News of the Week

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Canadian Federal Court Decides Patent Action by way of Summary Trial
2. Canadian patents claiming a formulation for a medicinal ingredient may be eligible for patent term extension
3. Federal Court Considers the Availability of Certificates of Supplementary Protection for Vaccines
4. As Record Labels Still Are Demanding Mandated Filters; Facebook’s Copyright Filter Takes Down A Guy Playing Bach
5. Did the Supreme Court Just Give States License to Pirate Copyrights? Protecting Copyrights Post Allen
6. U.S. Supreme Court Confirms that States Have Sovereign Immunity from Copyright Infringement Suits–Allen v. Cooper (Eric Goldman)
7. Judge smacks down copyright suit over Instagram embedding: Ruling could provide a stronger legal basis for embedding photos and videos.
8. Court Decision Dismissing Photographer’s Lawsuit Shows Breadth of Rights Granted to Social Media and Denies Infringement Claim for Instagram Embedded Photo
9. Sinclair v. Ziff Davis, LLC
10. NY Court Tosses Lawsuit Over Street Art Depicted in Film
11. Ninth Circuit Gleefully Rejects Copyright Claims against California High School
12. Dark Horse Comes in Just at the Wire! A Music Copyright Analysis
13. Retrograde in Taurus: Ninth Circuit Upholds Judgment That Stairway to Heaven Did Not Infringe Taurus
14. VARA Lives On: A $6.75M Lesson on Respecting Moral Rights
15. Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library: Public Service or Copyright Infringement?
16. Shot on iPhone: Media Group Found to Infringe “Simple Picture,” Court Rejects Fair Use Defense
17. Update On The “Mandatory Tariff” Issue, Fair Dealing And Copyright Advocacy In Canada (Howard Knopf)
18. Photographer Unsuccessful in Copyright Case Over Use of Embedded Instagram Photo
19. Embedding Photos from Instagram – Infringement or Licensed Use?
20. Intellectual Property rights in the platform economy: A chance to rise or fall
21. The esquivalience of mountweazels protecting copyright
22. No Red Light: Fed. Circuit Opens Door for Registration of Multi-Color Product Packaging
23. Criminal sanctions for trade secret disclosure and the implementation of CUSMA
24. JaM Cellars Sues Franzia For Trademark Over ‘Jammy’, An Incredibly Common And Descriptive Term In Wines
25. Authors and publishers — which elements of a book can you protect with trade marks?
26. Planetart LLC v Photobox Ltd & Anor – Trade Mark Infringement and Passing Off in the context of mobile apps
27. The Cold Hard Fact of Arctic Cat: Actual Notice is Necessary to Protect a Damages Claim from the Cold After Unmarked Patented Goods are Sold
28. Manufacturers Refuse To Allow Hospitals To Fix Ventilators That Are The Last Hope For Many COVID-19 Patients
29. Opening Up Information In A Pandemic, Rather Than Locking It Down: The Open COVID Pledge Is Important
30. Copyright & Coronavirus: What You Need to Know
31. No Trade Dress Protection for Functional Shape and Color Scheme
32. U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of ABPA v. Ford: Ford’s Win on Enforcing Replacement Parts Design Patents Stands
33. Are There Patent Infringement Implications of 3D Printing PPE to Help Health Care Workers in the War Against COVID-19? Yes.
34. A Patent Claim is not Indefinite Merely Because Infringement Can’t be Determined in Advance
35. “Method of Preparation” Claims Found Patent-Eligible Under §101
36. Similar Compounds at Overlapping pH’s Created Prima Facie Case of Obviousness
37. Is it possible to patent Bitcoin?
38. Belt Fastener Trade Dress Conveyed as Invalid for Being Functional
39. Patent Pooling and its Contribution to Collaborative IP Attempts at Targeting Patent Access
40. Bad Faith Required to Prevent Speech Regarding Potential Patent Infringement
41. Good Friday 2020 and a History of Easter Eggs According to a Patent
42. Recent IP Law Highlights
43. Why Is The Copyright Office Celebrating That All Our Cute Pet Photos Are Locked Up Under Copyright?
44. Happy Birthday, Statute of Anne
45. French Government Says Google Must Pay French News Agencies For Sending Traffic Their Way
46. French regulator says Google must pay news sites to send them traffic: Officials rejected Google’s plan to stop using snippets in news search results.
47. Instagram’s TOS Authorizes Third-Party Embedding of Photos–Sinclair v. Mashable (Eric Goldman)
48. Senator Tillis Angry At The Internet Archive For Helping People Read During A Pandemic; Archive Explains Why That’s Wrong
49. Computer Service Providers Face Implied Limits on CDA Immunity
50. 3D Printers Recast Virus-Weary Supply Chains
51. TikTok TikTok Boom! The ticking time bomb threat of copyright infringement claims for the burgeoning social media platform
52. IP Protection of Artificial Intelligence in Europe: Tailor-Made Solutions Required
53. When artificial intelligence is the inventor or creator: who claims the rights?
54. In a Bittersweet Victory, Second Circuit Affirms $6.75 Million in Damages to Artists for Destruction of Graffiti Art
55. In Legal Warfare Over HUMVEE Trademarks, the First Amendment Goes Beyond the Call of Duty in Dismissing AM General’s Claims
56. Judge Daniels: Video Game “Call of Duty” Is Allowed to Feature Humvees
57. Duke Nukem Goes Retro in Music Copyright Suit
58. Cooking Mama: Cookstar drama thickens as publisher asserts right to publish
59. Cooking Mama license holder threatens legal action against Cookstar publisher
60. Cooking Mama IP holder taking legal action against Cookstar publisher Planet Entertainment: Planet Entertainment responds, saying it was “fully within its rights” to publish Cookstar
61. Court Dumps Almost All Of A New York Sax Player’s Lawsuit Against Fortnite Over Use Of His ‘Likeness’
62. Epic Games Does a Victory Dance Over Dismissal of Right of Publicity, Privacy, and Trademark Claims but False Endorsement Levels Up
63. Who Owns an Athlete’s Tattoos? The Player? The Tattoo Artist? A Licensor?

