News of the Week

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1.  Arts On (the) Line: Copyright Protection of Digital Performances for Presenters, Agents & Managers
2. Word To Politicians: “Please [Do] Stop The Music”
3. Fleshing out the copyright in a tattoo 
4. Bad Faith Scraping of Photos carries a Big Cost
5. Liability for Copyright Infringement Attaches if Conduct Exceeds Scope of License
6. Regulations and the surge of software patent applications in the U.S. 
7. Grey Market Goods – Coty and Costco Battle it Out in Québec 
8. Tiffany v. Costco: the use of a trademark not as a trademark but in a descriptive sense
9. Costco wins appeal against Tiffany – Tiffany and Co et al v Costco Wholesale Corp, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 17-2798. 
10. KFC Presses Pause on IT’S FINGER LICKIN’ GOOD Slogan
11. Aldi, Brewdog Brand War Ends In The Best Possible Way: Collaboration
12. Comparing Apples to Pears 
13. TENET: a twist in Time 
14. Beyoncé’s BLUE IVY CARTER Mark in the Pink as TTAB Dismisses Opposition
15. The Terrible Towel Is A Formidable Foe: Steelers’ Licensor Sues Maker of Terrible Masks
16. The Land Rover Defender: a classic shape certainly, but a “badge of origin”?
17. Difficult terrain: trade mark protection for 3d shapes
18. Don’t Fall Victim to Bogus Trademark Registries
19. Food Industry Insight – Overcoming Trademark Genericism with D’Ingenuity and Le Creativity
20. Why you should designate Canada – and a Canadian agent – in your next Madrid application 
21. The future of global licensing for digital standards?
22. What’s in a name? Global brand owners make socially-conscious changes
23. Strategic Considerations at the Intersection of Patent and Trade Secret Protection
24. Delaware Court of Chancery: Companies Must Maintain Trade Secret Confidentiality in a Remote World
25. Seventh Circuit Sends Health Care Software Company Plaintiff Back to District Court for $660 Million (or More) Reduction in Damages Award in Trade Secrets Case
26. Pot Got Your Tongue? Company Alleges Former COO Disclosed Trade Secrets to Competitors
27. You can’t do that! Federal Court quashes the “problem-solution” basis for rejecting claims
28. No Solution? No Problem! The Federal Court of Canada puts a dagger in the “Problem-Solution” Approach to Patent Claims Construction
29. “Problem-Solution” Claim Construction by Patent Office Does Not “Compute” 
30. Federal Court clarifies Canadian approach to subject-matter eligibility for computer patents 
31. Federal Court clarifies the assessment of patent-eligible subject matter in Canada
32. What the Choueifaty Decision Means for Software Patents in Canada 
33. Court Dismisses Intel’s and Apple’s Federal and State Antitrust Claims Against Patent Assertion Entities, Albeit with Leave of Court to Amend the Complaint
34. UK Supreme Court affirms courts’ rights on IP licensing issue
35. Dismissal on Procedural Grounds May Bar Claims for Later Infringement Under Res Judicata
36. Res Judicata on Procedural Grounds Precludes Similar Claims Arising After Prior Judgment
37. Inventorship, Unlike a Claim, is a “Nose of Wax”
38. Landmark UK Supreme Court decision grants UK courts power to set the global royalty rate for standard essential patents
39. Unwired Planet v Huawei – UK courts can determine global FRAND licensing terms
40. Unwired Planet v Huawei – Supreme Court decision
41. Unwired Planet vs Huawei – is it a victory for SEP holders?
42. U.K. Supreme Court Affirms Global FRAND Rate-Setting Procedure in U.K. National Courts 
43. UK Supreme Court Upholds Power of the UK Courts to Determine Global FRAND Licenses
44. Last Week in the Federal Circuit (August 24-28): No Judicial Estoppel from Inventorship About-Face 
45. Pointed Tip is Not a Substantially Flat Surface
46. Clear Claim Language Trumped Written Description in Construction
47. USPTO Sued Over Discretionary Denials 
48. USPTO Issues Guidance on “Applicant Admitted Prior Art” in IPRs
49. Canceled Patent Claims Do Not Entitle Former Patent Owner to a Refund 
50. Antitrust Plaintiffs Complain of Patent “Thickets”
51. Upper and Lower Claim Limitations Leave Patent Owner Feeling Down
52. How Administrative Law Became the Hottest Topic in Patent Disputes at the Federal Circuit
53. Valuing Patented Inventions in Litigation
54. 5 developments you may not have realised are potentially patentable
55. In review: key recent IP developments and trends in Canada 
56. Intellectual Property Enforcement at the International Trade Commission
57. Why potential claimants should take care with DMCA takedown demands
58. Are Changes to the DMCA on the Horizon?
59. TikTok: now to the copyright and political issues
60. Facebook threatens to block news-sharing in Australia
61. Facebook Says It Will Block News Sharing In Australia If Murdoch’s Social Media Tax Becomes Law
62. Top Republican deletes tweet with doctored Biden video footage
63. SuperBam To Reclaim 10 Billion Views’ Worth Of AdSense For YouTube, TikTok, Twitch Creators By End Of 2020
64. Netflix Un-Paywalls ‘Bird Box,’ ‘The Two Popes,’ First Ep Of ‘Stranger Things’ To Tempt More Subscribers
65. Facing Novel Legal Issues Concerning Facial Recognition Technology in 2020
66. Can individuals claim damages for loss of control over their personal data
67. Wait, Amazon’s New Wearable Needs to See Me in My Underwear?: Amazon says your semi-nude pictures will be automatically deleted from its servers after 3D body images are rendered.
68. The EU Is Launching a Market for Personal Data. Here’s What That Means for Privacy
69. Social Media Data Leak Raises Concerns Over Data Scraping
70. Bad Faith Scraping of Photos carries a Big Cost
71. The First Amendment Protects the Marketing Term “Vegan Butter”–Miyoko’s v. Ross (Eric Goldman)
72. Legal battle over artist’s legacy begins in London’s High Court
73. Picasso painting vandal who was “seeking fame” is jailed for 18 months
74. Want to Write a Story About Tardigrades in Space? Make It So!–Abdin v. CBS (Eric Goldman)
75. Abdin v. CBS (USCA 2^nd Cir., August 17, 2020)
76. Bugs in Space? Star Trek Plotline Does Not Infringe Tardigrade Video Game
77. Gaming emote litigation: plaintiffs test different causes of action as battle ensues over Fortnite emotes
78. Atlanta Rapper Claims “Soul Jah Boi” Dance in NBA 2K19 Infringes His Copyright
79. Apple terminates Epic’s developer account as promised: However, Unreal Engine on iOS remains unaffected thanks to restraining order
80. Apple has terminated Epic Games’ App Store account
81. Apple terminates Epic’s App Store access following Fortnite dispute
82. iOS users no longer able to update Fortnite following App Store altercation
83. ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic faces uphill antitrust battle with Apple
84. On Monopolies, Apple, and Epic
85. Today, Apple made changes to its app review process to save face with devs
86. App Store tweaks ease bug fix process, let devs pitch App Store Guidelines changes
87. Ubisoft removes Black Lives Matter image from Tom Clancy game’s terror group
88. Ubisoft apologizes after Tom Clancy mobile game co-opts BLM movement
89. Ubisoft apologizes for ‘insensitive and harmful’ Elite Squad imagery: Publisher says it will remove “raised fist” from cinematic portraying protest movement as terrorist organization
90. Biden campaign launches official Animal Crossing: New Horizons yard signs
91. Biden presidential campaign rolls out yard signs in Animal Crossing
92. Animal Crossing Continues To Be An Innovative Playground As Biden Campaign Begins Advertising On It
93. Game devs and eSport teams — how to protect your brand assets with trade marks
94. U.S. Patent no. 9,597,601: Method for displaying chat window applied to network game

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. On the Barefoot Contessa, Peppermint Bark, and the Volitional Conduct Requirement for Copyright Infringement
2. Virtual Reconstruction Of Ancient Temple Destroyed By ISIS Is Another Reason To Put Your Holiday Photos Into The Public Domain 
3. Mango v. Buzzfeed: On claim that media site violated DMCA by publishing photographer’s work without permission 2^nd Cir. holds plain language of DMCA does not require evidence of infringement by third party.
4. Buzz-sawed: Give Copyright Credit or Face Statutory Damages, Fees, Costs 
5. To Embed or Not to Embed?: A New Challenge to Embedding Images From Social Media
6. Basset v. Jensen: Artist prevails on summary judgment against production company after her home used as set for pornographic films resulted in unauthorized use of her copyrighted works appearing in background.
7. Waite v. UMG Recordings, Inc.: In class action involving termination of grants of copyrighted sound recordings, court rulrd that “gap grants” are terminable under Section 203 of the Copyright Act.
8. Genius Media Group v. Google LLC: Court dismisses suit against Google for copying and using content from lyrics website Genius in search engine results, finding state law claims preempted by Copyright Act. 
9. In Da Courts: Second Circuit Affirms Lower Court Ruling in Rick Ross vs. 50 Cent Copyright Feud
10. Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Reveals His Retainer Agreement: He Gets Most Of The Money
11. Judge Recommends Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Be Removed From Roll Of The Court For Misconduct In Default Judgment Case
12. Copyright Wars – Episode I: The Fandom Menace?
13. Open Source Software: Litigation Windfall or Landmine?
14. Copyright Board Ordered to Take a New Look at Streaming Services Rate Structure
15. New Cost-Efficient Copyright Registration Option for Influencers and Bloggers
16. Quebec Superior Court declines to issue a Norwich order to identify the supplier of grey market perfumes
17. Apple Goes In Even Harder Against Prepear Over Non-Apple Logo
18. Trademarks and the obligation of use
19. Common misconceptions when managing trademarks internationally 
20. Defender vs. Grenadier
21. Look into Local Connotations for Your Proposed Trademark 
22. Race to the Top: Trademark Litigation in the Equine Industry
23. Second Circuit Vacates Tiffany’s $21 Million Win Over Costco
24. Diamonds are Forever, but Tiffany’s $21M Trademark Win is Not
25. Understanding the nuances of trademark use in various ARIPO jurisdiction
26. Where’s my world trademark?
27. How A Non-U.S. Trademark Applicant Establishes a Bona Fide Intent to Use in U.S. Commerce
28. Brew Dog, Aldi Get Into Brand Battle With Good Nature, Not Cease And Desists 
29. As the craft beer market goes mainstream, how should brand owners go about protecting their trade marks?
30. Danger on the Horizon: Detecting Early Signs of Trade Secret Theft by Competitors 
31. First Circuit Reverses Trade Secret Misappropriation Verdict Even Though Employee Stole Company Information
32. Workplace Confidential: Preventing Former Employees from Using Your Trade Secrets
33. No License, No Chips, No Problem: Ninth Circuit Vacates Injunction in FTC v. Qualcomm 
34. Unwired Planet v Huawei – Supreme Court decision
35. Admitted Art Ruled Out as IPR Trial Ground Reference
36. Black Box Structure Insufficient for MPF Element
37. Standard Essential Patent Licensing Practices Do Not Violate Antitrust Laws
38. Supreme Court decision in Unwired Planet v Huawei and Conversant v Huawei and ZTE
39. Unwired Planet v Huawei and Conversant v Huawei & ZTE – Supreme Court Judgment 2020
40. “Half-Liquid” is Wholly Indefinite
41. Improved Method of Operating a Flow Cytometry Apparatus Is Not Abstract 
42. Standard Essentiality Is a Question for the Fact Finde
43. Golden Rules for Drafting Enforceable US Claims
44. Promoting the Progress of Science: How Clinical Stage Patent Strategies Can Bring New Pharmaceuticals to Market 
45. CJEU rules that “pay-for-delay” agreements may be anti-competitive
46. Intellectual Property Intel: Understanding the Impact of Bankruptcy on a Company’s Most Valuable Assets 
47. Bipartisan “Advancing America’s Interests Act” Seeks to Curtail Intellectual Property Enforcement at the International Trade Commission
48. Arizona State University Sues Facebook With Bogus Trademark Claim To Try To Stop COVID Parties Account
49. After Lawsuit is Filed, Instagram Deletes Account Promoting Parties at Arizona State University
50. The Future of American Industry Depends on Open Source Tech
51. Court Orders Rightsowner to Withdraw DMCA Takedown Notices Sent to Amazon–Beyond Blond v. Heldman (Eric Goldman)
52. Napster sold for a song to UK virtual events company
53. Back to School Special: Recordings, Photos, Kids, and Parental Consent
54. On Appeal, ‘Star Trek Discovery’ Still Doesn’t Infringe On Video Game’s Copyright
55. Judge issues restraining order protecting Unreal Engine development on iOS
56. Temporary restraining order will protect Unreal Engine on Apple platforms
57. Epic wins restraining order against Apple but Fortnite remains blocked: Judge says Epic has yet to demonstrate antitrust, but agrees that “serious questions do exist”
58. Judge Rejects Epic’s Temporary Restraining Order Request For Fortnite (But Grants It For The Unreal Engine)
59. Protection granted to Unreal Engine but not Fortnite following altercation with Apple
60. Apple on Epic’s retaliation claims: ‘The emergency is entirely of Epic’s own making’
61. Epic vs Apple judge decided in Apple’s favour in similar case: In 2013, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said plaintiffs failed to prove that Apple “deprived [them] of lower cost alternatives”
62. Apple opposes Epic’s restraining order, says dispute is “completely avoidable”: iPhone maker claims damage to Fortnite and Unreal is self-inflicted, says Epic has not proved Apple is a monopoly
63. Epic Games Moves Battleground From Mobile Phones to Courtroom With Antitrust Attacks on Apple and Google
64. Epic Battles Apple: I Missed a Spot
65. Epic Games turns Apple dispute into Fortnite event: Upcoming #FreeFortnite Cup will feature anti-Apple prizes as iOS users prepare to be blocked from updates
66. Epic is hosting a Fortnite tournament themed around its legal battle with Apple
67. Microsoft backs Epic Games in legal dispute with Apple
68. Microsoft files statement supporting Epic Games against Apple: Xbox firm says Unreal Engine is “critical technology” and blocking it on iOS “will harm game creators and gamers”
69. Microsoft backs Epic against Apple in legal fight over Unreal Engine on iOS
70. Epic Games Sued By Company That Manages ‘Coral Castle’ In Florida Over New Fortnite Map
71. Riot Games and Valve Win Over PalTalk’s Invalidated Patent Affirmed
72. The Sinking City yanked from stores in dispute over publishing rights
73. The Sinking City pulled from stores amid legal dispute: Developer Frogwares accuses publisher Nacon of missing payments, holding €1 million in royalties and claiming IP rights
74. Copyright changes could limit in-game props, but might defeat clones | Opinion: Kostya Lobov warns that recent EU court decisions could drastically affect what is protectable by copyright
75. Six ways to make your user-generated content game successful and lawsuit-free: Mythical Games’ Jamie Jackson detailed the dos and don’ts of user-generated content in a Devcom talk this week
76. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Litigation Update: Virtual Immersion Technologies Asserts Virtual Reality Patent for the 43rd Time
77. Lennon Image Technologies, LLC v. Ulta Beauty, Inc.
78. U.S. Patent no. 9,649,568: Game system for changing a difficulty level of a game

