Intellectual Property

The newsletter of the ISBA’s Section on Intellectual Property Law

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2018 Articles

Canada looks to foster innovation, business growth with new IP strategy By Anthony Turco June 2018 The Canadian government recently unveiled its long-awaited intellectual property strategy, which is designed to increase intellectual property awareness and foster an ecosystem that supports business growth, innovation, and competition.
Data transparency label November 2018 Marketing and media trade groups have issued a beta version of a proposed new data transparency label modeled after the nutritional label.
Five steps you can take starting today to get ready for new noncompete legislation (Massachusetts) By Sonia M. Steele November 2018 New restrictions and requirements for noncompete agreements in Massachusetts draw no distinction between employees and independent contractors.
Hold the Mayo: Vanda ruling reviews patent subject matter eligibility By Michael J. Weil June 2018 The recent Vanda v. West-Ward decision cut a distinct path through the controversial Mayo and Alice rules for evaluating subject matter eligibility of patents.  
Intellectual improbabilities™ By Daniel Kegan November 2018 An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Intellectual improbabilities™ By Daniel Kegan June 2018 An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Intellectual Improbabilities™ By Daniel Kegan March 2018 An eclectic gathering of recent intellectual property developments.
Locking PDPA’s floodgates: My Digital Lock Pte. Ltd. By Jonathan Liang November 2018 An overview of a recent case that clarified the application of the Personal Data Protection Act.
New Massachusetts trade secret laws effective October 1, 2018 By Andrew T. O’Connor November 2018 Massachusetts recently enacted the Massachusetts Trade Secrets Act, and retailers should take this opportunity to revisit their trade secret protocols as well as their employee handbooks, and future employment agreements.
“Pomodoro” is a trademark: Consumer perception prevails over dictionary definition By Filipe Fonteles Cabral March 2018 Trademark registration for POMODORO (Tomato in English) for tomatoes is upheld in Brazil, with the appellate court explaining since the public perceives the mark as indicating source and not meaning tomato—only 1% of the Brazilian population know the meaning of the Italian word Pomodoro—this foreign language generic term developed court-recognized secondary meaning.
Ready, Illinois? Cracking the code on eSports By Kenneth Matuszewski March 2018 Multiplayer video games played competitively for spectators, eSports, are increasingly popular, increasing both acceptance and legal challenges. While Chicago has a professional eSports team, most eSports developments in Illinois occur in universities and high schools.
Seventh Circuit: Personal jurisdiction over a defendant cannot be established merely by an allegation of deliberate infringement of a trademark owned by a forum entity By Steven L. Baron & Dale R. Kurth June 2018 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently rendered a decision that reminds the holders of trademark rights that, when suing for infringement, the need to establish personal jurisdiction over the allegedly infringing defendant must not be overlooked.
Stop the music? Spotify sued for $1.6 billion By Michael J. Weil March 2018 Wixen Music sued music streamer Spotify for not obtaining required composition and mechanical licenses, and not publishing the required Notices of Intent. The Congressionally pending Music Modernization Acts, H.R. 4706, S. 2334, may reduce such suits, eliminating some legal remedies for music publishing copyright infringement suits, while creating a blanket license and new database, and changing current royalty rate setting practices.
USPTO gives patent examiners new subject matter eligibility guidelines following Vanda By Michael J. Weil November 2018 The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued new guidelines to patent examiners in June 2018 following the ruling in Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. West-Ward Pharmaceuticals.
What is GDPR? By Lewis F. Matuszewich March 2018 The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes effective May 2018. If you have customers, clients, or EU-defined personal data in the EU or EU-defined personal data of EU residents in the USA, EU compliance and USA ethics may require your review of your data procedures and adjustments to be compliant.