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Canada legislates the use of inventions during the pandemic
2. Amendments to the Patent Act in response to COVID-19
3. “Lightly Sketched” Characters Not Copyrightable
4. The Batmobile is Copyrightable… Your Cute and Fuzzy Characters May Not Be
5. Copyright Protection for the Selection and Arrangement of Uncopyrightable Elements: Gray v. Perry
6. Court schools overzealous copyright licensor, holding that high school choir arrangement was fair use and awarding choir defendants their attorney’s fees
7. That Coronavirus Image Is Public Domain, But That Won’t Stop Getty From Trying To Sell You A $500 License To Use It
8. Lightbulb Moment: It’s Possible to Grant an Implied Copyright Sublicense
9. Johannsongs-Publishing, Ltd. v. Rolf Lovland: Court grants summary judgment for “You Raise Me Up” finding it not similar to Icelandic song “Soknudur” excluding musicologist’s reports as unreliable and unhelpful.
10. Waite v. Universal Music Group: In class action involving termination of grants of copyrighted under U.S. Copyright Act, court finds recordings were not works made for hire that would be ineligible for termination.
11. Copyright Termination. Special Report: Two SDNY Decisions on the Same Day!
12. World’s Worst Copyright Trolling Lawyer, Richard Liebowitz, Files Lawsuit Against Ellen Barkin For Posting Photo Of Herself
13. SCOTUS Sinks the CRCA, Confirms States are Immune from Copyright Suits
14. US Supreme Court Holds Unanimously That States Cannot Be Sued for Damages in Copyright Infringement Suits
15. States Can Be Pirates: Managing Business Copyright Protections
16. Response Clothing Limited v The Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited: The Edinburgh Woollen Mill finds itself in a stitch following infringement of copyright in wave design fabric
17. Ninth Circuit Rallies in Defense of a Parody Dog Toy–Bad Spaniels v. Jack Daniel’s
18. Southern District of New York Revisits Tiffany v. eBay in Chanel’s Lawsuit Against The RealReal
19. Court Approves Settlement Between BMI and Radio Music Licensing Committee, Though Terms Are Not Yet Public – Many Other Music Licensing Issues Still Facing the Radio Industry
20. Anti-Piracy Copyright Lawyer Decides To Abuse Trademarks To Shut Down Pirates
21. Protecting against digital trademark infringement
22. Federal Circuit Says Logos Must Be Taken Seriously in Evaluating Infringement of Design Patents
23. Bad Faith Finding Still Required to Ban Patent Infringement Accusations
24. University libraries offer online “lending” of scanned in-copyright books
25. Patents in Crisis: Is there a Solution in Sight?
26. Predictive Text Patent Troll Tries To Shake Down Wikipedia
27. Bad Idea Is Bad: Senator Sasse Wants To Give Whoever Patents COVID-19 Treatments 10 Extra Years Of Patent Protection
28. How intellectual property rights can protect automotive designs
29. Dr. Drew apologizes for being a COVID-19 denier after copyright silliness: Dr. Drew coronavirus supercut restored to YouTube after copyright takedown.
30. Dr. Drew Pinsky Played Down COVID-19, Then Tries To DMCA Away The Evidence
31. Should Your Company Grant a Free License to Your Company’s Intellectual Property in Response to the COVID-19 Emergency?
32. COVID-19 and the future of open access
33. 3D printing and IP in a pandemic
34. Corona Beer vs coronavirus: effects on the company’s brand and its response
35. Those Ex-Theranos Patents Look Really Bad; Contest Opened To Find Prior Art To Get Them Invalidated
36. No Need to Wonder Anymore: Ninth Circuit Holds Stairway to Heaven Does Not Infringe Taurus
37. The Final Revenge of Queen Anne’s Revenge: State’s Use of Photographs Is Not Piracy
38. Role of IP in the Growth of Disney
39. Sky v SkyKick: was the CJEU swayed by Sky’s well-known brand?
40. Religious Institutions v. COVID-19: Why Religious Institutions Should Think Twice Before Live Streaming
41. Supreme Court rules on balancing of copyright and fundamental rights (Sweeden)
42. CJEU: hiring out cars with radio receivers not communication to the public
43. “Don’t change the station! I like this song” – the CJEU clarifies ‘communication to the public’ (again)
44. EU Says That, No, Rental Car Companies Don’t Need To Pay A License To Rent Cars With Radios That Might Play Music
45. CJEU finds Amazon not liable for direct infringement by unwittingly stocking infringing goods being sold through its website
46. European Court of Justice Holds Amazon Not Liable for Storing Third-Party Sellers’ Infringing Products, Another Reason Why Brands Must Take Greater Control In The European Market
47. Amazon: no infringing use but online platforms still in hot water?
48. Companies are Not only Sharing IP, They are Enabling Others to Copy Their Product
49. Protecting Intellectual Property and Data if Employee Separation is Anticipated
50. The issue of confidentiality in Intellectual Property litigation
51. Social Links: Biden’s stance on CDA §230; liability for user-generated content; Twitter’s process for reviewing Trump’s tweets
52. SoundCloud now lets artists add a direct donation button to their page: To help musicians affected by the pandemic
53. Machine Learning Patentability in 2019: 5 Cases Analyzed and Lessons Learned Part 5
54. When Computers Invent: How the Use of Artificial Intelligence to Treat COVID-19 Highlights Novel Inventorship Issues
55. Ten Years Later—Lessons Learned from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston Kokoschka Case
56. Activision scores First Amendment victory in Humvee trademark lawsuit
57. Activision has a First Amendment right to use Humvees in Call of Duty
58. Humvee Can’t Stop Depictions of Its Vehicles in the ‘Call of Duty’ Videogame–AM General v. Activision Blizzard (Eric Goldman)
59. Tencent sues tech company for putting its games on rival cloud service without permission: League of Legends, CrossFire, and Dungeon Fighter Online allegedly made available without Tencent’s permission
60. Who owns your video game?: An issue between the NFTS and its students has raised questions about IP ownership — Sheridans’ Tim Davies is here to help
61. Pac-Man Owners Caught in Retro Game IP Maze
62. Bears Versus Yetis the Triple Town Copyright Infringement Case
63. Solid Oak Sketches, LLC v. 2K Games, Inc.
64. Copyright Defenses When a Copyright Infringement Claim Gets Under Your Skin
65. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,327: Multiplayer video game matchmaking system and methods

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Bill C-4 Receives Royal Assent: Incoming Changes to the Intellectual Property Landscape
2. EU: infringement of software license agreement can result in an intellectual property infringement
3. The Open COVID IP Pledge
4. IP monitor: Canadian Intellectual Property Office announces further extension of deadlines in wake of pandemic
5. COVID-19: Canadian Government Can Now Use Patented Inventions to Respond to the Public Health Emergency
6. COVID-19 Emergency Response Act: Amendments to the Patent Act
7. COVID-19 and intellectual property
8. Patents Concerning Coronavirus Treatments
9. Evalve v Edwards – Review of competing public interests in grant of final injunctions
10. Florida Atlantic University Suddenly Decides Owl Tutoring’s Name Is Trademark Infringement After Over A Decade
11. Lean Trademark Strategies – For The Covid-19 Pandemic And Its Aftermath
12. A “Dark Horse” Victory for Katy Perry: Central District of California Overturns $2.8M Copyright Verdict
13. First Circuit Treads “Unchartered Waters”: Holds Copyright Sublicenses Can Be Implied
14. RIAA Realizes It Sued Charter Over A Bunch Of Songs It Doesn’t Hold The Copyrights For
15. A Snapshot From Section 101: Patent Directed to Image Cataloging Not Patent Eligible
16. A Collision of Patents, Copyrights, and Piracy on the High Seas
17. 67 Years Ago Today: Jonas Salk Announced The Polio Vaccine… And Did NOT Patent It
18. Supreme Court Holds that States are Immune from Copyright Infringement
19. GEICO Earns Victory at Intersection Between Copyright and Trade Secret Law Covering Source Code
20. Top 3 legal predictions on Copyright for 2020
21. Copyright Termination. Chapter One: What Kind of Grants Can Be Recaptured?
22. Copyright Termination. Chapter 2: When Can a Grant Be Terminated?
23. Is Your Character Entitled to Copyright Protection? The Ninth Circuit Reinforces High Bar for Copyright Protection of Characters
24. The Pirates Of Precedence, or How a Modest Copyright Case Could Affect Controversial Supreme Court Cases
25. Ninth Circuit Shows Led Zeppelin a Whole Lotta Love in ‘Stairway’ Copyright Win
26. Copyright Is Broken: COVID-19 Pandemic Revealing Just How Messed Up Our Permission-Based Culture Is
27. Permission Culture Gone Mad: Worries About Proper License For ‘Balcony Singing’ Lead Collection Society To Say It’s Okay, You Can Sing
28. I Just Took a DNA Test . . . Am I the Joint Author?
29. U.S. Supreme Court Holds Copyright Remedy Classification Act of 1990 Does Not Abrogate State Sovereign Immunity for Copyright Infringement: Allen v. Cooper
30. Judge Ramos Finds “Bad Faith” Enforcement of a Patent is Not Patent Misuse
31. Global patent law update
32. Eli Lilly and Co v Genentech Inc: issue estoppel and abuse of process in patent cases
33. Court: Violating a site’s terms of service isn’t criminal hacking
34. Levandowski says Uber must pay his $179 million judgment to Google
35. Redbox’s Terms of Use Fail (OUCH)–Wilson v. Redbox (Eric Goldman)
36. Section 230 Protects Classifying Non-Competitive Software as a Threat–Asurvio v. Malwarebytes (Eric Goldman)
37. Internet Archive offers 1.4 million copyrighted books for free online: Massive online library project is venturing into uncharted legal waters.
38. Authors fume as online library “lends” unlimited free books
39. Publishers And Authors Misguided Freakout Over Internet Archive’s Decision To Enable More Digital Book Checkouts During A Pandemic
40. Spotify and Warner Music Group renew their global licensing deal, resolve issue in India
41. Patreon, Which Had 150,000 Pre-Pandemic Creators, Sees 30,000 Sign-Ups In March Alone
42. Neural implants plus AI turn sentence-length thoughts to text
43. The benefits of Artificial Intelligence in the field of IP
44. Vancouver studio uses 3D printers to make face shields for hospital workers
45. The ‘human canvas’ livestreams from Tasmanian museum
46. ‘NBA 2K’ Publisher Beats Copyright Suit Over LeBron James’ Tattoos: In a landmark decision on the tatto a federal judge rules that Take-Two’s depiction was de minimus and that an implied license was granted.
47. Judge Swain: Depicting NBA Players’ Tattoos in Video Game Is “Fair Use”
48. Court Manages To Get NBA2K Tattoo Copyright, Trademark Case Exactly Right
49. Videogame Doesn’t Infringe Tattoo Copyright By Depicting Basketball Players–Solid Oak Sketches v. 2K Games (Eric Goldman)
50. Videogame Can Replicate Musician’s “Signature Move” (Unless It’s a False Endorsement, Which It Isn’t)–Pellegrino v. Epic Games (Eric Goldman)
51. US court dismisses Humvee trademark infringement suit against Activision: New York judge rules that use of Humvees in Call of Duty is protected as artistic expression
52. Gamevice brings yet another accusation of Nintendo patent infringement: This is the peripherals manufacturer’s third attempt at such a complaint
53. How SNES emulators got a few pixels from complete perfection
54. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,326: Soft reservation system and method for multiplayer video games