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Judge Denies Copyright Troll Malibu Media’s Request For A Default Judgment
2. Media Co. Ordered To Stop ‘Cartoon Classics’ DMCA Notices
3. Don’t use my music! Neil Young sues Donald Trump for copyright infringement
4. More Rockin’ In The Free World
5. S.D. Florida Refuses To Toss Artist’s Claims Over Alleged Knock-off Art Installation
6. Copyright in photographs – not such monkey business
7. Copyright Reforms to Better Support the Digital Environment
8. Should Massachusetts extend its right-to-repair law to connected cars?
9. EUIPO joins WIPO DAS for EU registered design applications
10. False Claim of Exclusive Distributorship results in Injunction and Forced Recall of Grey Market Goods
11. Boston University Applies For Trademark On Offensive COVID-19 Awareness Slogan For Some Reason
12. UK High Court rejects Land Rover’s appeal for registration of Defender shape marks
13. Costco Gets Trademark Judgement Overturned, Defeating Tiffany And Co.
14. Second Circuit Overturns Tiffany’s $21M Judgment Against Costco in Trademark Battle
15. Three Keyword Advertising Decisions in a Week, and the Trademark Owners Lost Them All (Eric Goldman)
16. An apple is an apple, a pear is a pear. Don’t Compear!
17. Yes, You CAN Trademark Cannabis Products and Services in Maryland
18. Are Valentino’s Rockstud® Shoes as Distinctive as the Red Soles?
19. If You Coexist, You Need Not Desist (Part One): TTAB Grants Laches Defense After 4 Years Coexistence
20. Atomic Café Trademark Litigation Against LeanBox and Cold Brew Does Not Trigger Travelers Indemnity’s Duty to Defend or Indemnify, Judge Green Rules
21. 3D trade marks: it’s all in the gömböc
22. Supreme Court Lets Booking.com Reserve Its Brand: Generic.com Terms Can Now Be Registered as Trademarks
23. Generic Trademarks in a Digital World
24. General Court refuses registration of ‘XOXO’ mark in relation to fashion goods
25. The conception of a drinks brand – innovation and IP
26. Jurisdictional Toss Gives Sommeliers Reason to Whine
27. Tips for Defendants Litigating Software Disputes at the Intersection of Trade Secret, Copyright and Patent Law
28. Self-Driving to Federal Prison: The Trade Secret Theft Saga of Anthony Levandowski Continues
29. Protecting Trade Secrets: Lessons Learned From the Levandowski Case
30. Not so Pretty: Cosmetic Company Acquisitions Lead to Contentious Trade Secret Spat
31. Keeping up With the Kardashian-[Jenner]’s Trade Secret Battle
32. Appeals court ruling for Qualcomm “a victory of theory over facts”
33. It Was Nice While It Lasted: 9th Circuit Rejects Lower Court Ruling On How Abuse Of Patent Monopolies Can Violate Antitrust
34. New Federal Court Decision Provides for Greater Protection of Combination Drugs Under CETA
35. Glass Half Empty: Patent Reciting “Half Liquid” Is Indefinite
36. “Method of Preparation” Claims Still Patent Eligible Under § 101 in Modified Opinion
37. Explain Yourself: “Untethered” Obviousness Determination Reversed
38. Court Upholds Patent Eligibility of “Method of Preparation” Claims in Modified Opinion
39. Lack of inventive step: reading v appreciating
40. Patent Quality, Ranking and Valuation
41. Limiting the Use of Applicant Admitted Prior Art
42. Federal Circuit Directs Transfer Of Patent Suit From Western District Of Texas To Northern District Of California
43. Casting a New Light on Diagnostic Patents: “Methods of Preparation” Patent-Eligible
44. Fighting Counterfeits at the U.S. Border: The Counterfeit Goods Seizure Act of 2019 Would Expand Customs and Border Patrol Enforcement to Design Patents
45. Key Considerations and Tools for IP Protection of Computer Programs in Europe and Beyond
46. The Expanding Scope of Patentability of Computer related Inventions: A Welcome Development
47. Sharp Elbows and Profit-Maximizing Licensing Ruled Insufficient Evidence of Anticompetitive Conduct in FTC v. Qualcomm, Inc.
48. Ninth Circuit Reverses FTC Win in FTC v. Qualcomm, Finding No Antitrust Violations from Qualcomm’s Licensing of its Standard-Essential Patents
49. Google Warns Australians That The Government’s Plan To Tax Google To Give Money To Newspapers Will Harm Search & YouTube
50. Devin Nunes Is Still Suing A Satirical Cow & A Political Consultant, But Judge Rejects Attempt To Bring Twitter Back
51. TikTok Integrates With Music Distributor UnitedMasters, Will Let Artists Boost Their Songs From Its App To Spotify, Apple Music, More
52. Indiana Cities File Doomed Lawsuit Against Disney, Netflix, Demand 5% of Gross Revenues
53. People Spend 25% Of Their TV Time Streaming Netflix, YouTube, Disney+ (Report)
54. Cities sue Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, claim they owe cable “franchise fees”
55. YouTube Comes Out Swinging Against Proposed Australian Law Requiring It To Pay News Publishers
56. Google Defeats Account Termination Case on Section 230 Grounds (Mostly)–Enhanced Athlete v. YouTube (Eric Goldman)
57. It Doesn’t Make Sense To Treat Ads The Same As User Generated Content
58. Confused Critic Of Section 230 Now In Charge Of NTIA
59. If Oracle Buys TikTok, Would It Suddenly Change Its Tune On Section 230?
60. Why Keep Section 230? Because People Need To Be Able To Complain About The Police
61. Evaluating Patentability of AI Inventions
62. US Patent Office Sued For Requiring Human Inventor on Patent Applications
63. LinkedIn Seeks Supreme Court Review of Data Harvesting Dispute
64. “Moralistic Preening” and Broken Commitments Under the Washington Principles—Ninth Circuit Chastises Spain for Keeping Nazi-looted Pissarro but Rules Painting Will not Return to Cassirer Family
65. ‘Fortnite’ Battles Big Tech: Why Epic Games Is Suing Apple, Google Over Their App Store ‘Monopolies’
66. Epic Games v. Apple Inc. (Complaint for Injunctive Relief, August 13, 2020, United States District Court Northern District of California)
67. Epic’s Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite video is an irresponsible piece of corporate propaganda | Opinion: Fortnite’s operator is demonstrating it’s fully prepared to weaponize its young audience of millions for its own monetary gain
68. Insights: The Teachable Moments In The TikTok/’Fortnite’ Teenpocalypse 
69. Epic Games sues Apple to end what Epic calls ‘unfair and anti-competitive actions’
70. Fortnite takes on Apple’s App Store in Epic antitrust battle royale
71. The Fortnite App Store Battle: A Real Antitrust Conundrum, Or Just A Carefully Planned Out Contract Negotiation?
72. Epic files suit against Apple after Fortnite pulled from iOS App Store
73. Apple to revoke Epic’s dev tools, including those used for Unreal Engine 
74. Apple terminating Epic developer accounts, tools access: Epic files motion in US courts for a temporary restraining order in response 
75. Apple threatens to boot Epic and Unreal Engine off Mac and iOS 
76. Epic asks court to block Apple’s ‘retaliation’ as Fortnite, Unreal Engine face consequences 
77. Epic offers discount to Fortnite players on mobile, but only if they dodge platform fees
78. Apple, Google pull Fortnite from App Store over Epic’s new in-app payment option 
79. Fortnite removed from App Store after it dodges Apple’s rule on direct payments: Epic Games has filed a legal complaint against Apple, taking the fight over the 30% cut to US courts 
80. Sensor Tower: Apple’s removal of Fortnite cuts off $1.2b in player spending – Data firm’s estimates show huge disparity in monthly spending between iOS and Android versions of Epic’s game 
81. Epic Games Deploys Viral #FreeFortnite Campaign As It Sues Apple, Google For Removing Game From App Stores
82. Epic, Creator of Fortnite, sues Apple and Google Over App Store Altercation 
83. Florida landmark Coral Castle suing Epic Games: Company behind the tourist attraction demands damages and removal of in-game castle 
84. Fortnite has also been kicked off of Google Play: And, as with Apple, Epic Games is now also suing Google for anti-competitive practices 
85. Epic Games is now also suing Google over ‘anti-competitive’ Android policies
86. Epic’s battle for “open platforms” ignores consoles’ massive closed market
87. Ex-Rocksteady writer asks for name to be left off Suicide Squad credits: Senior scriptwriter says she wrote the original 2018 letter alerting management to sexual harassment problems and was pushed out for it 
88. Gree is suing Supercell for patent infringement in Clash Royale and Brawl Stars 
89. Infernal Technology and Terminal Reality Sue Ubisoft, Epic Games, Take-Two, Sony, Crytek, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts for Patent Infringement
90. Valve forbids developers to promote other platforms on Steam: Valve clarified that the new language on the FAQ was just a “reminder of existing rules for developers exploring the boundaries of the existing policies”
91. How EA turned The Sims into a reality TV show: During GamesIndustry.biz digital conference Changing Channels, EA talked about how to evolve a brand into a concept for another medium 
92. Licensing lessons from Hello Neighbor’s success: During GamesIndustry.biz’s Changing Channels, Alex Nichiporchik gave pieces of advice and words of warning for developers tempted by a licensing adventure 
93. Investment platform pays record $140,000 for sealed Super Mario Bros.
94. U.S. Patent no. 9,526,995: Video game recording and playback with visual display of game controller manipulation

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Genius Media Lawsuit Accusing Google of Stealing Song Lyrics Is Tossed
2. Judge Tosses Out Genius’ Laughable Lawsuit Against Google Over Licensed Lyric Copying
3. Neil Young’s Suit Illustrates Music Licensing Issues
4. Helpless No More? Neil Young Sues Trump Campaign for Use of His Songs
5. Fair Use, “The Frankenstein,” and the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
6. Masterson v. The Walt Disney Company: 9th Circuit dismisses claim against Disney’s animated film Inside Out, holding that alleged similarities to plaintiff’s book of poetry and movie script are unprotectable.
7. DMCA 512 Report: key findings by US Copyright Office
8. U.S. Copyright Office: DMCA Is “Tilted Askew,” Recommends Remedies for Rightsholders
9. In 10 Years Of Existence, The Long-Running French Farce Known As Hadopi Has Imposed Just €87,000 In Fines, But Cost Taxpayers €82 Million
10. Easier Copyright Registration Coming for Blogs and Social Media Posts
11. Like, Comment, Share, and Protect the Copyright of Digital Content
12. PRS v Qatar Airways
13. Porn Company Strikes Back
14. Special tweetment: Who owns the IP for social media content?
15. Interlocutory Injunction Issued in relation to Grey Goods in Canada
16. Apple Opposes Trademark Application For Recipe App’s Pear-Shaped Logo
17. Maker of VAMPIRE-Branded Alcoholic Beverages Alleges Grocery Chain Is Taking a Bite Out of Its Trademark Rights
18. Trademark tips: Beware linguistic errors and cultural appropriation
19. A New Standard for Multicolored Marks August 10, 2020
20. Merck v Merck: A lesson on the practical implications of co-existence agreements and online use in the digital age
21. Unfair Competition: The Tort that Tags Along
22. Monsanto V. Schmeiser 20 Years Later: The Answer Wasn’t Blowin’ in the Wind
23. Claims Covering Human Engineering That Exploits a Naturally-Occurring Phenomenon Are Patent Eligible
24. Sort It Out: Cell Sorting Method with Data Processing Steps Patent Eligible
25. Doing It That Way Is Natural . . . and Patentable
26. IP Alert | Still Contentious and “No More” Clear – AAM v. Neapco and Its Take on § 101
27. Obviousness, Common Sense and Sensibility: Federal Circuit Ruling Offers Cautionary Tale for Patent Applicants
28. Federal Circuit’s Cardionet Reversal Sheds Light on Patent Eligibility in Medical Diagnosis Inventions
29. Federal Circuit Still Spinning Its Wheels on American Axle
30. The Federal Circuit Finds a “Hooke” to Patent Ineligibility
31. District of Delaware Goes against Prior Decisions and Declines to Dismiss Willful Infringement Claims Despite Failure to Allege Egregious Infringing Conduct
32. Balance is Key in Design Patent Claim Drafting
33. Judge Woods Zips Up Loose Ends and Readies Zipper Dispute For Trial
34. The game begins: Strategies for the early stages of patent litigation – The defendant’s view
35. Intellectual Property: New Options for Patent Ownership Disputes
36. Congress To Consider National Right To Repair Law For First Time
37. Snapshot: intellectual property for fashion goods in USA
38. Genius Media Lawsuit Accusing Google of Stealing Song Lyrics Is Tossed
39. FTC Commissioners Are Upset About Section 230; Though It’s Not At All Clear Why
40. Online platform immunity under Section 230 teed up for FCC
41. Section 230 Isn’t Why Omegle Has Awful Content, And Getting Rid Of 230 Won’t Change That
42. Comments on NTIA’s Petition to the FCC Seeking to Destroy Section 230 (Eric Goldman)
43. Photo embedding cases depend on social media company decisions
44. The Harry Potter Films Are Now Exclusive To Comcast, And The Streaming Sector Remains Oblivious To Piracy’s Looming Resurgence
45. Jukin Launches Self-Service Platform Allowing Anyone To License Its Viral Videos, Starting At $50
46. Revisiting The Common Law Liability Of Online Intermediaries Before Section 230
47. Inventorship, Patenting and AI: The Public Comments on Patenting Artificial Intelligence Inventions
48. NTIA Section 230 Petition Raises Significant Legal and Policy Issues at FCC
49. Safe Harbors and Erroneous Blocking Redress Measures Adopted by the FCC; Additional Rulemaking Proposed
50. Baltimore’s Aerial Surveillance Program Has Logged 700 Flight Hours, One (1) Arrest
51. Appeals court rules 10¢-a-page charge for court documents is too high
52. Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Saying PACER Overcharged Users
53. Aeon Must Die dev Limestone Games faces accusations of “endless crunch” and IP theft: Publisher Focus Home Interactive is “carefully looking into” allegations
54. Goldeneye 64 remake shut down by James Bond licence holders: Developers will now redesign upcoming ’90s-style shooter as Project Ianus
55. Ubisoft Loses Appeal and Patent Related to “Rocksmith” is Invalidated
56. The COVID gaming boom — why and how to protect your IP
57. Crystal Dynamics Explains Spider-Man PS4 Exclusivity By Saying A Bunch Of… Words, I Guess?
58. Console Exclusive Games Have Given Way To Console Exclusive Game Characters
59. Apple won’t let Stadia or xCloud into iOS, citing App Store guidelines 
60. Apple blocking Project xCloud and Stadia because it can’t review every game: Microsoft responds, accusing Apple of “consistently treating gaming apps differently” 
61. Microsoft condemns Apple’s App Store policies: Apple will not approve Microsoft’s xCloud gaming service
62. Facebook slams Apple’s App Store policies, launches Facebook Gaming on iOS without games: Facebook is not happy with the months of rejections it has faced
63. Facebook finally launches Facebook Gaming on iOS — without Instant Games: Platform condemns Apple’s strict approval process, saying it “severely hamstrings innovation on mobile”
64. A data-driven primer for publishing agreements 
65. Is your publishing agreement fair?: At GDC Summer, lawyer Kellen Voyer broke down the average indie game publishing agreement in 2020 
66. Inside the twisting, turning development of Hardspace: Shipbreaker
67. U.S. Patent no. 9,682,314: Method and system for temporarily incentivizing user participation in a game space

