During this coming term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear an interesting case involving the State of Georgia’s ability to copyright the annotations to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (“OCGA”). The issue is framed as follows: “Whether the government edicts doctrine extends to—and thus renders uncopyrightable—works that lack the force of law, such as
Immoral & Scandalous Marks Survive
It’s old news by now, but the Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that the immoral and scandalous trademark ban set forth in Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act is unconstitutional under the First Amendment because it disfavors certain ideas and thus discriminates based on viewpoint. Practically, this means that the United States Patent and
Bankruptcies Do Not Revoke TM Licenses
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC N/K/A Old Cold LLC case previously blogged about here and here. The issue in that case was whether, when a trademark owner/licensor files for bankruptcy, the licensee of the trademark can legally continue use of the mark
In Adopting the Registration Approach to Copyright Suits, SCOTUS Highlights a Statute of Limitations Issue
SCOTUS has finally resolved the copyright registration debate but in doing so has emphasized a statute of limitations issue of which we should all be aware. This post follows up on my colleague’s prior posts (and here) regarding when a copyright holder can properly file a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §
“Scandalous” Trademarks, and Why They May Become More Prevalent
Of late, multiple authors of this blog have followed the legal landscape around “scandalous” trademarks. In particular, this post follows up on the USPTO’s petition to the Supreme Court, which we previously covered.
A “scandalous” or “immoral” trademark is one which a member of the public would likely find “shocking to the sense of
Cert Granted in TM Bankruptcy Case
As I previously blogged about, there is a circuit split as to whether, when a trademark owner/licensor files for bankruptcy, the licensee of the trademark can legally continue use of the mark or whether the trademark owner/licensor can reject its obligations under the licensing agreement and effectively prohibit the licensee’s continued use of the mark.
Scandalous Trademark Ban
Just when we thought the unconstitutionality of the ban on disparaging and scandalous trademarks had been resolved, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) is shaking things up. As a reminder, and as previously covered on this blog here and here, there were two important rulings in 2017 related to the trademark ban
How Bankruptcy Effects Rights Under Trademark Licenses
When a trademark owner/licensor files for bankruptcy, there is an open question as to whether the licensee of the trademark can legally continue use of the mark or whether the trademark owner/licensor can reject its obligations under the licensing agreement and effectively prohibit the licensee’s continued use of the mark. When it comes to the
Supreme Court to Decide Copyright Circuit-Split
Yesterday the United States Supreme Court announced that it was granting the petition for writ of certiorari in the copyright infringement case previously discussed on this blog here and here. The case is Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com LLC and involves the question of when a copyright holder can properly file a
Loss of the Swing Vote
Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court announced his retirement yesterday, after having served three decades on the bench. Justice Kennedy is known for casting the swing vote in a number of major cases and has drafted opinions on a myriad of hotly-contested issues, including LGBT rights and the First Amendment. His retirement