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Awful, Awful People Keep Trying To Trademark COVID And Coronavirus
2. The Utility of Recent Force Majeure Amendments to Canadian Trademark Law
3. Federal Court of Appeal remands Remicade new use patent decision on anticipation and obviousness
4. (Trade)mark America Great Again: Should Political Slogans Be Able to Receive Trademark Protection? (Katherine Kerrick)
5. Newspaper Can Talk About “Derby Pies” Without Infringing Trademarks–Rupp v. Courier Journal (Eric Goldman)
6. Supreme Court Decides North Carolina Is Immune from Filmmaker’s Copyright Suit
7. Surprise: Judge Throws Out Jury’s Awful Copyright Infringement Decision Over Katy Perry Song
8. Supreme Court rules states are immune from copyright law
9. States Cannot be Sued for Copyright Infringement Says the Supreme Court
10. SCOTUS Strikes Down Law Abrogating Sovereign Immunity to States for Copyright Infringement
11. North Carolina Won’t Be Walking the Plank: Supreme Court Finds State is No Copyright Pirate in Blackbeard Ruling
12. U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Sovereign Immunity Shields States From Copyright Suits
13. Supreme Court Rules That States Cannot be Sued for Copyright Infringement, For Now…
14. Brompton bike case unfolds as AG’s opinion indicates no copyright infringement
15. A casual snapshot can make for a valuable copyright
16. Responding to COVID-19 | Global intellectual property update
17. COVID-19 and trademark-driven scams
18. Judge Woods Finds Dating App Patent Doesn’t “Match Up” With Section 101
19. Federal Circuit Adds “Method of Preparation” Claims to Bucket List of Claim Types that May Elude the Dreaded US 101 Invalidity Finding
20. An Improved Step in a Diagnostic Method is Patentable Subject Matter
21. Everyone’s Got A Pet Project: Patent Maximalist Says We Need Longer Patents To Incentivize Coronavirus Vaccines
22. RIP to the Australian innovation patent
23. ‘Upload filters’ and human rights: implementing Article 17 of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market
24. Double Blow To The EU’s Long-Delayed Unified Patent Court, But Supporters Unlikely To Give Up
25. Former Google engineer pleads guilty to stealing confidential document
26. ‘A worldwide hackathon’: Hospitals turn to crowdsourcing and 3D printing amid equipment shortages
27. Artificial Intelligence: Can a machine be an inventor?
28. Google v CNIL – an update on the right to be forgotten
29. Judge To Art Licensing Agency: No, Your Stupid Unicorn Is Not More Important Than COVID-19 Right Now, Shut Up
30. No Fun and Games: Blizzard Alleges Infringement by JoyFun Inc.
31. High Fashion Invades Runeterra – Fascinating IP Issues in the Collaboration Between League of Legends and Louis Vuitton
32. Nintendo presses Sony to remove Mario creations from Dreams: Sony confirms ongoing case-by-case purge of Nintendo IP from creation game
33. Nintendo Gets ‘Dreams’ Mario Taken Down Because Of Course It Did
34. Mods that cut VR from Half-Life: Alyx will only show how vital its VR is, says Valve
35. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,323: Dynamic difficulty adjustment

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Volunteers 3D-Print Unobtainable $11,000 Valve For $1 To Keep Covid-19 Patients Alive; Original Manufacturer Threatens To Sue
2. Industry Committee Recommends Adding Digital Lock Exception to USMCA Copyright Provisions (Michael Geist)
3. False Start for Paparazzi in Copyright Suit
4. Cruz v. Cox Media Group: District court holds Cox Media Group liable for copyright infringement due to publication of bystander’s photograph of 2017 terrorist attack in conjunction with news story, finding no fair use.
5. LinkedIn Appeals Important CFAA Ruling Regarding Scraping Public Info Just As Concerns Raised About Clearview
6. After A Long Climb, Led Zeppelin Prevails In The Stairway To Heaven Copyright Battle
7. Is “This Land is Your Land” in the Public Domain?
8. The Freewheeling, Copyright-Infringing World of Custom-Printed Tees: Print-on-demand companies allow anyone to upload designs for T-shirts, mugs & other items. But many images violate I.P. rights.
9. Cofemel decision applied for the first time by UK court
10. The Philadelphia Phillies Are Phighting for Their Rights to the Phanatic
11. March Madness Trademarks: Avoiding a Foul Call from the NCAA (2020 Update – Part 1)
12. March Madness Trademarks: Avoiding a Foul Call from the NCAA (2020 Update)(Part 2 – Even if the Tournament is Off)
13. Google’s Servers Hosted by Third Parties Do Not Establish Patent Venue
14. Failure to Mark Can Put Damages Underwater
15. Protecting Trade Secrets During a Pandemic
16. Natural Language Processing
17. Former Refrigerator Manufacturer Says Companies Using Open Source, Royalty-Free Video Technology Must Pay To License 2,000 Patents
18. Patent Marking – Federal Circuit Clarifies Noncompliance is not Cured by Ceasing to Sell Products or by Willful Infringement
19. 2020: A Busy Year for CRISPR Patents at the EPO
20. Firm wielding Theranos patents asks judge to block coronavirus test [Updated]
21. After Theranos suit, Fortress makes patents available on royalty-free basis for COVID-19 tests
22. Softbank-Owned Patent Troll Now Promises To Grant Royalty-Free License For Covid-19 Tests; Details Lacking
23. True or false: testing limits of comparative advertising
24. Patent-Eligible Improvements to Computer Functionality Must Be Directed to an Improvement of the Computer or Network Platform
25. Claims Using Naturally-Occurring Phenomenon in Method of Preparation Found Patent Eligible
26. Choosing Advocacy over Candor Renders Patent Unenforceable
27. Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court – Is it all over or is there a Plan B?
28. The Growing Importance of International Arbitration for Intellectual Property Disputes
29. Intellectual property law: a year in review
30. As Congress Explore New Awful Copyright Plans, Maximalists Look To Rewrite The History Of SOPA/PIPA
31. SoftBank Owned Patent Troll, Using Monkey Selfie Law Firm, Sues To Block Covid-19 Testing, Using Theranos Patents
32. Facebook unleashes the legal hounds against deceptive web domain names
33. The challenges of Artificial Intelligence in the field of IP
34. Who owns AI creations? Comment on WIPO’s ‘Draft Issues Paper on Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence’ (Guido Noto La Diega)
35. Identifying the Legal and Business Risks of Disinformation and Deepfakes: What Every Business Needs to Know
36. Board finds that Nintendo Joy-Cons don’t infringe on Gamevice controller patents
37. Nintendo wins patent dispute against Gamevice: Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidates all 19 of mobile accessories maker’s claims against platform holder
38. Ittle Dew 2+ returns to Nintendo Switch: Former publisher Nicalis denies allegations it attempted to re-publish title without permission
39. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,314: System and method for providing continuous gameplay in a multiplayer video game through an unbounded gameplay session