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. A Quarter-Billion Dollar Bag of Beans: Responding to Ken Whyte’s Attack on Library Book Loans (Michael Geist)
2. Internet Archive Responds To Publishers Lawsuit: Libraries Lend Books, That’s What We Do
3. “Salacious” Content Doesn’t Bar Discovery in Copyright Infringement Suit
4. IAP Defeats Vicarious Copyright Infringement Claim–UMG v. Bright House (Eric Goldman)
5. Taylor Swift Changes Artwork For New Album, Merch After Online Retailer Complains Of Similarities
6. The EU’s Digital Copyright Directive – Where now for the UK?
7. Privacy rights trump artists’ Intellectual Property Rights: a brief insight into CJEU and IPR enforcement
8. Smith v. The Weeknd: Court dismisses copyright claim finding no substantial similarity under extrinsic test as only three shared notes remain after considering prior art, and three notes are not protectable as matter of law.
9. Alfred v. The Walt Disney Company: Ninth Circuit finds Disney “pirated” plaintiffs’ screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean finding similarities to be more than de minimis and sufficient to survive motion to dismiss.
10. The Day the Music Died at Political Rallies
11. Baby Shark sharpens its teeth against Chinese counterfeiters
12. I See Me, I Sue You: Jordan Jumps at Card Cameos
13. Incorrect notifications issued by IPONZ/WIPO
14. The relationship between reputation and similarity of marks, China Construction Bank Corp. v. EUIPO
15. Two Breweries Fight Over The Right To Use A Geographic Name Due To Trademark
16. Co-branding: One product, two trademarks – who has the rights?
17. Trademark Trolls – A Danger to Avoid with a Re-brand
18. Law Firm Southtown Moxie Responds Hilariously To Stupid Cease And Desist Letter
19. E-commerce operators not liable for trade mark infringement for mere storage of infringing goods
20. The Next Instalment in the Sky v SkyKick Saga: Lessons for Trade Mark Owners
21. Disassembled products and trademark infringement: a cautionary tale for manufacturers and re-sellers alike
22. 5 Key Takeaways from Texas Appraisal Trade Secret Saga
23. IP monitor: Federal Court of Appeal: Of course the Federal Courts can interpret agreements!
24. Out with the New, In with the Old: The F.C.A. provides Clarity on its Ability to interpret Contracts
25. Appeals Court Upholds Replacement Part Design Patents
26. A Diagnostic Patent Is Found Patent Eligible At the Federal Circuit
27. Improvements to Operation of an Apparatus Were Not Abstract
28. Genetically modified mice and the patent bargain
29. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Litigation Update: Tobii Technology, Inc. v. Weinblatt
30. Strategic Patent Claims Drafting
31. Who is leading the WiFi 6 patent race?
32. The role of IP and challenges for the IP system
33. Triller—The Music Video App Major Sway House Members Just Joined—Sues TikTok For Patent Infringement
34. As TikTok’s Aquisition Clock Is Ticking, Instagram Officially Rolls Out Copycat ‘Reels’
35. Clash, A New TikTok Competitor From Viner Brendon McNerney, Is Made With Creator Monetization In Mind (Exclusive)
36. Snapchat Inks Music Deals, Pilots TikTok-Like Feature Letting Users Add Songs To Their Snaps
37. Ex-Googler Levandowski gets 18 months in prison for trade-secret theft
38. Data Center Avoids Copyright Liability By Forwarding DMCA Notices to Its Customer–ALS Scan v. Steadfast (Eric Goldman)
39. Russian Stream-Rip Sites Attempt To Take Jurisdiction Issue All The Way To SCOTUS
40. Content Moderation Case Study: Facebook Nudity Filter Blocks Historical Content And News Reports About The Error (June 2020)
41. Apple’s claim that “we treat every developer the same” tested by US Congress: House Antitrust Subcommittee releases emails showing half revenue share being offered to Amazon for Prime Vid
42. ProtonMail founder: Apple uses monopoly to “hold all of us hostage”
43. If 30% is too high, what’s the right number? | Opinion: As authorities investigate Apple’s share of App Store revenues, there’s broad agreement that 30% is too high — but there’s little consensus on an alternative number
44. The State of AI: Patenting Trends and European Prosecution Strategy
45. Current IP Laws Outdone by Artificial Intelligence
46. Bot M8 LLC Asserts Sony’s PlayStation 4 “Uncharted” Game Infringes Its Patent, but Court Finds Bot M8’s Patent Invalid
47. Little Consolation for Hyperkin as Atari Litigation Games Continu
48. Epic Games Store now offers mod support for some games
49. Epic Games Store adds modding support: MechWarrior 5 is the first title to beta test new feature 
50. Epic Games Store adds support for community-made mods: The first game to support the feature is ‘MechWarrior 5 Mercenaries.’
51. Should streamers be worried about DMCA strikes on Twitch?: A rash of copyright claims from music labels points to difficult times ahead for video game streamers
52. 15,000 games removed from iOS App Store in China: Analysts at Niko Partners expect thousands more to be pulled by the end of the year
53. New partnership will give 2K access to over 2000 NFL player likenesses 
54. 2K Inks Deal To Feature NFL Player Names, Numbers, And Likenesses 
55. 2K signs deal to use real NFL player likenesses in games: Multiple football titles are in development, planned to launch starting in 2021
56. U.S. Patent no. 9,656,170: Game apparatus

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Print-on-Demand Vendor Doesn’t Qualify for DMCA Safe Harbor–Feingold v. RageOn (Eric Goldman)
2. CBS’ overzealous copyright bots hit Star Trek virtual Comic-Con panel
3. Viacom’s Copyright Bots Take Down ‘Star Trek’ Comic-con Panel Because These Bots Suck Out Loud
4. Reagan Foundation Tells President Trump and the RNC to Stop Using Reagan for Fundraising Purposes
5. Fight or Flight
6. Legal implications of syncing copyrighted music with other content
7. Marano v. Metropolitan Museum of Art
8. Hot topics in media and entertainment – Right of publicity: Evolving law around the use of a person’s name or likeness in documentaries and docudramas
9. Makeup Art May Be Copyrightable, Says Second Circuit
10. Publisher Decries Damn Libraries Entertaining The Masses Stuck At Home For Free
11. Engineering Drawings: A Case of Copyright or Design
12. Copyright protection granted to computer programs
13. DNA Company Accidentally Exposes Opted Out Users’ Data To Law Enforcement
14. Any Way You Slice It, D.C. Circuit Holds That &Pizza Can’t Get Piece of @Pizza
15. Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Pet Just Applied For Trademark On Jingle For Some R-R-R-Reason
16. Sky v SkyKick battles on but permission to appeal granted: more uncertainty for brand owners
17. Redskins Re-Brand: Did Trademark Speculator Fumble?
18. Flagging the importance of Trade Mark choice
19. Federal Circuit Holds Cancellation Standing Does Not Require Proprietary Interest in Asserted Mark
20. Supreme Court: “Generic.com” Trademarks May Be Registered if Consumers Do Not Perceive Them as Generic
21. Damages still available for infringement even where trade mark revoked
22. Stone Brewing Is Very Upset That People Don’t Like Its Trademark Bullying
23. Reputation and the power of the influencer: Sugar Bear Hair v Beauty Bear
24. The real IP issues with virtual influencers
25. Cannabis Industry Insight – U.S. Trademark Registrations Continue to be Denied for Foods and Dietary Supplements containing Hemp-Derived CBD
26. Trademarks: ‘HERBS R US Design’ Found to Depreciate the Goodwill attaching to the ‘TOYS R US Design’
27. Certification Mark Protectability
28. A grey area? How to register colours as trademarks
29. Equipping U.S. Rightsholders with the Tools to Deal with the Challenges of 3D Printing
30. EPO filing statistics: is 3D printing due some hype (again)?
31. Playing Keep-Away: Protecting Your Trade Secrets in a Remote Work Environment
32. On redetermination, PMPRB concludes that Galderma’s patent ‘pertains to’ DIFFERIN
33. Around 1600 viewers register for live video stream of computer software patent case
34. Federal Circuit Explains When You Can Ignore the Words Before the Colon in a Patent Preamble
35. The Federal Circuit Provides a Refresher on Joint Inventorship
36. Independently Performed, Publicly Disclosed Prior Work Can Lead to Joint Inventorship
37. Federal Circuit Confirms Joint Inventorship on Nobel Prize Winner’s Cancer Treatment Patents
38. Then You Didn’t See Them; Now You Do: Co-Inventors Added
39. Judge Matsumoto Holds That “Very Small Side Load” Is Indefinite and That “Retention Element” Is a Means-Plus-Function Claim Limitation
40. Weight Loss Patent Application Does Not Survive Section 101 Scrutiny
41. Dead on Arrival? Federal Circuit Majority Finds That Substitute Claims Live On (Uniloc v. Hulu: Part 1)
42. IP Alert | Federal Circuit Affirms Alice’s Applicability in IPR Proceedings
43. Extendable hose patent appeal unravels before the Court
44. Fractured Federal Circuit Panel Finds That Sovereign Immunity Does Not Prevent Exclusive Licensee from Pursuing Unlicensed Infringement Alone
45. Disclosure of “Preferred” Compounds Having a Complex Chemical Structure May Teach Away from Simpler Compounds Encompassed by a Broad Chemical Genus
46. TopGolf Wins Patent Appeal
47. You Can’t Clasp That: Judge Schofield Finds No Infringement Under Doctrine of Equivalents Due To Prosecution History Estoppel
48. Federal Circuit: Licensees’ Failure to Mark Eliminates Entitlement to Pre-Suit Damages
49. Diamonds are forever, but patents can tell us about the next 20 years
50. Projection effects in a 3D motion graphical user interface: non-technical
51. Dissecting the Regeneron v Kymab mouse case – what it says and its impact on patents
52. Patent first, science later: the Federal Court’s ‘clear and unmistakable direction’ to patentees
53. The Game Begins: Strategies for the Early Stages of Patent Litigation – The Claimant’s View
54. US Patent Litigation
55. Participation of Women Inventors in the US Patent System Is Increasing Slowly but Surely
56. Patent Trivia – Fun with Some Facts about Patents
57. Tech And COVID-19: Stop Using Video Game Graphics For Fake Crowds, Fox
58. Google reportedly peeks into Android data to gain edge over third-party apps: Google is already under investigation by Congress, DOJ, and 50 state AGs.
59. Woz sues YouTube over “bitcoin giveaway” scam videos using his name
60. Apple Cofounder Steve Wozniak Sues YouTube For “Unapologetically Hosting” Bitcoin Scammers
61. Apple Publishes Study Which Defends Its 30% App Store Cut
62. Apple defends its controlled ecosystem in the face of antitrust investigation: Commissioned study says digital marketplaces “need governance to thrive,” reiterates that 30% cut is standard
63. Epic Games’ Sweeney calls out Apple, Google for ‘exploitative’ platform fees
64. Tim Sweeney: Apple has “gone crazy” over rev share approach: “Apple has no right to take any percent of any company’s revenue just because they made the phone people use to access the stuff,” says Epic Games founder
65. Geotagged Social Media Posts Didn’t Support Personal Jurisdiction–Court of Master Sommeliers v. Pilkey (Eric Goldman)
66. Unauthorized Amazon Seller Enforcement: Two Metrics That Matter and Two That Don’t
67. Spotify Says Listening Time For Its 1.5 Million Podcasts More Than Doubled Last Quarter
68. Creator-Owned Streaming Service Nebula Hits 100,000 Monthly Paying Subscribers
69. Japan’s Top Court Says 45 Million Twitter Users Must Check That Anything They Retweet Is Not A Copyright Infringement
70. After Standoff, TikTok Signs Multi-Year Deal With National Music Publishers Association
71. Instagram’s TikTok Competitor, Reels, Is Reportedly Looking To Poach Creators With Six-Figure Payments
72. TikTok Establishes $200 Million Fund To Get Its Creators Paid
73. Are AI produced works protectable under Copyright Law?
74. Deepfakes: An EU and U.S. perspective
75. CBP Has Access To Billions Of License Plate Images Collected By Private Companies
76. Rite Aid deployed facial recognition in hundreds of stores, report finds
77. Huge apparent leak unearths Nintendo’s prototype history
78. A scrapped Luigi, unused Pokemon sprites & more dug up in retro Nintendo leak
79. Report: Twitch viewership grew by 56% in Q2 
80. Livestreaming pandemic surge sustained through Q2: StreamElements says hours watched on Twitch jumped 56% over first quarter of year while Facebook Gaming rose 75%
81. Report: Valve is quietly testing a Playtest button on Steam

