has become possible for an AI system to create inventions, but the question is whether or not those inventions could be protected…
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) now has an “IP Marketplace” web platform where they publish patents that claim technologies that could help fight COVID-19. That platform goes further…
In Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil Group, Inc., fka Fossil, Inc., No. 18-1233 (Argued Jan. 14, 2020, Decided April 23, 2020), the Supreme Court ruled that in a trademark infringement…
Billy Joel was sued for copyright infringement, and it had nothing to do with his music. He hired a contractor to renovate his Oyster Bay mansion in Long Island, but…
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) extended until July 1, 2020 the time for patent applicants to file various patent-related documents and fees. The extensions only apply to…
The U.S. Supreme Court held its first ever oral argument over teleconference, which was live-streamed to the public. The case was concerned with the registrability of Booking.com’s name, even though…
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York recently ruled that use of another’s photograph on Instagram, without permission from the photograph’s owner, did not constitute copyright…