Category: Archived-Blog Posts

Eastman Kodak, the latest in a string of struggling tech companies to auction its patents in the face of bankruptcy, has been having trouble generating interest in the sale of its 1,100 digital photography and imaging patents. This could prove problematic for the 132-year-old film company, which filed for...

Earlier today, the Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) posted the list of 1930 applications by 1155 applicants hoping to operate 1409 different new generic top level domains (gTLDs). From a brief perusal of the Application Results page, it is apparent that several applicants will come away...

The U.S. Patent Office’s longstanding practice of granting patents on isolated DNA is in danger.  The Federal Circuit has scheduled oral arguments for July 20, 2012 in AMP v. Myriad Genetics, a case that presents the difficult question of whether isolated DNA is patent-eligible. The Federal Circuit’s decision here has the potential to invalidate current patent rights and to...

On March 20, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its unanimous opinion in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc.  This decision is the latest “landmark” decision in patent law that has left practitioners, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the courts scratching their heads wondering how the...

ICANN extended the window for submission of applications of new gTLDs from April 12, 2012 to April 20, 2012 citing technical “glitches” in the application system. See: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/announcement-12apr12-en and http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/announcement-2-12apr12-en For more information on the new gTLD program, please visit our article. 

The application period for new generic top level domain names (gTLDs) (ex. .apple or .bookstore instead of just .com, .net, and .org) closes in a month, on April 12, 2012. A personal .whatever domain carries a designer-sized price tag, though: a $185k application fee, plus upwards of an estimated $300-500k for establishing and running the requisite back-end operations. For many companies,...

On February 8, 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office announced the start of their “Patents for Humanity” pilot program. This 12-month prize competition encourages and rewards patent owners and licensees who leverage their patented technology to address public heath or quality of life issues faced by impoverished populations.

On January 13, 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“Patent Office”) released a report on International Patent Protection for Small Businesses. Under the America Invents Act, Congress directed the Patent Office to conduct this study to determine how to best assist small businesses with international patent protection. More specifically, Congress...

Congress is currently debating passage of a law designed to assist intellectual property owners in preventing and remedying copyright infringement and sales of counterfeit goods by foreign online entities. Opponents are concerned that the House bill, entitled SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act), and its Senate counterpart PIPA (the Protect IP Act...

The luxury Swiss watch maker, Rolex, filed suit in federal court against Shawqu Ali, the owner of the Rolex Deli, for trademark infringement. The small deli located in Brooklyn has only been in operation for a little over four months, and according to an interview he gave the New York Post, Mr....