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. “No one can own the law” – United States confirms copyright protection does not extend to works of legislators or judges
2. Forever(ly) Brothers, Forever(ly) Rivals: The Everly Brothers’ Epic Battle Over Authorship of “Cathy’s Clown”
3. Reproduction of infringing content online: who’s liable?
4. Yet Another ‘Stranger Things’ Copyright Suit Over A String Of Likely Non-Protectable Elements
5. Porn distribution company loses piracy suit appeal against Web host
6. Court Reconsiders and Changes Course in Instagram Embedding Case
7. Copyright Win Falls Apart at the Seams on Challenge to Registration Validity
8. Why Are Pizzerias Arguing Whether Web Browsing Is Copyright Infringement?–Imapizza v. At Pizza (Eric Goldman)
9. Court sanctions Liebowitz $103K! Requires service of a copy of the order on all of his clients and filing in all of his cases!! But can the Court do that?
10. Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Says It’s Really Unfair That He Should Have To Tell Clients And Courts How Frequently He’s Been Caught Lying In Court
11. Using Music in Podcasts – Talk to the Copyright Holders – Why You Can’t Rely on Your ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange Licenses
12. Amendments to Mexico’s Copyright Legislation, in a Nutshell
13. “I told you NO, you can’t have their number…” – CJEU confirms IP Enforcement Directive does not require disclosure of email addresses, telephone numbers or IP addresses
14. Trademark Licensing in Canada: Everything You Need to Know You Can Learn From The Hells Angels
15. That’s Not My Employment Law Group! A Trademark Battle Between Two Law Firms.
16. Lady Antebellum Changes Name to “Lady A” and Files Trademark Lawsuit
17. British Amateur Gymnastics Association v UK Gymnastics Ltd [2020] EWHC 1678 (IPEC)
18. XOXO mark fails to distinguish, says General Court
19. Trademark Law Alert – “LADY A” Case Could Present Interesting Issues…or Not
20. Brighton & Hove Albion FC seeks trade mark protection for ‘Albion’ – but why?
21. Booking.com Remand on USPTO Attorney Fee Issue Portends Closure on Circuit Split
22. Stone Brewing, One-Time Battlers Of ‘Big Beer’, Out Here Trying To Cancel Non-Confusing Trademarks
23. SCOTUS Alert: Adding “.com” To A Generic Term Can Be A Trademark
24. Supreme Court: ‘Generic.com’ Domains Not Necessarily Generic; May Be Federally Registered
25. Success for Louis Vuitton in pattern trademark dispute
26. Check Mate! Louis Vuitton defends its chequerboard pattern for the second time
27. The EU General Court provides clarification on trademarks consisting of slogans, advertising messages, idiomatic expressions
28. Loss of gravity for the Moon Boot
29. A breakthrough for the luxury trademark ‘Damier Azur’, but the battle is not yet won!
30. Nosecco Appeal of UKIPO Decision Dismissed
31. No-go for Nosecco following opposition by Prosecco
32. Nosecco, Prosecco and the clash between marketing ideas and IP rights
33. Still no perfect trademark for ‘perfect’ energy bar
34. The Michael Jordan Case and The New Balance Case: The Latest Trend in Chinese Trademark Battle
35. Don’t Get Schooled: What You Can Learn from the Wave of Trade Secret Cases That Followed the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis
36. In assessing design patent infringement, the devil is in the details
37. The Federal Court finds compelled disclosure and review of third-party rebates are ultra vires the Patent Act
38. Board Should Fix Obvious Claim Errors in Order to Make a Decision on the Merits
39. Necessity of Articulated Reasoning with Rational Underpinning in an Obviousness Rejection
40. Aerospace to garden hoses: differing opinions in the English Court of Appeal as to obviousness over obscure prior art
41. Functional Limitations vs. Intended Use
42. Publication Does Not Necessarily Defeat Joint Inventorship
43. Collaboration and Concerted Effort are What Result in Joint Inventorship
44. Federal Circuit Upholds Enbrel® Patents and Blocks Biosimilar
45. Who owns patents, SEPs and develops standards for smart home technologies?
46. Modern methods for improving conventional prior-art searches
47. Patentability of Diagnostic Inventions in the United States, Europe and Canada – Part 1
48. Patentability of Diagnostic Inventions in the United States, Europe and Canada – Part 2
49. Zombie Patents? USPTO Issuing Notices of Abandonment in U.S. National Stage PCT Applications After Filing of an RCE where no Inventor Oath or Declaration or Substitute Statement has been Filed
50. Mid-year review of 2020’s major patent cases from across the globe
51. Do you need to put in place an escrow agreement with respect to the software and/or source code that you license?
52. Ontario Government Unveils Intellectual Property Action Plan Along with COVID-19 Research Projects
53. Business Development Bank of Canada Commits $160-Million Fund Geared Towards Canada’s Intellectual Property Development
54. IP Litigation Quarterly Update
55. Q2 2020 Quick Links (Everything) (Eric Goldman)
56. If Twitter Shuts Down Trump’s Account For Repeat Infringement Then Will Trump Fans Finally Realize That Copyright Is The Problem?
57. Copyright Trolling Evolved: Okularity Accused Of DMCAing Social Media Accounts, Then Demanding MILLIONS To Reinstate
58. Amazon.com: more transparency, less counterfeits
59. Is It OK to Embed Instagram Photos? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
60. DOJ: Chinese hackers stole “hundreds of millions of dollars” of secrets
61. Banksy’s face-mask themed artwork removed from London Underground
62. New Florida Law Gives College Athletes Right to Profit from their Name, Image and Likeness
63. U.S. Patent no. 9,861,896: Method and system for an integrated platform wide party system within a multiplayer gaming environment

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. U.S. Court Of Appeals Hears Arguments That Lawsuit Against Disney For ‘Pirates’ Shouldn’t Have Been Dismissed
2. Top EU Court Says Online Platforms Must Only Provide Postal Addresses Of People Who Upload Unauthorized Copies Of Copyright Material
3. Neil Young ‘NOT ok’ with Trump playing his music at Mount Rushmore event
4. Legal Implications of Syncing Copyrighted Music with Other Content
5. Meek Mill, Atlantic Records Face Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over Lifted Lyrics
6. US copyright enters the social media age
7. IP Insight – Brompton Doesn’t Fold Before Court of Justice
8. How Absolutely Desperate Must You Be To Try To Claim That The Answer To ‘Cancel Culture’ Is Stronger Copyright?
9. Are fundamental rights the answer to the deficiencies of EU copyright law, discussed in a European context? (Maria Christina Michailidou)
10. Brexit: Intellectual Property and Software Code Post-Brexit Transition
11. When Paying for It Doesn’t Mean You Own It
12. Conducting your way through music licensing: common issues
13. Random Issues to Consider as Media Businesses Adapt to the New World of the Virus – Music Uses on Zoom and Other Platforms, Unlicensed FM Transmitters
14. A look at recent student athlete name, image and likeness legislation
15. Not all pun and games: Federal Court not amused with cannabis company’s brand parody
16. GOOGLES Wins Right to Sue Google
17. PlanetArt v Photobox offers practical tips for designing UK-targeted apps
18. “Trump Too Small” is Too Personal for Trademark Registration
19. No, Trademark Trolls Collecting Various Fake Names For A Washington Football Team Will Not Get In The Way Of The NFL Team’s Renaming
20. If It Isn’t Perceived as Generic, Then It Isn’t Generic: Takeaways from USPTO v. Booking.com
21. Trade mark rights in generic terms: does the US booking.com decision open the door in the U.S. or Australia?
22. Supreme Court: “Booking.com” Can Be Registered as Trademark
23. The Greek Freak and celebrity trade marks
24. Iconic Ferrari 250 GTO Trademark (Partially) Cancelled
25. Ferrari loses EU trade mark for ‘world’s most expensive car’
26. “Nosecco” lost its sparkle: Logo trade mark application rejected by UK IPO and decision upheld by High Court
27. Owls swoop in to secure WAWAW trade mark
28. Tiger King: Murder, mayhem and misuse of intellectual property
29. A tale of conflicting data sets: filing and litigation statistics paint a contrasting picture of the US trademark landscape
30. Trademarks for Business Owners: 4 (More) Things Every Trademark Owner Should Know
31. I found out about this amusing Karen parody of American Girl dolls because they want it taken down
32. American Girl Brand Sees The Light On Parody
33. Knock It Off, Knockoffs? Ninth Circuit Affirms Trade Dress Rights but Not Fame
34. IBM has a problem with Google’s Open Usage Commons: The ties between the Open Usage Commons and Google may be too strong and clear.
35. Can Trademark Law Combat Price Gouging? 3M is Testing Theories to Protect its Brand
36. Amazon Will Display Seller Identifying Information On Seller Profile Pages – What Does It Really Mean For Brands Trying To Stop Unauthorized Sales?
37. Descriptive marks: marketer’s nirvana or lawyer’s nightmare?
38. Moving on Up: Increased Costs Awards in Canadian Patent Litigation
39. Challenges in Canada: how CIPO is tackling a backlog caused by covid-19, legislative change and Madrid
40. Device Having a Chamber “Loaded With” a Composition Positively Requires Presence of Composition in Device
41. Do Lord Justice Arnold’s comments on Fibrogen v Akebia signify a change in approach to instruction of experts?
42. Patentee’s Failure to Fully Define Non-Standard Physical Characteristic Leads to Invalidity Holding
43. Lights Out for Light-up Shoe Patents Found to Be Obvious
44. Lights Out for Light-Up Shoe Patent, Thanks to Non-Limiting Preamble
45. Reliance on Common Sense Permitted in Obviousness Analysis
46. Electronic Communication Technologies, LLC v. ShoppersChoice.com, No. 2019-1587 (Fed. Cir. May 14, 2020)
47. Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions AB v. Oticon Medical AB, No. 2019-1105 (Fed. Cir. May 15, 2020)
48. Common Sense in Patents: Makes Sense?!
49. Can One Have Too Many Patents?
50. Patent Assignments: Difficult Decisions in a Difficult Time
51. Patent Analytics Provider Tracks “Examiners Who Procrastinate”
52. A Tale of Two Districts: Patent Trials in the Eastern and Western Districts of Texas During the COVID-19 Pandemic
53. The One Secret Everyone Needs to Know About Patents
54. Canada Announces Accelerated Exam for Pandemic Related Inventions Filed by “Small Entities”
55. China’s Latest Patent Law Amendment Introduces Patent Linkage and Patent Term Extension
56. Keeping a secret: five tips for creating an effective non-disclosure agreement
57. EUIPO Report Names Turkey as the Third Biggest Producer of Counterfeit Goods
58. How Do I Protect Intellectual Property?
59. When Piracy Literally Saves Lives
60. What A Shock: Scammers Are Abusing YouTube’s Notice And Takedown System With DMCA Claims
61. Now That USMCA Is In Effect… Can Congress Even Reform Section 230 Without Violating The Agreement?
62. Americans Disagree On What Content Should Be Moderated, But They All Agree Social Media Companies Suck At Moderation
63. Google Search Results Allegedly Promote YouTube Videos Over More Popular Clips From Competitive Platforms
64. YouTube Now Tells Creators Exactly How Much They Make From Ads, Super Chat, Channel Memberships Per 1,000 Views
65. TikTok Says It Removed 49 Million Videos For Content Violations In The Second Half Of 2019
66. Tiktok deletes 49 million videos for rule-breaking over 6 month period
67. Jason Derulo Says He Makes “Far More” Than $75,000 Per TikTok
68. Registration of generic Top Level Domains (gTLD)
69. The Postdigital Emergence of Memes and GIFs: Meaning, Discourse, and Hypernarrative Creativity (Albin Wagener)
70. Fan Uses AI Software To Lipread What Actors Really Said In TV Series Before Chinese Authorities Censored Them
71. Deepfakes Can Mean Deep Water and Deep Pockets for Your Business
72. Companies Are Selling Cops Access To Personal Data Harvested From Malicious Hacking And Data Breaches
73. California’s Effort to Suppress the Publication of Age Information Violates the Constitution–IMDb v. Becerra (Eric Goldman)
74. France to exactly restore Notre Dame spire, ditching modern designs
75. 8,000 games have been pulled from the App Store in China over missing ISBNs 
76. Over 8,000 games pulled from App Store in China in one week: Apple clamps down on paid games or titles with in-app purchases that have not been approved by Chinese regulator 
77. Unreal Engine devs can now capture facial animation using an iOS app
78. Unreal’s new iPhone app does live motion capture with Face ID sensors
79. Twitch Faces Sudden Stream of DMCA Notices Over Background Music
80. Pokémon Snap had a different kind of focus | Why I Love: Tag Games CEO Marc Williamson believes developers could learn from the Nintendo photo safari’s escapist tourism without pressure
81. Why is this copy of Super Mario Bros. worth a record $114,000?
82. Vintage ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Video Game Sells for $114,000
83. Rare copy of Super Mario Bros sells for a record $114,000: The NES classic seta new standard for vintage game prices at auction last weekend

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Research Libraries Tell Publishers To Drop Their Awful Lawsuit Against The Internet Archive
2. Google v. Oracle and the Future of Software Development
3. The Case of Enola Holmes
4. Estate Of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Alleges Copyright Infringement Over Sherlock’s Emotional Awakening
5. In Copyright Case Over Photos, the Second Circuit Brings Four Critical Issues into Focus
6. Court Reconsiders Decision About Website Getting License to Embedded Photo from Instagram Terms of Use
7. S.D.N.Y Reconsiders Instagram Embedding By Mashable
8. Sinclair v. Ziff Davis, LLC: Court grants photographer’s motion to reconsider dismissal of copyright case against news site that embedded link to plaintiff’s Instagram image
9. Instagram Rolls Out Ability To Pin Three Comments To The Top Of Any Thread
10. Law firm marketing alert: Blog image violated copyright, photojournalist’s complaint says
11. Copyright, Competition, and Controversy: Press Publishers’ Right under the Copyright Directive
12. News Company’s ‘Digital Audience Director’ Fails To Understand Embedding, Issues Bogus DMCA Takedown Notices
13. Can cloud storage-portals be asked to put in place a filtering mechanism to ferret out infringing materials?
14. Not so elementary
15. Pablo Escobar Estate Sues Atlanta Restaurant
16. Sci-Hub Downloads Boost Article Citations — And Help Academic Publishers
17. Copyright Office Issues Report on DMCA Safe Harbors: Section 512 is “Unbalanced”
18. A functional shape may be protected by copyright rules the CJEU
19. Functional shapes and copyright law
20. Copyright and Trade Marks in relation to Shapes: two European Perspectives
21. Supreme Court Decision in Booking.com: Generic Domain Names Can Be Protected as Trademarks
22. US Supreme Court Holds That Adding ‘.com’ to Generic Name May Create Protectable Trademark
23. Supreme Court Clears the Way for Generic.com Trademark Registrations
24. Consumer Perception Is Key To Registration Of Generic “.com” Marks
25. Supreme Court Rules that “Booking.com” Is Eligible for Trademark Protection
26. SCOTUS Holds That ‘Generic.com’ Trademarks Like Booking.com May Be Capable of Registration
27. Supreme Court Upholds Booking.com Trademark Registration
28. Supreme Court Rejects PTO “Generic Term” Rule
29. U.S. Supreme Court Allows Booking.com to Trademark Its Domain Name
30. SCOTUS Eliminates Bright Line Rule Against Generic Term and Top Level Domain Name Trademarks
31. Generic + Generic = Protectable Trademark
32. U.S. Supreme Court rejects categorical rule that generic term plus “.com” results in a generic composite
33. Should I File for My Trademark + ‘.COM?’ It Depends
34. Supreme Court Promotes Weaponization of Generic Domain Names–USPTO v. Booking.com (Eric Goldman)
35. Manchester United Alleges Trademark Infringement through Third-Party Mods to Football Manager
36. Trademark Battle Heats Up Over Fizzy Way To Cool Down
37. Black Lives Matter in trademarks and branding
38. More Disputes Over Trademarked Area Codes. Why Is This Allowed Again?
39. Pairing Unsuccessful: Bluetooth and Fiat Denied Summary Judgment in Suit over Unauthorized Use of BLUETOOTH Marks
40. The G.O.A.T. Trademark Registration Stands, and the Goats With It
41. easyJet opposes Easy Nurse at the UKIPO
42. The General Court looks at distinctiveness of the XOXO mark
43. CJEU annuls EUIPO’s trade mark invalidation of Louis Vuitton’s Damier Azur pattern
44. Hermès: How WWII shortages led to the creation of an iconic brand
45. Prosecco celebrates a non-alcoholic win
46. ‘Nosecco’ is a no-no, says the High Court
47. A clear NO to Nosecco! High Court of Justice rejects the appeal in a new chapter in the bubble war. The protected designation of origin “Prosecco” is an obstacle to the registration of the trademark “Nosecco”
48. Trademark Enforcement Tips and Traps: Navigating Canada’s Trademark System One Year After the Major Changes
49. The protection of wine geographical indications: legislative efforts since Pliny
50. Federal Court releases decision on validity of the Amending Regulations of the Patented Medicines Regulations
51. Granting Security Interest in Patents Did Not Deprive Patent Owner of Standing to Sue for Patent Infringement
52. UK Supreme Court upholds appeal by biotech firm Kymab to revoke antibody patents held by US giant Regeneron
53. Patenting the future? Kymab prevails in the battle of the mice
54. Regeneron Patents Revoked for Claim Breadth
55. G 3/19: plants produced by essentially biological processes are excluded from patentability
56. European Patent Office did not grant a patent on concept of linking customer data with a key instead of personally identifiable information to improve privacy protection.
57. Nanotechnology patents: challenge for industrial property and its regulations
58. Crystal clear? Patenting polymorphs in Europe
59. Federal Circuit: Digital Guitar Instruction Patent Directed to an Abstract Idea
60. Federal Circuit: Common Sense May Substitute For Elements Not In The Prior Art
61. Federal Circuit Emphasizes Role of Common Sense in Obviousness Analysis
62. Patents Claiming a Range of Values, Such as Gate Sizes for Semiconductor Chips, Must Enable One of Ordinary Skill to Make and Use the Entire Claimed Range
63. Double Patenting: A comparative guide between U.S. & Canadian practice
64. Global patent strategies in the world of tech & engineering
65. Intellectual Property in the Cloud: The Patent Troll Threat
66. PODCAST: Patent Troll Litigation is on the Upswing
67. The space IP race: protection and enforcement of your orbiting assets
68. US DoJ Report Recommends Curtailing Immunity of Online Platforms for User-Generated Content
69. Protecting inventions which use Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
70. When your AI starts to invent: Hot topics in patenting AI-generated inventions
71. WIPO’s revised paper on IP policy and AI
72. PES loses licenses for AC Milan and Inter Milan: Unrenewed agreements will not affect eFootball PES 2020 or myClub, but likely to affect PES 2021 and other future gamesGoogle makes its Maps Platform gaming solution available for all mobile developers 
73. U.S. Patent no. 10,029,177: System and method for a videogame with a secondary metagame
74. U.S. Patent no. 10,078,410: System to locomote an entity in three dimensional space