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. How Explaining Copyright Broke the YouTube Copyright System
2. NYU Law School’s Video Teaching Copyright Completely Flummoxed YouTube’s Copyright Filters
3. Protective Orders Alive and Well in Canadian IP Litigation: The Federal Court of Appeal has recently put to rest concerns about the availability of “protective orders” in IP litigation.
4. Managing Canadian Trademark Applications Under CIPO’s New Restrictions on Extensions of Time
5. Led Zeppelin wins latest battle in Stairway to Heaven legal fight
6. 9th Circuit Gets It Right: Says Led Zeppelin Didn’t Infringe; Dumps Dumb ‘Inverse Ratio’ Rule
7. Ninth Circuit Affirms Non-Infringement Judgment for Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven
8. Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin: 9th Cir. reinstates jury verdict that Stairway to Heaven did not infringe copyright to song Taurus, ruling that sound recordings of Taurus were properly excluded at trial.
9. Ninth Circuit Watch: En Banc Court Overturns Rule That a High Degree of Access to Copyrighted Material Reduces Plaintiff’s Burden to Show Substantial Similarity
10. Fantasies About a Formula for Fair Use
11. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Litigation Update: Virtual Immersion Technologies Litigations
12. Hugo Boss – aka comedian Joe Lycett – takes on Hugo Boss
13. In New 5Pointz Decision, Second Circuit Concludes That VARA Trumps The Constitution
14. Street artists spray paint legal victory across walls
15. No success for Questor in its quest for an injunction
16. NFL Gets Shopify To Take Down Clear NY Jets Parody Merch Site With Trademark Complaint
17. A Bite in the Apple: Apple Inc. v. California Institute of Technology, Appeal Nos. 2019-1580, -1581 (Fed. Cir., March 5, 2020)
18. Gender inequality — How many patent offices does it take to fix a leaky pipeline?
19. It might be good enough to eat, but is your product good enough to protect?
20. Software Can Make Non-Abstract Improvements to Computer Technology Just as Hardware Can (But Didn’t Here)
21. Haptic feedback assisted text manipulation: technical
22. UK opts out of Unified Patent Court regime
23. UK will not be part of the Unified Patent Court or Unitary Patent system
24. Will I be able to enforce my European intellectual property rights in the UK?
25. Key Estate Planning Considerations for Individuals with Intellectual Property (Part III: Patents)
26. Key IP trends to watch for in 2020
27. Intellectual Property Protection Strategies for Successful Business in the US and Canada
28. Intellectual Property Issues for Foreign Enterprises Acquiring Chinese Companies
29. Mastering the patent application process
30. Publicity Rights and Its Scope in Intellectual Property Laws
31. Facebook Brings Suit against Mobile Marketing Firm for Siphoning User Data without Authorization
32. Before it sued Google for copying from Java, Oracle got rich copying IBM’s SQL
33. Quibi Accused Of Stealing Technology, Trade Secrets From Interactive Video Company Eko
34. Full Count: Retweet Copyright Dispute Against Cubs Moves Forward
35. Cannabis Company is Sued for Showing Mural in Advertising Campaign
36. Quibi Sued by Eko for Patent Infringement, Theft of Trade Secrets
37. Amazon, counterfeits and memes: Online IP developments
38. Spotify, Amazon to Argue Against Songwriter Rate Hike in Court of Appeals
39. Engineer at the center of Waymo/Uber legal battle declares bankruptcy
40. Does my AI own the IP that it creates? If not, who?
41. Japan Approves New Law To Make Manga Piracy A Criminal Offense
42. Take-Two: Another step in the High Court’s battle against cheating in video games
43. Bold: Matthew Storman, Sans Lawyer, Counter Sues Nintendo For False Allegation Of Copyright Infringement
44. Joy-Con drift lawsuit denied dismissal, but referred to arbitration: 18 plaintiffs have joined suit against Nintendo, claiming unfair and deceptive business practices
45. Nintendo Switch Joy-Con drift class action lawsuit paused as case moves to arbitration
46. Mod.io raises $1 million to help game devs support user-generated content
47. Playing To Win: The Post-Alice Video Game Patent Landscape
48. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,299: Transitioning gameplay on a head-mounted display
49. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,307: Game controller with removable faceted finger pad

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Can someone copyright every possible melody? (Andres Guadamuz)
2. Simple Solutions Simply Don’t Suffice to Solve the Slew of Song Infringement Substantial Similarity Suits
3. Castillo v. G&M Realty L.P.: 2nd Circuit affirms $6.75 million damages against property owner for painting over   graffiti art at 5Pointz exhibition, ruling that works were protected under Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990.
4. Second Circuit Affirms $6.7M VARA Judgment for Aerosol Artists
5. United Kingdom: Court of Appeal Clarifies When a Work is a Product of Joint Authorship
6. Netflix argues ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ has become a generic term
7. Netflix Seeks Cancellation Of “Choose Your Own Adventure” Trademark
8. Court Dismisses Author’s Claim that TV Series “Billions” Copied Her Work – No Substantial Similarity Under Any Applicable Test
9. The Vatican Apostolic Library enters the digital age – and promptly asserts copyright
10. Bobby Brown’s Claims for the Use of His Name and Likeness Not His Prerogative
11. Copyright Registration – A Prerequisite to a Copyright Infringement Suit
12. Landmark ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Digital Exhaustion in the Tom Kabinet Case
13. Clash of IP and competition to pharma’s detriment? The CJEU’s decision in the GSK case
14. Google v. Oracle – Copyright Battle of the Tech Titans
15. Breaking Down the Briefing in Google v. Oracle: Petitioner’s Brief
16. Four major factors at play in the Google-Oracle IP rights dispute
17. U.S. Copyright Office: Renewal of DMCA Designated Agent Required for DMCA Safe Harbor
18. Fifth Circuit Tosses Statutory Damages Award, Reinforcing the Importance of Early Copyright Registration
19. Geo-blocking of copyright protected content: The elephant in the room
20. Copyright: protection of designs as copyright works
21. Who Owns the Copyright? Work-Made-For-Hire Edition
22. Move to terminate Paramount Decrees may effect IP in the film industry
23. UK confirms withdrawal from the Unitary Patent
24. The UK will not be part of the UPC, Prime Minster’s Office confirms to IAM
25. The European unified patent court – a Brexit casualty?
26. Federal Court of Appeal remands REMICADE new use patent decision on anticipation and obviousness
27. A Practical Guide to the transition to Canada’s new Patent Act and Rules
28. Music – First Sale Doctrine, Fair Use and Protectability
29. Key Estate Planning Considerations for Individuals with IP (Part I: Introduction & Copyrights)
30. The Past and Future of Canada’s Criminalization of Trade Secret Theft – Part I
31. The Past and Future of Canada’s Criminalization of Trade Secret Theft – Part II
32. Intellectual Property Outlook: Cases and Trends to Follow in 2020 – PART 3
33. Banking on Intellectual Property | Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Banking
34. Millennium and Janssen seek leave from Supreme Court in Section 8 bortezomib case
35. Architects’ copyright
36. The Future of Patent Research
37. Senator Thom Tillis Pushed Awful Patent Reform Idea Last Year; Now Looks To Top It With Awful Copyright Reform This Year
38. How e-commerce platforms get drawn into global war on counterfeit goods
39. After 109,000 Video Removal Appeals Last Quarter, YouTube Says It Reinstated 22%
40. Bogus Automated Copyright Claims By CBS Blocked Super Tuesday Speeches By Bernie Sanders, Mike Bloomberg, And Joe Biden
41. SEC Issues Guidance on International Intellectual Property and Technology Risks
42. Machine Learning Patentability in 2019: 5 Cases Analyzed and Lessons Learned Part 3
43. Two New California Laws Tackle Deepfake Videos in Politics and Porn
44. I Wish More Countries ‘Stole’ Our Movies
45. The Tail of the Phillie Phanatic – The Hidden Underbelly of the New-Look Mascot
46. Grand Theft Auto cheat software; an infringement story
47. Real Property Dispute in a Virtual World
48. New publisher Ziggurat Interactive to revive dormant IP for PC and console: Company has access to over 140 titles from as far back the ’80s, first three games revealed
49. Six ways video game composers are missing out on money: Video game music is more accessible than ever before, but a lack of business knowledge among composers means money is being left on the table

