Robots as Artists and Inventors Traditional Intellectual Property relies on the notion that humans are the source of innovation and artwork. What happens when a computerized robot becomes an inventor, an author or an artist? What happens when a human uses a computer with artificial intelligence to develop an invention or work of art? Is Read more about Will Artificial Intelligence Impact Inventors and Artists?[…]
The Metropolitan Museum announced access to nearly 400,000 images – for free. The Museum provides these images under an Open Access license for all public-domain works in the Met collection. The Creative Commons Zero (“CC0”) license allows use of the images without restriction. Entrepreneurs, artists, and business owners can now use and share these images Read more about Free Use Images[…]
Paul Allen, former Microsoft co-founder recently brought a patent infringement suit based upon 4 of his patents against many notable companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, NetFlix, AOL and others. Last week the district court granted a stay while the patents are being reexamined. Two of the reexamination requests (those for patents 6263507 and 6034652) were filed Read more about Patent Reexamination[…]
Beginning in 2013, musicians and others who create sound recordings (or their heirs in the event of their death) may terminate previously assigned copyrights. Customarily, many recording artists assign or otherwise transfer their rights for their music under one-sided agreements with record companies for a fraction of the commercial value of the music in exchange Read more about Copyright Termination of Musical Works[…]
Patents are becoming highly prized pieces of intellectual property in the high tech arena. While, Google has admitted that it has far fewer patents than many of its rival technology companies, Google made a $900m bid to acquire the patent portfolio of Nortel Networks, a bankrupt Canadian telecommunications manufacturer. Google believes the additional patents could Read more about Google’s Patent Portfolio[…]
Charlie Sheen has recently filed 22 Trademark Applications related to many of his catchphrases, including “Duh, Winning” and “Tiger Blood,” according to reports.
Maintaining the Term of a Patent Utility patents apply to inventions and processes and are distinguished from design and plant patents. Under current patent law, the term of a new utility patent is 20 years. During the term of a patent, the patent gives the inventor the benefit of having the right to exclude others Read more about Term of a Patent[…]
A copyright owner’s right of distribution is limited by the first sale doctrine, which is an exception to the Copyright Act. The first sale doctrine is a legal principle that limits the rights to control content after a work has been sold for the first time. The first sale doctrine states that once a copyright Read more about The First Sale Doctrine under Copyright Law[…]
There are standards that must be met for admissibility of expert testimony in trademark infringement actions. Experts may have their methods challenged before they take the stand. Expert testimony may be excluded as speculative and unreliable if an expert’s methods are not based on sufficient facts or data, are not reliable, or are not applied Read more about Trademark Infringement Litigation[…]
In the United States, subject to one exception, trademark rights arise from use in commerce, regardless of whether or not the mark is registered. The first user of a mark generally takes priority over all subsequent users with respect to use of the mark in that market. The first user of a mark in commerce, Read more about Trademark Use in Commerce[…]