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Access Copyright and York University File Leave to Appeal Material in the Supreme Court of Canada (Howard Knopf)
2. Copyright Board Activity in 2020: Launch of Twitter Account and Guidelines for Economic Evidence (Howard Knopf)
3. Florida Law Will Allow College Athletes to Profit from Name, Image, and Likeness Starting Summer 2021
4. Can copyright law help Brompton ride out an IP storm?
5. Zindel v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc.: Ninth Circuit reverses dismissal of copyright claims against The Shape of Water film, ruling that dismissal on pleadings was premature because additional evidence could aid.
6. The fair remuneration provisions in the new Copyright Directive
7. Copyright: Hyperlinks and the Communication to the Public Right
8. John Bolton Doesn’t Need Copyright Protection
9. Companies Issuing Bogus Copyright Claims To Hide Police Training Materials From The Public
10. Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Benchslapped And Sanctioned AGAIN In A Massive Filing Detailing Pages Upon Pages Of Him Lying Under Oath
11. Supreme Court says generic domains like booking.com can be trademarked
12. Prosecco People Move On From Bullying Puns Over Trademark To Bullying Portmanteau Over Trademark
13. Captain Tom Moore – a positive pandemic trade mark story
14. Vegan food fight: Does Nestlé’s Incredible Burger infringe Impossible Burger?
15. EU law on the “technical result” and “substantial value” exclusions for shape marks
16. Where Claimed Points of Novelty Have Primarily Functional Purpose, They Fail “Ornamental Design” Patentability Requirement
17. Federal Circuit Affirms Use of Common Sense for Obviousness Determination
18. Falling short of a sufficient disclosure
19. Patent claim ambiguities and their interpretations
20. Upheaval for patent law of sufficiency from the UK Supreme Court
21. Patents diary June 2020: UK Supreme Court holds Regeneron’s transgenic mice patents invalid
22. Supreme Court Decision: Regeneron v Kymab
23. Territorial licensing: “start at the end before you begin”
24. New Section 301 investigations into digital services taxes involving multiple countries
25. Millions of Americans Depend on Libraries for Internet. Now They’re Closed: From big cities to tiny towns, librarians are getting scrappy to meet the need
26. Instagram Users, Beware Of Copyright Infringement Warning You May Receive In DMs
27. Goldman Sachs Created A Font, But You Are Forbidden By Its License To Critique Goldman Sachs Using It
28. Pokemon Go Developer Niantic Wins Battle Over 3D Virtual Thematic Environment Patent
29. Sinespace dev partners with Unity to let Asset Store creators sell models in-game 
30. European retailers can no longer sell download codes for Nintendo-published titles
31. New hack runs homebrew code from DVD-R on unmodified PlayStation 2

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Publishers Sue Internet Archive for free access to E-books
2. Second Circuit Declines to Decide if Human Skin Can Be a Tangible Medium of Expression under Copyright Law and Affirms Dismissal of Makeup Artist’s Lawsuit
3. Second Circuit Avoids “Making Up” Copyright Ruling Finding Artist’s Claims Preempted
4. Copyright and memes: Drake effect, exceptions to infringement
5. Ninth Circuit Decision Solidifies the Importance of Adhering to Registration Formalities
6. Get ready to explore the boundaries of copyright on a bike before the ECJ (Case C‑833/18 (Brompton))
7. A ride towards copyright for functional designs: could the iconic Brompton folding bike enjoy copyright protection? The view from Milan
8. Copyright: Text and Data Mining – New Rules?
9. Political Campaigns and Unauthorized Music
10. Software patentability in Canada and beyond
11. Copyright Gets In The Way Of Chef Andres’ ‘Recipes For The People’; Because The DMCA Takedown System Is Still Broken
12. Cheez-It Issues A Bogus DMCA Notice To Nuke A Picture It Didn’t Like, Receives Dozens Of Offensive Images In Response
13. Copyright Filters And Takedowns Are Broken: Questlove Says YouTube Flagged Him For Playing His Own Tracks
14. Amazon and Valentino v. Kaitlyn Pan: contractual breach and counterfeiting
15. Kawhi Leonard’s Fight for the “Claw”: An Oregon Court Holds that Nike Owns the “Claw Design” Logo
16. Too vague: Prince Harry and Meghan’s trade mark application refused
17. Another blow for Meghan and Harry’s trade mark strategy? Let’s investigate…
18. Harry & Meghan’s ARCHEWELL US trade mark – not as hopeless as some reports suggest
19. Netflix Outsmarts POTUS On Space Force Trade Mark
20. Don’t Let Your Trademark Go Up In Smoke: “smoking is cool” Branding Is Prohibited Under Canada’s Cannabis Act
21. Supreme Court rules in favour of Apple on trademark debranding
22. NOKIA v Kokiya: the letters of the law
23. Restaurant Industry Insight – Registering a Descriptive Restaurant Name
24. In the company of Jedi´s
25. Unfair advantage? Burlington Arcade successful at CJEU
26. Three key differences between U.S. and Canadian patent law that can affect patent filing strategies in Canada
27. Dropbox’s Patents Invalidated for Patent-Ineligible Subject Matter
28. U.S. District Court Again Finds Patents for Updating Toolbar Without User Intervention Invalid
29. Federal Circuit: Prior Dismissal Bars Customer Lawsuits
30. Non-Infringement Need Not “Be Actually Litigated” to Invoke Kessler Doctrine
31. Non-Infringement Need Not Be “Actually Litigated” to Shield Accused Products From Infringement Liability in Subsequent Actions
32. Regeneron v Kymab and the effect of claim scope on the requirement of sufficiency of disclosure
33. Rights of patentee or general Welfare of the public: which way should the scales tilt?
34. Lifecycle of a smart idea: Patent strategy – Optimising life sciences patents
35. Aces of the skies – the patent dogfight between DJI and Autel
36. FibroGen & Astellas v Akebia & Otsuka – Lord Justice Arnold returns to the Patents Court for monster six patent trial
37. Federal Circuit Patent Update
38. Fun summer inventions and patents
39. A Brief History of Patents & Slavery In Honor of Juneteenth
40. Intellectual property in the time of COVID-19
41. Brexit: implications for holders of intellectual property rights and domain names
42. IP Post-NAFTA: What CUSMA Coming into Force Means for Canadian IP Law
43. Revised draft Guidelines operationalizing the Patented Medicines Regulations: notable changes
44. Intellectual Property – Top tips for Directors
45. Pay to Link?: Canadian Heritage Minister Guilbeault Backs Bringing the Link Tax to Canada (Michael Geist)
46. Heritage Minister raises possibility of link tax for internet companies (Michael Geist)
47. Europeans vow to pursue digital tax plans after US “provocation”
48. Jukin Media Steps In With Copyright Claim After Trump Posts Doctored Video Of Hugging Toddlers
49. Viral TikTok Video From Black Artist Kirby Prompts Pepsi To Rebrand ‘Aunt Jemima’ Products
50. Southern District Says the Post Is the Story: Paparazzo’s Cardi B snaps are fair use when it comes to lipstick and hurled shoes
51. With YouTube Music, Google is holding my speakers for ransom
52. Advertising Falls within Commercial Activity Exception to Sovereign Immunity
53. California court dismisses Magic Leap lawsuit against competitor Nreal
54. Magic Leap’s lawsuit against competitor Nreal thrown out of court: “From the beginning we’ve firmly stated that Magic Leap’s claims against Nreal are meritless,” says Nreal founder
55. Mass DMCA Takedown Requests Issued on Twitch
56. Cheeky Devils left Red-faced – High Court rejects Manchester United’s procedural request in video game case
57. Valve looks to stem tide of racist bots in Team Fortress 2: After months of inaction, Valve quietly works to “mitigate the use of new and free accounts for abusive purposes”
58. Bot mafias have wreaked havoc in World of Warcraft Classic
59. EA Sports renews exclusivity deal with La Liga for FIFA franchise: The extended deal includes a “joint commitment” to pushing further into esports
60. U.S. Patent no. 10,325,266: Rewarding classes of purchasers

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Apple, SOCAN highlights changing role of Copyright Board, says IP professor Ariel Katz
2. Federal Court of Appeal Issues Two Decisions on the Copyright Act’s “Making Available” Right
3. I’m So Tired: IP Rights Exhaustion
4. SA Music LLC v. Amazon.com, Inc.: Court dismisses copyright claims, holding distribution of work through digital music store requires transfer or download of file containing copyright work from one computer to another.
5. A co-hop-yright clash
6. Wheely good news for product designers?
7. Brompton Bicycle – far from folded
8. Riding copyright in the right direction?
9. I want to Ride my (Brompton Folding) Bicycle
10. CJEU confirms that original functional shapes may obtain copyright protection
11. The CJEU confirms copyright can subsist in functional shapes provided they are original
12. CJEU rules that functional shapes are eligible for copyright protection, in so far as they are original works
13. CJEU on eligibility of functional shape under Copyright Law
14. Can copyright protect technical products? Brompton provides some answers
15. The Brompton Bicycle – the collapsible bike with a collapsing monopoly?
16. WIPO brings ‘poor man’s copyright’ into digital age
17. Copyright protection for Brompton’s folding bicycle? CJEU gives green light to the possibility across Europe
18. Karen Hepp v. Facebook, Inc.: Dismisses news anchor’s right of publicity claims against Facebook & others, holding exception to safe harbor based on “any law pertaining to intellectual property” does not apply.
19. Do You Like The Creepy Dolls Horror Subgenre?
20. Pablo Star Ltd. v. The Welsh Government: Court rejects Welsh government’s motion to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds finding use of photographs in tourism ads is commercial activity without immunity.
21. Social media influencers beware: Street art is protected by copyright
22. Inaccuracies in copyright registration doom fabric designer’s big jury verdict against H&M
23. Stop Asking Marvel To Keep Cops From Wearing Masks With ‘The Punisher’ Skull On It
24. Toys “R” Us Successful in Depreciation of Goodwill Claim Against “Herbs R Us”
25. Canada: Protective Orders in Trademark Cases
26. Netflix Trumps US Armed Forces in Space Race
27. Booking.com: Does a dot.com make a brand name distinctive?
28. Yes, your product is incredible, but should you call it that?
29. The Kimono controversy: a matter of cultural awareness and risk management
30. Dissecting SkyKick
31. Supreme Court Suggests Claim Preclusion May Be Less Relevant to Trademark Cases and Questions Its Applicability to a Defense Rather than a Claim
32. A trademark tasting session to celebrate World Gin Day
33. Time to Brighton up that brand portfolio?
34. Trade marks: Don’t register them “purely as a legal weapon”
35. The Scent of a Crayon: Unique Complications with Scent and Other Non-Traditional Trademarks in Canada
36. 3M Continues to Use Lanham Act to Combat Nefarious Use of 3M Mark for N-95 Masks
37. Flag Day Greetings
38. My Big Fat Greek Lawsuits
39. Ninth Circuit Closes Lips on Confusion Claims Against Pucker Vodka
40. Flying on Red Bull’s wings
41. UK High Court issues latest decision in MERCK trademark saga
42. L’Oreal Appeals $66 Million Trade Secret Judgment
43. UK based .eu domain name owners beware – Brexit is coming
44. Southern District Of New York Grants Motion To Dismiss Patent And Trade Secret Claims, Finding Patents Ineligible Under Section 101 And That Trade Secret Claim Failed To Identify A Protectable Secret
45. Follow the Rules! Recent Changes to Canada’s Patent Procedures
46. PTAB Designates As Informative a Decision Instituting Post-Grant Review for a Design Patent Lacking Ornamentality
47. Federal Circuit Affirms Rule 12(b)(6) Dismissal Because the Patent Was Directed to the Patent-Ineligible Abstract Idea of Teaching a User to Play the Guitar
48. Encrypting/decrypting audio data with reduced latency: technical
49. PTAB Decision on Functional Language for a Camera Claim Limitation
50. Efficient use of search tools for prior art and patent searching
51. Instagram Users: Post at Your Own Risk. Your Public Content May Be Legally Sublicensed
52. Two SDNY Courts Post Opposite Conclusions on Instagram Fair Use
53. Internet Archive ends “emergency library” early to appease publishers
54. Internet Archive Closing National Emergency Library Two Weeks Early, Due To Lawsuit, Despite How Useful It’s Been
55. Algo IP: Intellectual Property in AI Datasets, Insights and Outputs – the Growing Importance of Trade Secrets
56. Deepfakes aren’t very good—nor are the tools to detect them
57. Artificial Intelligence and WIPO
58. Will Robots Replace Patent Examiners?
59. B.C. woman finds photos, videos of herself for sale online. And it’s legal
60. Own Data? Ethical Reflections on Data Ownership (Patrik Hummel, Matthias Braun, Peter Dabrock)
61. Stolen Banksy mural rediscovered in Italian farmhouse
62. Federal Court Affirms Activision’s First Amendment Rights In Using Humvees in ‘Call Of Duty’ Game
63. Nintendo issues cease-and-desist for Switch modchip installation service
64. Nintendo Cryptically Points Out That Selling ‘Animal Crossing’ Assets For Real Money Violates ToS
65. Rockstar stops hackers from spawning KKK members in Red Dead Online
66. FDA approves game marketed as a treatment for ADHD: Prescription-only device is first game-based therapy the US agency has approved for any condition
67. May I Have This Dance? Epic Games Prevails in Second Dance Emote Suit.
68. Fortnite Defeats Another Lawsuit Over Emote Dance Moves–Brantley v. Epic Games (Eric Goldman)
69. Duke Nukem and the Dangers of Acquired IP in Serial Game Development
70. Gearbox sues 3D Realms for breach of Duke Nukem acquisition contract: After original Duke Nukem composer sues Gearbox over royalties, developer brings in original IP owner
71. Manchester United sues Football Manager makers for trade mark infringement
72. The chicanery of Penguin Cretins: Valve maintains its signature silence as wayward developers code-swap games on Steam, leaving users frustrated and confused
73. Devs can now dig around in the source code for three games from Blendo Games
74. Ziggurat has acquired the BloodRayne franchise and other Majesco licenses
75. Ziggurat Interactive acquires BloodRayne and other Majesco licenses: Retro publisher working with BloodRayne dev to revive franchise
76. Twitch Looking To Give Creators More Control Over Clips After “Sudden Influx” Of Copyright Claims
77. Twitch Faces the Music: A Sudden Influx of DMCA Takedown Notices Hits Twitch
78. WWE Lawyers DMCA Tweet With Video Of Independent Wrestling Event, Probably Over A Hashtag That Promotes WWE
79. Talking Tiberium: Command & Conquer dev on LAN mode, going open source, and more
80. U.S. Patent no. 10,322,346: Interactive collectible card games with defense and offence team formations
81. U.S. Patent no. 10,322,351: Matchmaking system and method for multiplayer video games

