By: Christina E. Brule The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice of proposed rulemaking on May 10, 2024 for a rule that would affect terminal disclaimer practice to obviate (overcome) non-statutory double patenting. Background Non-statutory double patenting, or obviousness-type double patenting (ODP), is a judicially created doctrine (e.g., there is no…
By: Arjay Parhar When the system is built around a dated statute, how does the U.S. Copyright Office (“Copyright Office”) treat unanticipated technologies? AI-generated images are notably absent from 17 U.S.C. § 102, but that has not stopped AI artists from seeking copyright protection. In two examples, the Copyright Office rejected image copyrights for Théâtre…
By: Emily Fraser Recent litigation within the automative industry could potentially upend the current standard of obviousness for design patents. In February, the Federal Circuit heard oral argument en banc in LKQ Corporation v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC. The last time the Federal Circuit issued an opinion en banc in a design patent case…
By: Thomas L. Sica “No civil action shall be maintained under the provisions of this title unless it is commenced within three years after the claim accrued.” 17 U.S.C. § 507(b). The above quote is the statute of limitations for copyright claims in the United States. While this seems straightforward, there has been a significant…
By: Rachel L. Pearlman In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Arthur Weasley advises, “Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain.” Despite speaking about a bewitched journal, Mr. Weasley’s words are also applicable to many issues attorneys are running into when deciding when and…
By: Jake Goldsmith On January 19, 2024, the video game Palworld was released for early access. The game features survival-style gameplay in which the player-character interacts with a world full of a variety of monsters referred to as “Pals.” Within days of release, Palworld was downloaded over eight million times, and achieved over two million…
By: Trent L. Rector The Copyright Act provides that, in the case of musical works, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to perform the work Publicly. A work is performed Publicly if it is performed at a place open to the Public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of…
By: Emily M. Fraser Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the development and implementation of computer systems to execute tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as decision making and problem solving. The adoption of AI has become increasingly prevalent across various industries, as organizations learn to leverage AI systems to analyze data, automate tasks, and…
By: Arjay Parhar When the highly anticipated video game, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, was released earlier this year, the gaming website Automaton found 31 video game mechanics patents that Nintendo filed that caused “an outcry of fans claiming Nintendo has overstepped their boundaries and is restricting creative freedom due to the…
By: Thomas L. Sica It should go without saying that a trademark applicant cannot register a trademark that is identical to a previously-registered trademark for the same goods and/or services. However, it becomes a more difficult analysis when composite marks are involved which are only identical in part, especially when the common element of the…