News

Week´s news headlines – Sep. 09h 2016

AIPPI World Congress – Milan 2016

Managing partner Gabriel Di Blasi will attend 2016 AIPPI World Congress, that will take place between September 16th-20th in Milan, Italy.

Di Blasi, who is a member of the AIPPI Pharma Committee, will take part in discussions on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields, and will also, as a delegate from Brazil, vote intellectual property issues at the plenaries.

http://www.aippi2016.it/wp/

 

 

Protect Your Automotive Industry Intellectual Property or Else

With an increasingly competitive marketplace challenging traditional business models, protecting intellectual property in the automotive industry has never been more vital. Among a business’s most valuable assets are the four types of intellectual property (“IP”): trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. But, what is IP and why is it important to protect it?

Read more at: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/protect-

 

 

Is your intellectual property portfolio in order?

With the results of Brexit, now may be a good time to your IP portfolio in order to ensure your business is properly protected and is making the most of its intellectual property (IP) going forward. Laura Trapnell and Abigail Sinden of Paris Smith LLP’s Intellectual Property Team help you focus on how to do this.

Read more at: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?

 

 

Happy Birthday, National Parks! Would You Like Your Trademarks Back?

August 25, 2016 marks the 100th birthday of the National Park Service, which runs the nation’s 413 national parks.  Although I am not a particularly outdoorsy person, my relatives are, so here we are on summer vacation in Acadia National Park in Maine. I must admit that it is really beautiful here, and the mosquitoes have not devoured me yet. As a trademark lawyer, however, I can’t help but be reminded of what has become one of the most controversial trademark disputes of all time – whether a private party can own trademarks for YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK and other iconic names associated with the national parks.

Read more at: http://www.trademarkandcopyrightlawblog.com/201

 

 

Brexit and Your Trade Marks – Some Practical Questions Answered

You will no doubt have received many updates discussing the potentially new landscape for Intellectual Property rights in the United Kingdom and European Union in the longer term. Some are long, some short, some academic, but maybe not all practical.

Read more at: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/brexit-and-y

 

 

Local business owner sues school districts for trademark violations

The concept of incentivizing students to read across school districts in the Rio Grande Valley and around the state has recently taken an ambiguous turn as some districts are facing lawsuits claiming trademark infringement for using descriptions such as “Millionaire Reader” or “Millionaire Reading Club.”

Read more at: http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/loca

 

 

 

Kleo Pharmaceuticals Inc. Licenses Intellectual Property From Yale University Related to Targeted Immunotherapies

Proprietary Platform Technology Covering Antibody Recruiting Molecules (ARMs) and Synthetic Antibody Mimics (SyAMs) Represent Two Novel Classes of Small Molecules Targeting the Immune System

Read more at: http://www.marketwired.com/press-rele

 

 

British Telecom Giant Is Suing Valve Over Steam Patent Infringement

The suit has been filed against Valve in Delaware, a place that tends to favor patent holders. BT claims that Steam “offers a broad range of products and services which incorporate technologies invented by BT. These include, inter alia, Valve’s Steam Library, Valve’s Steam Chat, Valve’s Steam Messaging, and Valve’s Steam Broadcasting.”

Read more at: http://steamed.kotaku.com/british-telec

 

 

Has KFC’s fried chicken recipe, ‘one of the biggest trade secrets in the world’, been revealed? Not so fast

The company says the recipe published in the Chicago Tribune is not authentic. But that hasn’t stopped rampant online speculation that one of the most legendary and closely guarded secrets in the history of fast food has been exposed.

Read more at: http://news.nationalpost.com/life/foo

 

 

Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016: Promoting Uniformity and How an Employer Can Obtain Heightened Damages for Unlawful Trade Secret Disclosures

On May 11, 2016, President Barack Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”)1 into law. The DTSA’s stated purpose is to bring trade secrets disputes into the federal courts, changing the system under which trade secret law was governed mostly by state law. As part of the DTSA, employers who wish to give greater protection to their trade secrets, and secure greater damage awards for unauthorized disclosures (including attorney fees and exemplary damages), will want to consider adding language to employment, consulting and confidentiality agreements advising employees and consultants about their rights to make lawful disclosures.

Read more at: http://www.lexology.com/library/det

 

 

Fitbit Did Not Steal Trade Secrets, Judge Rules

Wearable tech giant Fitbit came out on top in the latest round of legal wrangling with rival Jawbone. A U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) judge ruled that Fitbit did not steal trade secrets from Jawbone.

Read more at: http://www.asicentral.com/news/web

 

 

Causality and Diluting Trademarks Through Online Searches: What the FTC Missed in 1800Contacts 

Search engines like Google sell search terms. An advertiser will bid for a search term. If it wins, its advertisement will be listed as an “advertisement” above the search results whenever someone types that search term into the search engine. Google allows companies to bid for search terms that are trademarked by others. So, a company that is not 1800Contacts that sells contacts on line bids for and wins the search term “1800Contacts.”

Read more at: http://www.lexology.com/library/detai

 

 

Design Patents and Copyrights for Designs on Useful Articles 

Two recent cases illustrate the potential benefits of protecting intellectual property rights with both design patents and copyrights, particularly for an article that has both utility and a design, including because a design patent infringement analysis may sometimes be more straightforward to apply. In a design patent case, Columbia Sportswear North America, Inc. v. Seirus Innovative Accessories, No. 3:15-cv-00064 (D. Or. Aug. 10, 2016), a court applied a clear-cut analysis in granting summary judgment of infringement of a design used for breathable heat-reflective material. In contrast, in a copyright case,Star Athletica, L.L.C. v. Varsity Brands, Inc., 136 S. Ct. 1823, No. 15-866, 2016 U.S. Lexis 3031 (2016), the Supreme Court has granted certiorari to examine the test of whether a feature of a useful article – such as a garment or piece of furniture – is conceptually separable from the article and thus protectable by copyright, which courts have consistently struggled with.

Read more at: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail

 

 

When history and copyrights meet, things get confusing fast

A closer look revealed a sign in the crowd with the name of Professor Leon. It’s thought the photos were taken in the 1870s, the same period when he appeared in Mansfield, and they’re trying to pin it down further from the buildings.

Read more at: http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/li

 

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