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Entertainment Software Assoc. v. Society Composers, (2020 FCA 100)
2. CMRRA-SODRAC Inc. v. Apple Canada Inc., (2020 FCA 101)
3. Read All About It: SDNY Rejects Newsweek’s Defenses Over Embedded Content Copyright Claims
4. Brown v. Netflix Inc.: Use of eight seconds of children’s song “Fish Sticks n’ Tater Tots” in documentary film depicting burlesque dancer in “reverse mermaid” costume was held to be transformative fair use
5. Major Publishers Sue The Internet Archive’s Digital Library Program In The Midst Of A Pandemic
6. After Taming Open Access, Academic Publishing Giants Now Seek To Assimilate The World Of Preprints
7. The Federal Court of Appeal Makes its Making Available Judgment Available: It’s Not Just About “The Vibe”
8. Access Copyright v. York University – Some Thoughts on the Federal Court of Appeal’s Judgment (Howard Knopf)
9. Judge Orders Down ‘N Out Burger Joint To Hand Over All Signage To In-N-Out, Which Has Almost No Presence In Australia
10. Unauthorized Photographs: The Rights Of The People We Capture
11. With website blocking and international treaties, copyright law evolves with the digital domain
12. Copyright: Works of artistic craftsmanship and Cofemel
13. No, California Law Review, Food Plating Does Not Deserve Copyright Protection
14. Is 3D printing a threat to the value of IP portfolios?
15. Making the best of a bad situation – Canadian trademark trends in a time of change
16. Trademarks: Specifications and bad faith
17. Supreme Court Helps Trademark Owners: Proof of “Willfulness” Is Not Required To Recover Infringer’s Profits
18. Baskin in glory: the Tiger King loses zoo to rival in trade mark battle
19. Trump Campaign Gets Parody Cartoon Taken Down Off Redbubble Over Trademark Claim On MAGA Hats
20. Infringement Action Under PM(NOC) Regulations Cannot Become Moot
21. Traditionally bred plants and animals are no longer patent eligible at the European Patent Office – what is still protectable?
22. Impact of COVID-19 on patent ecosystem
23. Design Patent Protection for Fashion
24. Joint Ownership of Patents: It Is Not Always Nice to Share
25. A Non-Precedential Case Study: Federal Circuit Says District Court Did Not Clearly Err in Holding Dosing Patent Invalid Based on Obviousness and Obviousness Type Double Patenting
26. Think Of The Kitten: A Crash Course On Section 230
27. Twitter Taking Down Trump Campaign Video Over Questionable Copyright Claim Demonstrates Why Trump Should Support Section 230
28. Section 230 Applies to Publicity Rights Claim–Hepp v. Facebook (Eric Goldman)
29. Norway Supreme Court Signs Off On Apple’s Harassment Of An Independent Repair Shop
30. YouTube Provides Rare, Robust Window Into Monetization Guidelines For Creators
31. Don Henley Tells Senators: We Must Change Copyright Law… Because The People Like TikTok?
32. Instagram and Embedding Photos – An Update and a Bombshell (?) from Instagram
33. Algo IP: Intellectual Property in Algorithms, Computer Generated Works and Computer Implemented Inventions
34. Protecting AI inventions
35. Artificial Intelligence Systems and IP
36. What if HAL could have IP rights? WIPO joins the conversation on AI and IP
37. Guelph Treasure Heirs Respond to U.S. Brief that Argued Nazi Art Theft Was a Domestic Affair
38. Ubisoft Alleges Rainbow Six Siege Infringement by Ejoy.com
39. Brantley v. Epic Games, Inc.: Trademark & related claims targeting use of “Running Man” dance move in Fortnite dismissed; claims pre-empted by Copyright Act & failure to allege protectable trademark.
40. Guinness World Records People Accidentally Claiming Copyright On Tons Of ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Speedruns
41. SimRefinery, a long lost training simuator from Maxis, has been recovered
42. A lost Maxis “Sim” game has been discovered by an Ars reader [Updated]

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. JAVEX vs. JAVELO – Federal Court of Appeal applies Vavilov to first Trademark Opposition Appeal
2. Lawsuit over online book lending could bankrupt Internet Archive
3. Italian Public Prosecutor Says Project Gutenberg’s Collection Of Public Domain Books Must Be Blocked For Copyright Infringement
4. Nothing “Fishy” About Use of Children’s Song “Fish Sticks n’ Tater Tots” in Documentary about Burlesque Dancers, Court Rules
5. Chalk this One Up to the Utilitarian Nature of a Toy Chalk Holder
6. Southern District of New York: Embedding Public Instagram Post Does Not Infringe Photographer’s Copyright
7. Leonard v Nike: Copyright in the Klaw
8. District Court Mostly Refuses To Terminate The Litigation Testing The Copyright Termination Provision
9. Protection of store layout under copyright law: the KIKO case
10. Defendant Must Prove that Copied Portion of Copyrighted Work is Unprotectable
11. Open Source Software: the Affero GPL, the ‘as a Service’ world and the CAL
12. SpaceX launch footage was taken down thanks to bogus copyright claim
13. Just As The Copyright Office Tries To Ignore The Problem Of Bad Takedowns, NBC & Disney Take Down NASA’s Public Domain Space Launch
14. Copyright Blocks Interview Of Protesters Because Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ Was Playing In The Background
15. Copyright Office Finds DCMA Tilts Away From Copyright Owners; Will Congress Act to Change That?
16. Conducting Your Way Through Music Licensing: The Most Common Issues
17. In The Midst Of A Pandemic And Widespread Unrest, Senate Republicans Think It’s Time To Use Copyright To Make The Richest Musicians Richer
18. Reversing Examining Attorney, TTAB Gives the Green Light to Color Mark Application
19. Private Prison Company Sues Netflix Over Use Of Logo In ‘Messiah’
20. Down N’ Out – Down on their luck
21. Lucky Brand Strikes Gold After SCOTUS Rejects Marcel’s Defense Preclusion Argument
22. Are GODIVA’s “Belgium 1926” Chocolates Made in Belgium?
23. Amended Patented Medicines Regulations will come into force on 1 January 2021
24. Federal Circuit: Patent Eligibility Turns on the Content – Not Length – of the Claims
25. EPO: Plants and Plant Materials Not Patentable if Exclusively Obtained by Essentially Biological Process
26. EPO does not follow the US and JEM on Patentability of Plants
27. Our Top 5 Added Matter Drafting Tips
28. The importance of IP due diligence
29. Trump Issues Executive Order Aimed at Curtailing Online Platforms’ Immunity for User Generated Content
30. Why the USMCA Locks in the Internet Platform Liability System in the U.S., Canada and Mexico (Michael Geist)
31. Court Discovers Rare and Elusive “Enforceable Browsewrap”
32. How Social Media Usage Of Popular DIY Hashtags Has Changed
33. Microsoft sacks journalists to replace them with robots: Users of the homepages of the MSN website and Edge browser will now see news stories generated by AI
34. Patent Law Alert – AI Machines Are Not Human Inventors
35. Protecting AI and machine-learning inventions
36. Scotland’s first “virtual appeal” reaffirms the value of fair comment
37. Something on Which Even Patent Litigators Can Agree: McRO v. Bandai, Inc. Clarifies the Framework for Enablement Challenges and for Enablement Defenses
38. Denuvo security software removed from Doom Eternal and Metro Exodus: Despite speculation, removal of Anti-Cheat and Anti-Tamper was not in response to performance issues
39. Denuvo’s Anti-Cheat Software Now Getting Ripped From Games At Record Speed Too
40. 30 years later, a lost Days of Thunder NES game recovered from 21 floppy disks
41. U.S. Patent no. 10,322,336: Haptic braille output for a game controller

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Clorox v Chloretec: The Application of Vavilov in the Trademarks Context
2. Chalk One Up to the Knock-Off
3. Pencil Shaped Chalk Holder Is a Non-Copyrightable Idea
4. Led Zeppelin‘s Stairway to Heaven found not to infringe copyright in Spirit’s instrumental, Taurus
5. The Second Circuit Affirms the Dismissal of Copyright Claims against Seinfeld over Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
6. Second Circuit Limits Copyright Damages To Three Years Preceding Suit
7. Copyright Damages Limited to Three Years Before Lawsuit Filing
8. Paparazzi Suit Victims Try Unconventional Plays
9. And the winner of the prize for best legal click bait headline from the NYT so far this year is …
10. How A Feud Among Wolf-Kink Erotica FanFic Authors Demonstrates What The Copyright Office Got Wrong In Its DMCA Report
11. Jerry Seinfeld Gets To Keep Driving Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee*
12. Justices form unique alliances in holding Georgia’s annotated code not protected by copyright; Thomas dissent presses for closer review of precedent
13. U.S. Supreme Court: States Cannot Copyright Legal Code Annotations
14. Eighth Circuit Holds Business Information Database Copyrightable, Affirming $11.2 Million Jury Verdict
15. CRS Examines IP Rights Abroad, Considers State Sovereign Immunity in Copyright Suits
16. The rental of cars fitted with radio receivers does not constitute an act of unauthorised communication of musical works to the public (case c-753/18)
17. Copyright Office Finds Aspects of the DMCA “Unbalanced” in Favor of Online Service Providers
18. Designs and copyright protection: UK drifts closer towards Europe
19. Stretching Copyright: Protecting online fitness workouts
20. Lack of evidence of non-use and confusion result in POKEWORKS trademark remaining on the register
21. Three Point Shot: Jordan’s Last Dance in Trademark Dispute Scores Big in Chinese Top Court
22. Some Brands Have All the Luck
23. US Supreme Court Rejects ‘Defense Preclusion’ in Trademark Suit
24. Supreme Court Clarifies Concept of Defense Preclusion Through Lucky Brand Trademark Battle
25. Supreme Court Rules Defense Not Barred in Subsequent Action Involving Different Trademarks, Conduct and Claims
26. Recent Federal Court Decision Reaffirms Exceptions to First Sale Doctrine for Brands Bringing Trademark Claims Against Unauthorized Resellers
27. Tax Service’s Registered Trademark’s Suggestiveness Presented Jury Question
28. Replacing Rogers Test with “Genuine Artistic Motive” Test Doesn’t Change the Finale in Dispute Over WILD AMERICA
29. The Impact of Romag Fasteners Inc. v. Fossil Inc.: Willfulness Is Not Required For An Award Of Profits In Trademark Infringement
30. What the Supreme Court’s Romag Decision means for trademark infringement and damages
31. ‘Maybe’ Is Not Enough: Foreign Business Fails to Obtain Declaratory Judgment for Potential Use of Trademark
32. Third judgement in Sky v SkyKick – Louise Foster and Sarah Darby provide some take-away thoughts
33. Tiger King Trademark Troubles
34. A Lesson From Tiger King: Corporate Separateness
35. General Court “shades” some light on 3D trademark registration
36. Can you trademark a design in the EU?
37. The Intersection of Trademarks and Open Source
38. Trademarks rocket while designs level off: UKIPO releases latest annual filings data
39. Pepper trumps Broccoli: EPO finds products produced by essentially biological processes are not patentable
40. A Dynamic Reversal by the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal
41. Joint Inventorship Claim for Online Dating Patent Ends in Heartbreak, Attorneys’ Fees Award
42. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Litigation Update: AR Design Innovations Litigations
43. Determining the Article of Manufacture in Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Design Patents
44. Design Patents: An Underutilized Tool for Protecting Sporting Goods
45. Rise in extended reality technology patents suggests market revival
46. Common Patent Misconceptions – Myth #3: My idea is too obvious for patenting.
47. Clarifying the patentability of medical use inventions in China
48. Intellectual Property Issue-Spotting: Common Themes in Recent Ad Campaigns
49. Federal Circuit Patent Update
50. Protecting intellectual property in the fashion industry – debunking the myths – PART ONE: copyright and patents
51. Protecting intellectual property in the fashion industry – debunking the myths – PART TWO: Unregistered Design Rights and Registered Designs
52. Protecting intellectual property in the fashion industry – debunking the myths – PART THREE: Registered and Unregistered Trade Marks
53. Copyright protection of fashion designs in Spain after Cofemel
54. Grandmother ordered to delete Facebook photos under GDPR: Woman must delete photographs of her grandchildren posted on Facebook and Pinterest without their parents’ permission, a court in the has ruled.
55. The Intersection of Artificial Intelligence, COVID-19, and Copyright
56. S-Town Podcast Lawsuit Settled – Reminder on Getting Releases from Podcast Subjects
57. Digital Media and the Right to Be Forgotten
58. Court Tells Grandma To Delete Photos Of Grandkids On Facebook For Violating The GDPR
59. Manchester United sues Sega over Football Manager trademark use: Sega and developer Sports Interactive reply that club’s name, logo have been used since 1992 “without complaint”
60. Rainbow Six: Siege clone Area F2 has been taken offline following lawsuit from Ubisoft
61. G2A confirms stolen game key sales, pays $40,000 to Factorio devs
62. G2A to pay Factorio dev $39,600 after allowing illegal game key sales
63. First Amendment May Protect Use of Trademarks As Artistic Expression: AM General LLC v. Activision Blizzard, Inc. et al.
64. U.S. Patent no. 10,315,119: Video game with concurrent processing of game-related physical objects
65. “Abstract Assertion of Breadth” Does Not Prove Non-Enablement: Patent on method of animating faces invideo games