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Musicians Algorithmically Generate Every Possible Melody, Release Them to Public Domain: Damien Riehl & Noah Rubin generated and saved every possible melody to a drive, then turned it around to the commons.
2. Attempt To Put Every Musical Melody Into The Public Domain Demonstrates Craziness Of Modern Copyright
3. Can a Machine Be Considered an ‘Inventor’ for Patent Purposes?
4. Drake’s Sampling is a Fair Use
5. Judge upholds decision awarding $6.75 million (£5.2 million) damages to 5 Pointz graffiti artists
6. Second Circuit Affirms Visual Artists Rights Act Protects Famed Graffiti-ed Building
7. An introduction to copyright for creatives
8. Merchandising Monsters – European Commission imposes €14.3 million fine on NBCUniversal
9. The NCAA Blocks the Use of “March Madness” in Trademark Dispute
10. Brakes put on Bentley Motors’ use of trademark
11. Infringement by ReTweet?
12. Copyright term under Disney’s spell?
13. Can You License A Video You Don’t Hold The Copyright Over?
14. Copyright Can’t Bend Far Enough to Be Used Like a Patent
15. Protecting the Design of Consumer Goods
16. Compete, monetise, abandon: the strategic path to IP value
17. Intellectual Property Alert: Where and How You Store Your Servers May Subject You to Patent Litigation in a Distant Jurisdiction
18. Canadian patent law: 2019 year in review
19. Obtaining patent protection for software in Europe
20. 2019 U.S. Patents Hit All Time High
21. Is Chinese IP Theft Coming to an End?
22. The US Spent Years Telling China To Take Patents Seriously; Now It’s Freaking Out That China Is Doing So
23. Design Patent Guidance Found in Recent Court Decisions
24. Intellectual Property and Brexit
25. IP after Brexit: consequences and checklists
26. Revolution in enforcement of intellectual property rights in Poland – Introduction of specialised IP courts
27. Hiding Actualities: Whether Art Should Exist Independent of the Artist (Derek Diemer)
28. Open source licenses: What, which, and why
29. The Next Risk In Buying An IOT Product Is Having It Bricked By A Patent Dispute
30. Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images And 3D Models Into The Public Domain
31. The system is rigged against users: Another reason why getting compensated for data is not a good idea (Beatriz Botero Arcila)
32. Companies are stealing influencers’ faces
33. Facebook offers to pay users for their voice recordings
34. Facebook will now pay you for your voice recordings: But it won’t pay much
35. Who’s protecting the machines? Will IP law offer incentives to AI developers in the battle to beat bacteria?
36. Corona Beer Takes a Hit From Coronavirus as Brand Image Suffers
37. Crytek’s lawsuit against Star Citizen devs ends in settlement
38. Copyright In The Modern Era: Fortnite Lets Players Mute Emote To Avoid Auto-Copyright Claims Against YouTubers
39. UK High Court Confirms That Grand Theft Auto Cheat Software Infringes Copyright
40. Activision subpoenas Reddit in hopes of tracking down Call of Duty leaker
41. Activision goes after Reddit to expose Call of Duty leaker: DMCA subpoena issued to identify user who posted new screenshot
42. Well Then: Activision Issues DMCA Subpoena To Have Reddit Unmask Whoever Posted That CoD Image Leak

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. The Copyright Board’s Access Copyright Post Secondary Decision: The Incorrect Correction (Howard Knopf)
2. Oops, the Board did it again, and again, and again (Ariel Katz)
3. Moschino Counterpunches on Cardi B Paparazzi Pic
4. District Court Grants Judgment on the Pleadings, in Part, in Kanye West Copyright Suit
5. Let Go of My LEGOs: Copyright Protection for Plastic People
6. “Into the Garbage, Fly Boy”: A Review of the Star Wars Legal World; One Court at a Time
7. Expansion of UK copyright law for the fashion industry
8. Otto v. Hearst Communications Inc: District court denies attorneys’ fees to photographer who prevailed in copyright suit against Hearst Communications based on its unauthorized use of photograph of President Trump
9. Artist Sues Cannabis Company and Agencies Over Mural Used in Ads
10. No, Disney Probably Didn’t Infringe A Unicorn Van Artist’s Copyright, But It Would Have Sued If The Roles Were Reversed
11. Making waves: Copyright in ‘Wave Fabric’ can be protected as a ‘work of artistic craftsmanship’
12. I Scream, You Scream: Museum of Ice Cream Vindicated in Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
13. Failure to Register Copyrights in the U.S. Can Bar Statutory Damages for Infringements
14. A guide to intellectual property in the creative industries – protecting pitches, brands and concepts
15. IP Enterprise Court expands copyright protection for designs
16. Open access journals get a boost from librarians—much to Elsevier’s dismay
17. IPCom GMBH & CO KG v Vodafone Group PLC and others
18. Open Source Voice Assistant Promises To ‘Nuke From Orbit’ Patent Troll
19. Judge Shuts Down Copyright Troll’s Cut-And-Run Effort; Hits It With $40K In Legal Fees
20. Lost in the Amazon: how to combat trademark infringement in the e-commerce marketplace
21. Xiaomi Sues Sisvel in Beijing: The First Lawsuit Seeking a Determination of Chinese SEP Royalty
22. Presidents’ Day 2020: Presidential Patents Beyond Lincoln
23. Patentability 101: A Review of the 2019 Guidance and Update on Subject Matter Eligibility
24. Motivation to Combine Prior Art Can Come from Knowledge of those Skilled in the art, the Art Itself, or the Nature of the Problem
25. Top five cosmetic trends shaping IP in 2020
26. Top Issues in 2020: Trademark
27. Happy Valentines Day (Patents) 2020
28. Patentability in Canada: Federal Court of Appeal questions the fixed dosage amount vs dosage range distinction
29. The Best of the Decade – Canadian Patent Law in the 2010s
30. 2020 Outlook – Patents
31. Top Issues in 2020: Patents
32. The New Cybersquatters: The Evolution of Trademark Enforcement in the Domain Name Space (Michael Karanicolas)
33. Court Allows Chooseco’s Lawsuit Against Netflix Over ‘Bandersnatch’ To Move Forwar
34. Mills v. Netflix, Inc.: District court dismisses plaintiff’s DMCA claim of removal and altering of copyright management information
35. Susan Wojcicki Reveals YouTube Paid Out $3 Billion To Music Industry Last Year
36. Hughes v. Benjamin: Court dismisses copyright and DMCA claims, finding use of plaintiff’s YouTube video was for criticism and commentary, and therefore transformative fair use
37. Bell v. Chicago Cubs Baseball Club, LLC: District court grants motion to dismiss contributory infringement claim against Chicago Cubs based on retweet that allegedly copied key passage from plaintiff’s book.
38. A new spin on 3D printing can produce an object in seconds
39. Can computers invent? EPO says no to AI inventors
40. EPO rejects AI inventor patent applications
41. Can AI Be an Inventor? Not at the European Patent Office.
42. Why AI is crucial for patent searching and mining
43. A case study comparison of the AI chips patent landscape
44. Machine Learning Patentability in 2019: 5 Cases Analyzed and Lessons Learned Part 2
45. Intelligent (patent) agents: should the patent profession be afraid of AI?
46. Enforcing Cybertech Patents is Increasingly Possible, Even for Small Companies
47. Numerical Ranges: More Than Just Endpoints in Patent Process
48. UK Court Finds GTA V Cheat Makers Guilty of Copyright Infringement
49. Rockstar Joins Other Publishers In Misusing Copyright Law To Go After Cheat Developers For GTA5
50. Capital C Infringement of Capitol Records: EMI April Music Inc. v. 4MM Games, LLC, 2014 WL 1383468
51. Game Developer Decides Best Way To Get Back At Pirates Is To Pirate Them Back
52. Google Reportedly Paying Activision Blizzard $160 Million For YouTube’s Exclusive Livestreaming Rights
53. Disney wants developers to “reimagine” its IP for video games: Exec invites DICE Summit attendees to “come and play” with its catalogue
54. U.S. Patent no. 10,279,266: Monitoring game activity to detect a surrogate computer program