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. A welcome and timely boost for trade secret protection in Canada
2. Fashion House Sued for Lively Snaps
3. The makeup of protection of a makeup store layout: a missed chance to apply the Cofemel decision?
4. Quaran-streaming: Music licensing and your online business
5. Copyright Making Sure That MTV Remains An Irrelevant Relic, Rather Than A Cultural Icon
6. What’s the Deal with Comedians?: Too Late for Copyright Claim against Seinfeld
7. Victory for Michael Jordan After 8-Year Chinese Trademark Battle
8. Google v Oracle: The Copyright Case of the Decade
9. IP update: recent development in EU copyright law: stim & sami v fleetmanager Sweden ab & nordisk biluthyrning ab (c-753/18)
10. Copyright As Censorship: WSJ Identifies Hundreds Of Bogus News Takedowns; People Blame Google Rather Than Copyright
11. Libraries Have Never Needed Permission To Lend Books, And The Move To Change That Is A Big Problem
12. Canadian Federal Court of Appeal applies new standard of review in appeal of registrar
13. New Nice Classification requirements – do classes matter in Canada?
14. Sussex Royal – if at first you don’t succeed…
15. What businesses need to consider before a brand (re)launch: lessons from SUSSEX ROYAL
16. Federal Circuit Holds Packaging Color Combinations Can Be Inherently Distinctive
17. The Parameters of Generic Marks: Booking.com before the Supreme Court
18. Don’t SULKA: Trademark Plaintiff Must Demonstrate Intent, Ability to Use Mark
19. No Luck Needed for Lucky Brand at the Supreme Court
20. Supreme Court Rules Lucky Brand’s Defense Not Barred Under Defense Preclusion
21. Get Lucky: U.S. Supreme Court Sides With Lucky Brand in Overturning “Defense Preclusion” Ruling
22. The Supreme Court Declines to Revamp Preclusion Law in Lucky v. Marcel Trademark Dispute
23. A Lucky Day for Lucky Brand: U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Second Circuit’s Defense Preclusion Test
24. Defense in Trademark Action Not Precluded by Failure to Raise Same Defense in Earlier Action
25. Romag Fasteners: SCOTUS Holds That Plaintiffs in Trademark Suits Need Not Show “Willful Intent” of Infringement to Recover Damages for Lost Profits
26. IP Insight: DC Comics Prevail in Trade Mark Opposition against Magic Box
27. HT Media and Hindustan Media Venture c. Brainlink International on hindustan.com: the chess game is underway
28. Gömböc: CJEU provides clarity on the protectability of 3D trade marks
29. How to bring an intermediary to justice in a domain name dispute
30. WIPO data reveals rise in international trademark applications originating from Africa
31. Focusing on Functionality, Software Claims Found Patent Eligible
32. The “Plotting” Thickens: Claims that Solve Known Problem with Known Methods Are Obvious
33. First decision under amended PMNOC Regulations: Federal Court finds Amgen’s filgrastim patent obvious
34. G 3/19 – Tomatoes and Broccoli Now Overturned
35. EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal Decision G 3/19 and the patentability of plant and animal products in Europe
36. European Patent Office denies patentability of plants and animals obtained by essentially biological processes (G 3/19 “Pepper”)
37. “Delivery Failed”: Shopping Notification Patent Lost Under § 101
38. Managing Your VR/AR IP Portfolio During Covid-19
39. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Patent Prosecution Update: 2020 Q1 Prosecution Statistics
40. Thinking ahead: The impact of insolvency on IP rights
41. The Associated Press Has Some Explaining To Do About Its ‘Tweeted Contract’ To Reuse Viral Content
42. Think Tank’s Posting of Substantially Cropped Photo of Heartthrob Governor Constitutes Fair Use
43. Facebook Acquires GIF Database GIPHY In Reported $400 Million Deal
44. Facebook is buying Giphy and integrating it with Instagram: Plans to integrate with Instagram and other apps
45. All your reaction GIFs now belong to Facebook, as it buys Giphy for $400M
46. Luxury and online marketplaces – the next chapter (Coty v Amazon)
47. When audio deepfakes put words in Jay-Z’s mouth, did he have a legal case?
48. Reboot Required: Artificial Intelligence System Cannot Be Named As An Inventor Under U.S. Patent Law, USPTO Says
49. USPTO Refuses to Recognize AI Inventorship, but Policy Questions Still Linger
50. Using AI to invent therapeutics: should artificial intelligence be recognised for inventive activity?
51. London’s Facial Recognition Rollout Trips Over The Pandemic As Facemasks Render The System Even More Useless
52. Nintendo sues Switch hack resellers in ongoing fight against Team Xecutor: Platform holder continues to crack down on groups enabling pirated games to run on its console
53. With new Switch-hacking tech looming, Nintendo targets retailers
54. Ubisoft suing Google and Apple for selling Rainbow Six: Siege ‘carbon copy’
55. Disney clamps down on Club Penguin clones following abuse allegations
56. Disney: If We Can’t Run Club Penguin, No One Can Run Club Penguin
57. Blizzard Takes New Stance on Custom Game IP
58. Doom Eternal reverses course, will remove kernel-level Denuvo anti-cheat
59. Valve Releases ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Steam Workshop Tools for Making & Downloading Mods
60. King has opened up and relinquished control of the Defold game engine
61. King makes Defold engine open source: Candy Crush firm sets up Defold Foundation to handle the tech’s development going forward
62. Unreal Engine is Now Royalty-free for the First $1 Million in Revenue
63. Controller pros are dominating PC Fortnite thanks to “overpowered” aim assist
64. Ubisoft offers Assassin’s Creed: Discovery Tour modes for free for one week – Educational explorations of ancient Greece and Egypt made available to encourage learning from home
65. Minecraft has sold 200 million copies in 11 years
66. U.S. Patent no. 10,315,113: System and method for simulating gameplay of nonplayer characters distributed across networked end user devices

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Wiseau Studio, LLC et al v Harper et al, (2020 ONSC 2504)
2. Ontario Court finds room for fair dealing in documentary on The Room
3. Intellectual Property litigation in the Federal Court
4. Second Circuit Clicks “I Agree” Affirming Website Agreement Protects Web Application from Misappropriation by Users
5. Fair Use Protects a Highly Cropped Photo–Harbus v. Manhattan Institute (Eric Goldman)
6. “I’m [Not] Yours”
7. “I’m Yours” Not Theirs: Jason Mraz Settles Dispute Over Beer Ad’s Allegedly Unauthorized Use of Performance Footage on Instagram
8. Court Of Appeals Affirms Lower Court Tossing BS ‘Comedians In Cars’ Copyright Lawsuit
9. Sixth Circuit Concurrence Fears Courts May Be Groovin’ to the Wrong Tune in Copyright Cases
10. Eleventh Circuit: Guitar Designer Wasn’t Taking a Solo
11. Second Circuit Limits Copyright Damages To Those Incurred Within Three Years Prior to Suit
12. Does copyright subsist in the Brompton Folding Bicycle?
13. Does the Cofemel decision mark the end of “artistic value”?
14. Copyright protection for fabric designs
15. Monkey Business (and Other Animal Non-Rights)
16. Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Has Two Separate Courts Sanction Him For His Ongoing Copyright Trolling Failures
17. Supreme Court: Willfulness Not Required for Profits Awards in Trademark Infringement Actions
18. Supreme Court Holds Trademark Infringement Does Not Require a Finding of “Willful” Infringement To Recover an Award of Profits
19. Without a Willfulness Requirement, Is the Path Clearer for Brand Owners to Pursue and Recover Trademark Damages?
20. Supreme Court clarifies rules for remedies in trademark litigation
21. Whether or not there’s a will, there’s still a way to infringers’ profits in Canadian trademark litigation
22. Trademark Law Alert – A Book Title Sometimes May Prevent Registration of the Same Term for Other Goods
23. 2(b) Prohibition On “Flag Marks” Bars Use of Flag as Part of a Mark
24. Coachella may not be cancelled – but its EU trade mark has been
25. Say It With Me Now, Australia: Beer And Wine Are Not The Same Thing, Not Even For Trademarks
26. Freedom of expression counts in trademark law
27. [Insert Yell Here]: Rapper Pitbull Receives Trademark Registration for “EEEEEEEYOOOOOO!” Sound Mark
28. NCAA Issues New Name, Image, Likeness Guidance
29. The Face(David)Off
30. Bongo’s Bingo and Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah cause IP Hoo-Hah
31. SkyKick: High Court narrows Sky’s trade mark protection and criticises the use of trade marks as a weapon
32. Justices Voice Reservations About a Bright-line Genericness Test in Booking.com
33. Can a mathematical mystery be registered as a trade mark?
34. Tiger King – Battle of the Big Cat Trade Marks
35. National Geographic Defeats Trademark Suit Over ‘Wild America’ and ‘Untamed Americas’ Claim
36. Patent Filings Doom Registered Trade Dress in Seventh Circuit
37. Combination Litigation: Recent Software Disputes at the Intersection of Trade Secret, Copyright and Patent Law
38. Federal Circuit Rules that Moving Software to the Cloud Alone Is Obvious
39. Importance of Determining Inventorship Prior to Patent Issuance
40. Patentability of Covid-19 smartphone apps at the EPO
41. Fed. Cir.: Threat of Suit Over Past Infringement Confers Standing
42. The Federal Circuit Dismisses Pfizer’s Appeal for Lack of Standing
43. Object detection in an augmented reality image: insufficiently disclosed
44. Obvious to the Bone: Teva Wins Opposition against Eli Lilly’s Patent Application Covering Osteoporosis Blockbuster FORTEO®
45. Analysis of the innovativeness of “zanubrutinib” from a patent perspective
46. Finite Methods as a Ground for Obviousness
47. The deadlock on the unified patent convention
48. Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Germany’s Highest Court tells SEP implementers that simply saying that you are willing to license is not enough, and hold-out will not be tolerated
49. The UKIPO investigates AI-powered prior art searches
50. How combining blockchain technology and AI could benefit patent analysis
51. The Inventinator: May AI “Inventors” get Patents?
52. USPTO: Artificial Intelligence Systems Cannot Legally Invent
53. Creative COVID-19 Collaborations – IP Agreements that Work
54. White House Identifies Amazon Foreign Domains as “Notorious Markets” for Counterfeit Goods
55. Federal Circuit Patent Update
56. IP Litigation Quarterly Update
57. Amazon Sued For Saying You’ve ‘Bought’ Movies That It Can Take Away From You
58. Choose your quarantine meme house: A taxonomy of the pandemic’s greatest meme hits.
59. Thomson Reuters Accuses Ross Intelligence of Using Bot to Hijack Westlaw Data: Lawsuit against San Francisco-based Ross Intelligence could outline the often adversarial coexistence of copyrights and artificial intelligence.
60. ROSS Fires Back At Thomson Reuters Over Data Case
61. Blurring the Lines: When AI Creates Art Is It Copyrightable?
62. Response to the European Commission’s White Paper on Artificial Intelligence (Elettra Bietti)
63. HRH The Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers Limited [2020] EWHC 1058 (Ch)
64. Nintendo files lawsuit barrage to take down Super Mario 64 PC port
65. Gaming Emote Litigation: Battle Royale Ensues Over Fortnite Emotes with Plaintiffs Testing Different Causes of Action
66. Crytek Delays Launch of Lawsuit Against Star Citizen Devs Before Suddenly Settling
67. Tales From The Quarantine: People Are Selling ‘Animal Crossing’ Bells For Real Cash After Layoffs
68. Devs using Unreal Engine won’t owe Epic royalties on a game’s first $1 million
69. Unreal Engine is now royalty-free until a game makes a whopping $1 million
70. U.S. Patent no. 10,315, 108: Local application quick start with cloud transitioning