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Downtown Music Publishing LLC v. Peloton Interactive, Inc.
2. “Pound Cake” Sampling Is Fair Use According to the Second Circuit
3. 2nd Circuit Appeals Court Upholds Drake Sampling Fair Use Victory, But Doesn’t Think It’s Useful For Anyone Else
4. Estate of James Oscar Smith v. Drake (USCA 2^nd Circuit, 2.3.20)
5. Transformative Editing as Fair Use Under Copyright
6. Google v. Oracle: Will Software Be Free?
7. Supreme Court Set to Hear Copywrite Arguments in “Google v. Oracle”
8. China and United States see eye to IP
9. Copyright Troll Lawsuit Over Duct Taped Banana Picture
10. Photo Of $120K Banana Art Leads To Copyright Fight
11. Seattle Kraken or Sockeyes: How Legal Implications May Influence Seattle’s Decision
12. Get Up, Stand Up, For Your Copyrights
13. Fashion designers to have more protection against copying
14. Can copyright protect your fabric design from copycats and competitors?
15. Making Waves: IPEC finds fabric design a work of artistic craftmanship
16. CJEU rules that the provision of e-books is an act of communication to the public
17. Caltech Ten-Figure Patent Verdict Showcases Impact of University Intellectual Property
18. Patenting Coronavirus Treatments
19. EU’s top court clarifies when a patent settlement agreement can infringe EU antitrust rules
20. You Mess With Me, You Mess With My Whole (Patent) Family
21. Express License of Patent Includes Implied License of Continuations
22. The six big ways the US and Europe differ on software patents
23. What will France’s PACTE law mean for patents?
24. Standard-essential patents in United Kingdom
25. The future of 5G patent licensing
26. Top Issues in 2020: 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing
27. Government Looking in the Mirror: How to Do Better in IP Protection and Commercialization
28. Tech tools to draft patent applications could revolutionise IP proceedings
29. BREXIT’s Projected Impact on Intellectual Property Rights
30. Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Drops Case After Suing On Behalf Of The Wrong Party And Trying To Swap Plaintiffs 
31. Update on Allarco Litigation – Allarco’s Potential Exit Costs in the Federal Court (Howard Knopf)
32. Judicial Review: Impact of the Vavilov Judgment
33. The Speaker, the President, and the Case of (the) Ripped Up Speech (Jonathan Zittrain)
34. Ninth Circuit Rules that LinkedIn Cannot Block Data Scraping
35. Video Sharing Site Protected by CDA Immunity for Removal of Poster’s “Objectionable Material”
36. Can a Retweet Constitute Copyright Infringement? Uh….–Bell v. Chicago Cubs (Eric Goldman)
37. Two New Mass Copyright Lawsuits – Rambo: Last Blood & Angel Has Fallen
38. What Happens When a High-Tech Apparel Brand Shares the Same Name as the Company that Backed the Controversial Iowa Caucus App?
39. Downloading public court documents costs a dime a page—is that legal?
40. Google Maps gets new icon, tweaked UI for 15th bi
41. Electronic signatures – legally binding or not worth the paper they’re written on?
42. Facebook, YouTube order Clearview to stop scraping them for faces to match
43. Google Says Clearview’s Site Scraping Is Wrong; Clearview Reminds Google It Scrapes Sites All The Time
44. Clearview AI and the Legal Challenges Facing Facial Recognition Databases
45. Clearview Looking To Expand Its Market To Problematic Countries Known For Human Rights Abuses
46. Ajunwa to Congress: Help stop employers’ AI-fueled bias
47. AI isn’t just coming to the world of dating—it’s already here
48. Artificial Intelligence at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board
49. LAW’s Danielle Citron: How Campaigns Can Counter Deepfakes – Cybersecurity expert and MacArthur Fellow has devised an eight-point plan for political campaigns to protect against fabricated video and audio
50. Harvard Students Again Show ‘Anonymized’ Data Isn’t Really Anonymous
51. As The World Frets Over Social Media Tracking For Advertising, Young People Are Turning Fooling Sites Into Sport

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Conservative MP Dan Albas on Copyright Term Extension in USMCA: Government Needs to Mitigate Damage to Copyright Law (Michael Geist)
2. Woman Threatens Rep. Steve King With A Lawsuit For Using A 12-Year-Old Meme On His Facebook Page
3. Success kid’s mom won’t stand for Steve King’s “meme” ad: Laney Griner, mother behind the meme, sent cease-and-desist to the Iowa congressman.
4. The EPO’s fourth law of robotics: a robot must not be the inventor of a patent
5. EPO publishes reasons for rejecting AI as inventor on patent application
6. Can your AI machine be an inventor? The EPO says no….
7. Caltech wins $1.1 billion patent award against Apple and Broadcom
8. Patent Re-examination in Canada: Court Takes Truck Argument Off the Road
9. Seedlings Clarifies Key Patent Litigation Issues
10. Federal Circuit Alters Landscape for Design Patent Litigation
11. Kendall and Kylie Jenner “Klauber-ed” for Allegedly Infringing Lace Designs
12. Blockchain and intellectual property – the de-centralised alliance
13. Creative Interpretations of a Creative Commons License
14. Do you want to build a snowman? No, but I’d like to protect one! IP for animated characters.
15. BMI Settlement of Royalty Battle with RMLC to Include Music in Podcasts? – Not So Fast….
16. Schrödinger’s Shades of Grey: the CJEU’s landmark paroxetine ruling – antitrust market definition and patent settlement agreements
17. The United Kingdom will not implement the European Union Copyright Directive
18. Will rejecting the EU’s new copyright directive #savetheinternet?
19. It’s That Time Of Year: No, The NFL Can’t Stop Every Business From Using ‘Super Bowl’ In Every Instance
20. Update to Trademark Practice in Canada
21. How the New U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Deal (Mostly) Expands Intellectual Property Protections
22. Brexit: Implications for IP
23. Brexit & IP – status quo for the transition period; changes to come post-transition
24. Brexit is a Done Deal: What Are the Implications for Your IP?
25. Cofemel’s first UK outing – The wooly world of copyright and designs
26. Risk of Electronic Device Search For Patent Attorneys and Inventors Crossing the US-Canada Border with Confidential Information
27. File When Ready! Criteria for Determining if an Invention Should Be Patented
28. Fifth Circuit Holds that Mitigation is Not an Absolute Defense to Statutory Damages for Copyright Infringement and DMCA Violations
29. Ninth Circuit Affirms $3.9 Million Attorney’s Fees Award in Ultraman Copyright Dispute
30. Competition between generics and originators – what’s the relevance of a patent? (Part II)
31. Intellectual Property Outlook: Cases and Trends to Follow in 2020 – Part 2 
32. Video Excerpts Qualify as Fair Use (and Another 512(f) Claim Fails)–Hughes v. Benjamin (Eric Goldman)
33. YouTube Sends Cease-And-Desist To Facial Recognition Company That Scrapes Social Media Images For Law Enforcement
34. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Protections for Copyright Owners and Online Service Providers
35. RIAA, Stream-Ripping Sites Engaged In Dumb Game Of Whac-A-Mole With Search Engines
36. Dune’s New Logo Started Disappearing From Twitter Due To Copyright Claims, But No One Is Quite Sure Why
37. Disney’s Licensing Dogs Charge Underserved School District A Third Of Fundraiser Money For Playing ‘Lion King’ DVD
38. Here are the 62 brand-new emoji for 2020
39. Patent law’s approach to AI: finding the way forward
40. Could Star Trek’s DATA Be a Patent Inventor?
41. UK Intellectual Property Office finds that patent law does not cater for inventions created by AI machines and calls for debate
42. Patenting Considerations for Artificial Intelligence in Biotech and Synthetic Biology – Part 2: Key Issues in Patent Subject Matter Eligibility
43. Avast shutters data-selling subsidiary amid user outrage
44. YouTube demands Clearview AI stop scraping its videos for facial recognition database
45. Lawsuit Says Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Violates Illinois Privacy Laws
46. NJ AG Bans Clearview AI – Preventing a Chain of Privacy Violations or Interfering with Clearview’s Intellectual Property?
47. Nintendo switches it up with website blocking injunction
48. Cheat software: Can publishers level the playing field? – Legal expert Dr Andreas Lober offers practical advice to publishers battling the rise of cheat software in online games
49. Where now for Gears of War?: As franchise lead Rod Fergusson departs, Xbox commits to the IP and its studio
50. U.S. Patent no. 10,279,260: Cut-scene gameplay

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. How the Supreme Court’s New Standard of Review Will Impact IP
2. USMCA amendments: implications for Canadian IP law
3. Article 13: UK will not implement EU copyright law
4. Tom Kabinet: CJEU rules resale of e-books requires permission of copyright holder
5. CJEU judgement in Sky v Skykick (case C-371/18)
6. UK Government “has no plans” to implement the Copyright Directive
7. UK Says It Won’t Implement The EU Copyright Directive, Which Wouldn’t Have Passed Without Its Support During A Crucial Vote
8. Here’s why the UK is (finally) dumping Article 13 for good: The UK had plenty of opportunities to veto the controversial EU copyright legislation, so why did it wait so long to torpedo Article 13?
9. An IP Roadmap for Phase-One Sino-US Economic and Trade Agreement
10. Phase 1 U.S. China Trade Deal: Patent Provisions
11. PMPRB Publishes Draft Guidelines to Operationalize Amendments to the Patented Medicines Regulations
12. Court of Appeal clarifies rules for joint authorship of copyright
13. Fair Use and Fanatic Fans
14. Lego A/S v. Zuru, Inc.
15. Structured Asset Sales, LLC v. Sheeran
16. Two Cases Raise New Copyright Infringement Concerns for Internet Linking
17. #CopyrightInfringement: The Sequel
18. IP Insight: Is Linking to Radio Streams Online Copyright Infringement?
19. In ‘N Out Burger Continues Its BS Pop-Up Technique To Keep Trademarks It Isn’t Actually Using
20. SDNY: Collateral Estoppel Halts Social Media Patent Case
21. Conversant Wireless v Huawei: patents valid & essential
22. Competition between generics and originators – what’s the relevance of a patent?
23. Cannabis patent litigation update: construing cannabis claims
24. Recent Suit By US Olympic Committee Is Excellent Reminder Of Special Protection Afforded To The Words “Olympic” and “Paralympic”
25. Life sciences intellectual property: 2019 highlights
26. 2020 Intellectual Property Primer: Cases to Watch this Year
27. Tricks of the trade: Can you just do a quick search on …?
28. Update on Allarco’s “Unusual” Litigation (Howard Knopf)
29. YouTube Streamer Hit With Demonetization Over Copyright Claims To Numbers ’36’ And ’50’
30. Germany Wants To Limit Memes And Mashups Derived From Press Publishers’ Material To 128-by-128 Pixels In Resolution, And Three Seconds In Length
31. As We Get Closer And Closer To The EU Requiring ContentID Everywhere, More Abuses Of ContentID Exposed
32. Copyright As Censorship: Gun Rights Advocate Gets Video Taken Down With Bogus Copyright Claim
33. CBS Gets Angry Joe’s YouTube Review Of ‘Picard’ Taken Down For Using 26 Seconds Of The Show’s Trailer
34. 2019 Emoji Law Year-in-Review (Eric Goldman)
35. JLo Character Hustles Into Court Over Publicity Rights
36. Planning a Super Bowl-themed Marketing Campaign? 5 Tips for Staying In Bounds
37. Japanese court ups punishment for unlicensed Mario Kart-themed go-karts: Maricar must change its name, pay out $458k instead of $92k to Nintendo
38. Blizzard automatically owns any and all Warcraft 3: Reforged custom games
39. Blizzard now claims full copyright for player-made “custom game” mods
40. Warcraft 3 Reforged EULA gives Blizzard total ownership of all custom games: With the remake, Blizzard appears to be trying to avoid another Dota situation
41. Don’t Miss: How a ragtag band of modders restored Star Wars KOTOR II
42. EA ends support for mobile Tetris, Tetris Blitz
43. You Don’t Own What You Buy: The Tetris Edition

Jon

 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. IP Insight – Harry and Meghan Prioritise Trade Marks
2. Harry and Meghan seek global trademark for ‘Sussex Royal’ brand: Filings suggest plans for items and activities from clothing to ‘emotional support groups’
3. The “M” Word in Canadian Copyright Law – The “Mandatory” Matter (Howard Knopf)
4. Exceptional Circumstances Now Required for Extensions In Trademark Examination
5. Peppa Pig Owner Wins Copyright Infringement Case
6. Zazzle’s Insufficient Copyright Oversight Procedures Support Willful Infringement Finding
7. Fifth Circuit Holds Failure to Mitigate is No Bar to Statutory Damages Under Copyright Act
8. Federal Court dismisses patent infringement action for delay
9. Facebook Surges in U.S. Patent Rankings Due to Mounting AR Strategy
10. Trademark Opposition Stupidly Prevents Indians Pitcher Shane Bieber From Telling Everyone He’s ‘Not Justin’
11. Fair use or fair dealing? Where are we now?
12. A Blog’s RSS Feed May Not Grant an Implied Copyright License–MidlevelU v. Newstex (Eric Goldman)
13. CRISPR Patent – “Appeal Dismissed, Patent Revoked”
14. Breaking: EPO Board of Appeal upholds invalidation of Broad’s CRISPR-Cas9 patent
15. Patent battle over CRISPR
16. A Mixed Bag on New Rules – Juggling Copyright Preclusion and Patent Infringement
17. How Sonos’s case against Google could help shift the US patent narrative
18. Trade secret or patent protection – how do we decide?
19. Can newly discovered cannabis compounds be protected by patents?
20. Beat the Weeds: File Your Cannabis Trademarks in Canada
21. Intellectual Property Outlook: Cases and Trends to Follow in 2020 – PART 1
22. China update: IP section in the China-US trade deal (phase one)
23. EU Advocate General suggests pay-for-delay settlement agreements may be an abuse of dominant position
24. A new route to patent protection in Italy from July 2020
25. The EU Copyright Directive: Potential Copyright Liability and a “Best Efforts” Standard for Platforms
26. Why Is The NYC MTA Going After A Random Artist Who Created A Different Subway Map For Infringement?
27. Does the principle of exhaustion apply to digital media? The CJEU provides clarity
28. A Sale or Not a Sale? The Digital Advertising Debate
29. Biden wants Sec. 230 gone, calls tech “totally irresponsible,” “little creeps”: Biden had harsh words about tech, seemingly spurred by anger with Facebook.
30. Amazon retains world’s most valuable brand title by smashing through $200 billion barrier
31. Bombay High Court in a Landmark Decision Restrains Review Video by Youtuber and Emphasizes on Responsible Use of the Power of Social Media
32. Chinese court rules that AI article has copyright (Andres Guadamuz)
33. Update on Federal Register Notice on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Patent Issues
34. The rise of AI and WIPO consultation on intellectual property issues
35. Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence 
36. Nintendo Wins Battle with Pirates on UK Seas
37. Court Sides With Nintendo Over RomUniverse In Atttempt To Dismiss The Former’s Lawsuit
38. Court overturns $10.1 million verdict against Nintendo in Wii Remote lawsuit
39. Court reverses $10.1 million judgement against Nintendo in Wii patent case
40. Patent infringement ruling against Nintendo Wii Remotes overturned: Dallas federal court declares patent invalid, nullifies $10m payout to iLife Technologies
41. Crytek, Cloud Imperium battle over how to end Star Citizen lawsuit
42. Cloud Imperium responds to Crytek’s attempt to dismiss its own lawsuit: Star Citizen developer maintains engine providers claim “is and always has been meritless”
43. Disney confirms sale of FoxNext, Cold Iron Studios to Scopely: Acquisition does not include Fox IP licensed games, which will stay with Disney
44. U.S. Patent no. 10,278,001: Multiple listener cloud render with enhanced instant replay
45. U.S. Patent no. 10,279,252: Game execution environments