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. York University statement on recent court decision regarding Access Copyright
2. Supreme Court May Weigh In on the Legality of Data Scraping
3. Supreme Court Offers Guidance Regarding Eligibility of State Legislative Records for Protection Under the Copyright Act
4. Allen v. Cooper and Georgia v. Public.Resource.org: The Supreme Court Navigates the Relationship Between State Government and Federal Copyright Law
5. Jennifer Lopez sued for copyright infringement
6. Once Upon a Time: Everything was Copyrighted
7. 11th Circuit Tells Guitar Maker to Take a [Pantera] Walk on Delayed Copyright Claims
8. Ricky Martin’s “Vida” Lives On, but Plaintiff Will Get Another Shot at It
9. Hiring out cars with radios is not a “communication to the public”
10. IP in Street Arts
11. Surely Not The Equivalent Of The Mona Lisa?*
12. EU Joins In The Bullying Of South Africa For Daring To Adopt US-Style Fair Use Principles
13. IP Alert: Two Recent IP Rulings Have Far-Reaching Consequences
14. Show me the money: Supreme Court rules that trademark infringers may disgorge profits even if the law was not willfully violated
15. Supreme Court Raises the Stakes Against Unauthorized Resellers: Willfulness No Longer Required for Manufacturers to Obtain Profits in Trademark Cases
16. Court Sides With Nike And Dismisses Kawhi Leonard’s Lawsuit Over ‘Klaw’ Logo
17. Remix Culture Done Right: Wes Tank Mashes Up Dr. Seuss With Dr. Dre (And So Far The Copyright Police Have Left Him Alone)
18. Can Smells be Trademarks?
19. Ardbeg v AlbergWhisky
20. Luxury Arcade Game Win
21. Lion’s head trade mark not sufficiently distinctive for Parisian brand Pierre Balmain
22. Bentley Clothing wins trade mark battle against Bentley Motors
23. Highest EU court pours hot water on Coty v Amazon case
24. High Court disarms ‘weaponised’ TMs in landmark ruling
25. There are more things …than are dreamt of in your philosophy: Damages for infringing a revoked and unused trademark? Yes says the CJEU…
26. C‑622/18 – AR v Cooper International Spirits LLC and Others – Damages for trade mark infringement possible where trade mark revoked for non-use
27. Sky v Skykick – High Court decision
28. Skykick liable for infringement of Sky’s trade mark registrations even after they are held to be partially invalid
29. Are second hand sales use of a registered trade mark?
30. SCOTUS Livestreams Oral Arguments on BOOKING.COM Trademark Registerability
31. As Twisted as Cheese!
32. Supplementary protection for vaccines: Canada diverges from Europe
33. USPTO Reports on Examination Outcomes Post-Alice
34. U.S. Patent Office Report Shows Improving Post-Alice Patent Examination Outcomes
35. Fish Hook Claims Can’t Catch a Patent
36. Fishing for Eligibility in Murky Waters
37. Wurst Case Scenario: Sausage Tray Design Patent Found Obvious
38. An Invention That Changes the Normal Operation of a System Is Not Abstract Under § 101
39. A History of the Solar Cell, in Patents
40. Wearable Technologies and Intellectual Property: Stand Alone Software and Software as Medical Devices
41. Patent Infringement for the Public Good
42. Patents – public interest argument fails in medical devices case
43. Most number of Patent Applications filed by?
44. Patent Litigation Filings on the Increase with the COVID-19 Pandemic
45. We’re Saved! Company Claims It’s Patented ‘Containing the Spread of Disinformation’ And Will Stop COVID-19 Disinfo
46. A Sure Way to Ruin My Day: The Phrase “Enforceable Browsewrap”–HealthplanCRM v. Avmed
47. Is It Illegal to Prohibit Online Selling?: High Court has ruled on whether it is illegal for a business to restrict online selling by its retailers under competition law – Ping Europe Limited v Competition and Markets Authority
48. Ninth Circuit Revives Class Action Suit against Facebook for Selling Users’ Browsing History
49. Counter-archiving Facebook (Anat Ben-David)
50. Eko’s Tech Theft Lawsuit Against Quibi To Be Funded By New Investor Elliott Management Corp. (Report)
51. The Black Box and Japanese Discourses of the Digital (David Humphrey)
52. After the Tech-Lash: Digital Policy Priorities in the Post-Pandemic World (Michael Geist)
53. Jukebox: Introducing Jukebox, a neural net that generates music, including rudimentary singing, as raw audio in a variety of genres and artist styles. We’re releasing the model weights and code to explore the generated samples.
54. To Invent is Human: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Rejects AI System as an Inventor
55. US patent office rules that artificial intelligence cannot be a legal inventor: Only ‘natural persons’ need apply
56. Does An Invention Discovered With Artificial Intelligence Obtain Patent Protection?
57. Ha Ha, Our New Robot Overlords Can’t Get Patents
58. USPTO denies patent application for invention by AI
59. USPTO Rules Artificial Intelligence Cannot Be Named As Inventor for Patent Application
60. Who Owns the Ink?
61. Sony says The Last of Us Part 2 leak didn’t leak from employees
62. Sony says major The Last of Us Part 2 leak didn’t come from employee
63. Video Games: What’s in for the ‘Look and Feel’?
64. Are bootleg game soundtracks damaging the industry?: The popularity of video game music clashes with its lack of availability in physical formats — we examine both sides of this complex issue
65. Fans Port Mario 64 To PC And Make It Way Better, So Of Course Nintendo Is Trying To Nuke The Project
66. Generating Game of Thrones characters in Skyrim’s character creator
67. Beyond emulation: The massive effort to reverse-engineer N64 source code
68. Roblox believes user-generated content will bring us the Metaverse
69. THQ Nordic and Koch Media trade IPs: Franchise swaps put Red Faction and Risen series closer to their original developers; Painkiller, Sacred, and more change hands
70. Cedar Lane Technologies Inc. v. Corel, Inc.
71. Finnish studio Dazzle Rocks nets $6.8 million to build social sandbox MMO
72. Dazzle Rocks raises $6.8m for new social sandbox game: Galaxy Interactive leads Series A funding for Helsinki studio
73. U.S. Patent no. 10,313,679: Systems and methods for encoder-guided adaptive-quality rendering

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Federal Court of Appeal Deals Access Copyright Huge Blow As It Overturns York University Copyright Decision (Michael Geist)
2. The LawBytes Podcast, Episode 48: Sam Trosow and Lisa Macklem on Copyright and Fair Dealing During a Pandemic (Michael Geist)
3. Access Copyright v. York – The Next Chapter
4. Federal Court of Appeal Finds That Tariffs Certified by the Copyright Board Are Not Mandatory, and Fair Dealing Guidelines Are Not a Shield
5. Canadian Publishing Group Says France Has The Right Idea, Presses For Its Own Google Tax
6. Digital books and ownership rights in the information age
7. Too Late Blues for Guitar Maker’s Copyright Ownership Claims
8. Photographer Prods Actress Ellen Barkin With Copyright Infringement Suit
9. From Tiger King To Censorship King: Copyright Lobbyist Cheers On SLAPP Copyright Suit Featured In Tiger King
10. UNESCO Suggests COVID-19 Is A Reason To Create… Eternal Copyright
11. Fash-Shunned: Selena Gomez Sues Fashion App for $10 Million for Allegedly Using Her Name and Likeness Without Permission
12. Supreme Court Says Georgia’s ‘Official Code’ Is Public Domain — Including Annotations
13. Supreme Court rules Georgia can’t put the law behind a paywall
14. Supreme Court holds that Georgia cannot copyright the annotations to its laws
15. SCOTUS Rules No Copyright in Official Annotated State Code
16. Supreme Court says state laws aren’t copyrightable
17. Mr Worldwide’s Great American ‘Scream’ – Protection granted for Pitbull’s famous yell
18. Don’t POKE a trademark unless you have sufficient evidence to invalidate it
19. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s an infringement of a reputable mark!
20. Battle of the ‘McGregors’ – UFC Champion loses legal battle in the EUIPO ring
21. Hugo Boss versus Hugo Boss: Lessons from Lycett’s Antics
22. Cyprus corrects halloumi trade mark mishap
23. Supreme Court Decides Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil Group, Inc.
24. US Supreme Court Rejects Willfulness Requirement for Profit Awards in Trademark Infringement Cases
25. Supreme Court Confirms Profits Remedy in Trademark Cases is Not Conditioned on Proof of Willfulness
26. High Court Rules That ‘Willful’ Trademark Infringement No Longer Required for Award of Profits
27. Supreme Court Holds Disgorgement of Profits Available Absent Willfulness, for 1125(a) Infringement
28. U.S. Supreme Court Holds That Plaintiffs Need Not Prove “Willful” Conduct to Recover Profits in Trademark Infringement Suits
29. Supreme Court: Willfulness Unnecessary for Disgorgement of Infringer’s Profits Award in Trademark Cases
30. U.S. Supreme Court Rules Trademark Infringer’s Profits at Risk in All Cases
31. Comic-Con Canceled — But Comic-Con Trademark Survives
32. Open COVID Pledge and Free Licensing Opportunities: Issues to Consider Before Accepting
33. Conversant v Apple: old tech, new tricks
34. Lawyers question need for Patent Act amendments as companies share IP during COVID crisis
35. Canadian Federal Court’s Notice of Experimental Testing is Inapplicable to Testing Conducted Prior to Litigation
36. Federal Circuit Feels the Beating of a Heart: CardioNet v. InfoBionic
37. Federal Circuit Revives Cardiac Monitoring Patent, Not Directed to an Abstract Idea
38. Federal Circuit: A Patent That Performs Computation Is Not Abstract, Is Patentable
39. Claims Directed to Improved Cardiac Monitoring Technology Are Patent Eligible Under 35 U.S.C. § 101
40. US Patent Office: Supreme Court Made Us Reject More Patents, But We’ve Now Fixed That And Are Back To Approving Bad Patents
41. Library of Congress Launches Open-Source Hip-Hop Sampling Tool: Producers will have access to the library’s vast audio collection, which dates back more than a hundred years
42. Melody makers
43. Disney Says If You Tweet #MayThe4th At It, You’re Agreeing To A Disney Terms Of Use (You’re Not)
44. Jay-Z Claims Copyright On Audio Deepfake Of Him Reciting Hamlet
45. Looking for Likes: Social Media Post Results in Unintended License to Share Photograph
46. USPTO: AI Cannot Be Named as Inventor on Patent
47. “But It’s a Photo of Me!”-Celebrities Face Legal Action for Unauthorized Use of Images on Social Media
48. Trials of Mana demo taken down after crackers use it to enable piracy
49. How Bohemia’s “almost accidental” mod support became a staple of the studio: Karel Mořický talks about the benefits and challenges of the Arma and DayZ studio’s community development efforts

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Access Copyright v York University: York Wins re “Mandatory Tariff” and Loses re Fair Dealing Guidelines (Howard Knopf)
2. Two Montreal lawyers file application to trademark the term COVID-19
3. A Copy of a Copy of a Copy: Internet Mimesis and the Copyrightability of Memes (Elena Elmerinda Scialabba)
4. All’s Fair in Love and War . . . So What About Fair Use in the Time of Coronavirus?
5. 3M files lawsuit in Canada against firm accused of price gouging on N95 masks: Ontario company allegedly claimed a phoney affiliation with the U.S. medical-gear maker
6. Court Rules Photographer Gave Up Exclusive Copyright Licensing Rights by Posting to Instagram.
7. Instagram Terms of Use Allows Mashable to Avoid Copyright Infringement Claim for Embedded Content
8. It’s not infringing if it’s an authorized embedding
9. Kendall Jenner Sued for Posting Video of Kendall Jenner
10. Keeping Up with Copyright: Kendall Jenner Sued for Infringement over Instagram Video
11. Cortés-Ramos v. Martin-Morales, aka Ricky Martin: In copyright suit against pop singer Ricky Martin, Court dismisses based on plaintiff’s failure to plead registration with Copyright Office should be without prejudice
12. Purohit v. Legend Pictures, LLC: In suit alleging that film infringed on plaintiff’s book featuring mythological figure Krampus, court dismisses plaintiff’s claims, finding no substantial similarity between works
13. An Untimely Copyright Lawsuit About a Timeless Guitar
14. Making waves: Nike and Footlocker face challenge from the makers of ‘The Endless Summer’ film
15. Copyright protection for original clothing designs
16. Self-driving startup Zoox settles Tesla lawsuit, lays off 100 workers
17. What’s Your Type? Intellectual Property Rights In Fonts And Typefaces
18. What’s your type? Intellectual Property Rights in Fonts and Typefaces
19. Constructing a firm foundation for copyright protection
20. SCOTUS Redefines State “Piracy”
21. CJEU’s in Coty v Amazon: storing without knowledge of infringement is not itself infringement
22. Trademark infringement: Liability for counterfeit goods
23. Balmain case highlights risk of using specialised public with low distinctive character marks
24. INTA releases brand valuation report, offers blueprint to put trademark professionals at centre of conversation
25. Implementation of the E.U. “Trademark reform package” in France: the French TM Office now competent to invalidate or revoke trademark registrations
26. Trade Dress Update: Federal Circuit Holds that Multi-Colored Product Packaging Marks May Be Inherently Distinctive
27. The Federal Circuit Reconsiders the Inherent Distinctiveness of Color Marks in In re Forney
28. You can’t be blue anymore: Blame colour monopolies
29. Bad Spaniels Dog Toys — Expressive Art or Noisy Trademark Infringers?
30. Adding another dimension to your trademark portfolio: Securing registration in 3D trademarks
31. How Will SCOTUS Resolve the Circuit Split on Recovery of Profits for Trademark Infringement?
32. The impact of Brexit on the resale of software licences
33. The Simpsons Shows Precisely How One Should Handle Derivative Homage Works
34. Dog Toy Maker Wins Big in Appeal Against Jack Daniels
35. Jack Daniels Gets Chewed Up In Trademark Case Over ‘Bad Spaniels’ Doggy Chew Toy
36. Trademark Owners Can Protect Themselves from Unauthorized Distributors Price Gouging in Their Name
37. Trade Secret Litigation: Activity on the Rise
38. 3D printing — the value of patents for the future of manufacturing
39. Australia Takes Its First Baby Steps On the Road To A Right-To-Repair Law, With A Consultation About Tractors
40. IP protection in the autonomous vehicle space
41. Open COVID Pledge Rolled Out to Make Patents and Other IP Available for COVID-19 Response
42. Patents and Their Role in a COVID-19 Cure
43. Key IP Considerations in Corporate Venture Capital Transactions
44. The pursuit of balance between antitrust laws and Intellectual Property
45. EU’s proposed post-Brexit trade agreement: three key IP takeaways for life sciences
46. COVID-19 and its effects on Intellectual Property
47. Innovation’s Relationship with IP and Antitrust Laws in Times of Crisis
48. 2H 2019 and Q1 2020 Quick Links, Part 1 (Copyright, E-Commerce, Advertising) (Eric Goldman)
49. 2H 2019 and Q1 2020 Quick Links, Part 2 (Trademarks/Keywords) (Eric Goldman)
50. 2H 2019 and Q1 2020 Quick Links, Part 3 (FOSTA/Backpage) (Eric Goldman)
51. Another Terrible Copyright Ruling on IAPs’ Liability for Users’ File-Sharing–Warner v. Charter (Eric Goldman)
52. Australia Gives Up Any Pretense: Pushes Straight Up Tax On Facebook & Google To Pay News Orgs
53. No more negotiating: new rules could finally force Google and Facebook to pay for news
54. Uber accuses Levandowski of fraud, refuses to pay $179M Google judgment
55. A Snap Shot on Inadvertent Licensing Through Social Media
56. How 3-D printing is helping the US fight medical equipment shortages and the coronavirus pandemic
57. The race to save the first draft of coronavirus history from internet oblivion: How researchers, archivists, and citizens are racing to preserve a record of we lived and changed during this strange period of history
58. Chinese Dreamwriter Decision: a Dream Come True for AI-generated Works?
59. When artificial intelligence is the inventor or creator: who claims the rights?
60. A note on artificial intelligence and intellectual property in Sweden and the EU
61. Selena Gomez suing fashion game makers for using likeness without permission
62. Selena Gomez suing Chinese mobile publisher over using her likeness: Singer says she did not agree to appear in Clothes Forever – Styling Game, decries “unsavoury” microtransactions
63. NBA 2K Avoids Tattoo Copyright Infringement in Three Ways
64. Video Game Tattoo Copyright Litigation: LeBron Scores a Slam Dunk While WWE Still Wrestling with Allegations
65. Epic Sues Game Tester Over Trade Secret Breach
66. Epic Games Dances Around Infringement Claims as Court Finds Transformative Use
67. Cooking Mama creator threatens lawsuit over “unauthorized” Switch launch
68. Gaming Emote Litigation: Battle Royale Ensues Over Fortnite Emotes with Plaintiffs Testing Different Causes of Action
69. Valve confirms code leak for two online games
70. U.S. Patent no. 10,290,142: Water surface rendering in virtual environment
71. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,328: Modular accessory for video gaming

Jon