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Appeals Court Makes The Right Call Regarding Non-Commercial Creative Commons Licenses
2. Notable Works Entering the Public Domain in 2020
3. Life + 70 Years: Copyrighted Works That Have Entered into the Public Domain in 2020 – Economic Rights Gone with the Wind
4. Harry and Meghan seek global trademark for ‘Sussex Royal’ brand: Filings suggest plans for items and activities from clothing to ‘emotional support groups’
5. Can Booking.com Trademark Its Company Name? How Will the U.S. Supreme Court Resolve Whether a Generic Term Plus a Top-Level Domain Is Protectable?
6. Carve It All Up: Compumark Report Shows Trademark Registrations, Claims Of Infringement Both Rising Fast
7. Smartphone Apps for Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram declared patent infringing by German Court – The End of Social Networks?
8. Who owns the ink? Reproduction of tattoos in film, photographs and video games
9. Wells Fargo Twice Found Guilty of Willfully Infringing Patents on Remote Check Depositing Technology
10. Non-Prior Art Evidence May Be Used to Prove Inherency
11. When Merger Clauses Don’t Merge
12. A Different Analysis for Manufacturing Method Patents under the 35 U.S.C. § 271 (e)(1) Safe Harbor Provision?
13. Biosimilar Litigation Trends and Lessons Learned in 2019
14. Athena Diagnostics v. Mayo Collaborative Services
15. The EU should not contemplate abandoning the Unified Patent Court system
16. 2019 Will Go Down in History as “The Year of Change” in Canadian Trademark Law
17. 2019 Will Go Down in History as “The Year of Change” in Canadian Trademark Law Part II
18. Key Patent Decisions of 2019
19. Who Holds the Right to Exclude for Machine Work Products? (Garry Gabison)
20. When YouTubers Cry: Prince Concert Videos Deemed Not Fair Use
21. SEC Staff Issues Guidance on Technology, Data and Intellectual Property Risks in International Operations
22. Chinese court rules AI-written article is protected by copyright
23. Chinese Court Says AI-Generated Content Is Subject To Copyright Protection
24. Evolution of IP Protection for Artificial Intelligence in France
25. “Alexa, Can You Receive a Patent?”: Chris Mammen Discusses AI as Inventors in MIT Technology Review Article
26. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Machine can be an Inventor? EPO says NO!!!
27. AI Update: WIPO Begins Public Consultation Process on Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property Policy
28. How Years Of Copyright Maximalism Is Now Killing Pop Music
29. Game Dev Torrents Its Way To More Sales, Not Less
30. Terry Cavanagh has released the source code for VVVVVV on Github
31. YouTuber Extortion? MxR Plays v. Jukin – Real Law Review // LegalEagle
32. Toward a Critical History of Touch Feedback in Video Games (David Parisi)

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. What the amendments to the USMCA mean for Canadian IP law
2. 2019 Highlights in Canadian Life Sciences IP and Regulatory Law
3. Appeals Court Smacks Down Patent Troll Blackbird, Orders It To Pay $363k In Attorneys Fees To Company It Sued
4. In flashpoint for the rebellion against big tech, Sonos sues Google for patent infringement
5. Securing Copyright and Trademark Rights for Broadcasts and Promotions Related to NFL Championship Games and Super Bowl LIV (54)
6. George Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue Is In The Public Domain And Gerswhin’s Nephew Is Worried Someone Might Turn It Into Hip Hop
7. The Murkiness of the Public Domain
8. Tackling bad faith registration of domain names in a fast-changing landscape
9. Fox Factory v. SRAM – According to CAFC, No Presumption of Nexus for Bicycle Chainring Patents; IPR Decision Reversed and Remanded
10. The big IP stories you will be reading about in 2020
11. Oracle copied Amazon’s API—was that copyright infringement?
12. Turns Out Oracle Copied Amazon’s S3 APIs; When Confronted, Pretends That’s Different (Spoiler Alert: It’s Not)
13. SCOTUS Grants Google’s Cert Petition in Oracle API Dispute
14. Java API Classes as Fictional Characters – A Proposal for Google v. Oracle
15. EU top court rules out possibility to create second-hand marketplaces for content
16. Text and data mining under the digital copyright directive
17. New Tool Enables YouTubers To Snip Sections Of Videos That Have Been Copyright Claimed
18. Facing the Music: Protecting Photography in the Age of Instagram
19. Disappointing: Apple The Latest To Abuse DMCA 1201 To Try To Stifle Competition, Security Research, Jailbreaking And More
20. Can you resell an e-book online?
21. Redistributing E-Books Online Constitutes Copyright Infringement, Says Top EU Court
22. EU Patent Office Rejects Two Patent Applications In Which An AI Was Designated As The Inventor
23. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Patents – Will the Patent Office Change the Rules?
24. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Takes on Artificial Intelligence
25. WIPO Releases Draft Issues Paper on IP Policy for AI Inventions
26. Ex Parte Linden Gives a Boost to the Subject Matter Eligibility of AI inventions
27. USPTO Designates Ex Parte Linden as an Informative § 101 PTAB Decision
28. Class action lawsuits may be available for copyright infringement cases in some instances
29. Nintendo wins injunction against seller of Switch mod, pirated games: Defendent allegedly also sold modded NES Classic with over 800 games
30. Nintendo Responds To RomUniverse’s Lame Argument That First Sale Doctrine Makes The Site Non-Infringing
31. Crytek wants to dismiss its own lawsuit against Star Citizen developers
32. Crytek seeks to dismiss its own Star Citizen lawsuit until Squadron 42 launches: Creator of CryEngine believes Star Citizen’s single-player game will be delayed past June, moves for October trial
33. CD Projekt signs new agreement and ends dispute with The Witcher author: The game developer has the rights to the IP in video games, graphic novels, board games and merchandise
34. Take 2 Sues Fan Over Project To Finally Bring ‘Red Dead 1’ To The PC
35. Case Update: Iron Maiden Holdings Ltd. v. 3D Realms Entertainment ApS
36. At 10 million players, Xbox calls Sea of Thieves its most successful new IP this gen
37. U.S. Patent no. 10,275,947: Modifying a simulated character by direct manipulation

Jon

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. European Court of Justice’s Landmark Decision on the Resale of E-Books
2. U.S. Internet Access Provider Hit with a Billion Dollar Verdict for Copyright Infringement by its Subscribers
3. Internet Access Provider Gets Another Devastating Result in a Secondary Copyright Infringement Case – Sony v. Cox (Eric Goldman)
4. Huuuge Mistake in Contract Formation
5. Internet Access Provider Gets Another Devastating Result in a Secondary Copyright Infringement Case—Sony v. Cox (Eric Goldman)
6. Running Man Stars Suing Epic Games for Fortnite Dance
7. Fortnite Lawsuit a Battle Over Jack-o’-Lantern Figures
8. Sour Note: Mraz Sues MillerCoors for ‘I’m Yours’ Clip in Instagram Ad
9. Doctor’s Promotion of ‘Vampire Facial’ a Pain in Kim Kardashian’s Neck
10. Facebook Wants To License Official Music Videos — A Massive Draw On YouTube
11. YouTube Takes Down Chanukkah Parody Of Old Town Road… Because It Infringes On A Date?
12. Federal Court Blocks Unconstitutional Arkansas Law That Prevents Plant-Based Food Companies From Using Meat Words
13. Chris Cornell’s Widow Sues Soundgarden for Copyrights to Unreleased Songs
14. No Apologies: Marc Jacobs Pushes Back on Nirvana’s Copyright and Trademark Infringement Claims
15. IP Alert: Copyright Course Correction of the Year
16. Right of Publicity Punch: Bruce Lee Enterprises Sues Kungfu Catering
17. 2019 – The Copyright Year
18. The 2020 Intellectual Property Year in “Preview” Article
19. U.S. Patent no. 10,272,346: Bounded competitions in a video game framework

Jon