Intellectual Property Law and Copyright Laws

The International Trade Commission has invoked its rarely used 100-day expedited procedure in a patent dispute between GG Technologies and Apple, raising questions about whether GG Technologies meets the domestic-industry investment requirements under Section 337 of the Tariff Act. Legal experts suggest the commission may be seeking to establish clearer guidelines for minimum investment thresholds in such cases.

IPR estoppel can restrict later patent-invalidity arguments after a final written decision on the reviewed claims. In-house defense counsel should assess those restrictions alongside the USPTO's separate decision about whether to institute review. Ironburg and Ingenico clarify estoppel's limits, while Magnolia explains why an additional administrative challenge may be denied.

The Federal Circuit's decision in Satius Holding v. Samsung Electronics addresses a critical question in patent law: can a claim limitation describing a scientific impossibility still be considered definite? The court's analysis distinguishes between indefiniteness under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) and enablement under § 112(a), establishing that while impossible claims may clearly define their scope, they necessarily fail to enable what cannot be made or used. This ruling has significant implications for

A business decides to file a trademark. Someone on the team searches for a familiar online legal-services brand, clicks the first result, and lands on a site with a similar-sounding name, a polished design, five-star reviews, and a low flat fee. The application gets filed. Months later the business learns the “service” was not who they thought it was, the filing was signed by someone with no authority to sign it, and the USPTO has suspended the application along with hundreds or thousands of others from the same shop.

On Oct. 7, 2026, at 18:00 UTC, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will publish every new generic top-level domain (gTLD) application proceeding in the 2026 new gTLD Round, including who applied...

From Lululemon's strategic response to dupe culture to landmark trade dress victories and AI-powered patent analysis, this intellectual property report examines how brands are adapting their protection strategies in an era of social media influence and technological transformation. The collection explores critical developments in trademark law, patent prosecution, and the evolving intersection of artificial intelligence with IP due diligence.

As AI-generated art becomes increasingly sophisticated and visible in institutions like Dataland, the art world grapples with fundamental questions about distinguishing human creativity from machine output. This analysis explores the legal, commercial, and reputational implications for copyright protection, market positioning, disclosure obligations, and the evolving regulatory landscape surrounding AI use in creative industries.

From Lululemon's strategic response to dupe culture to landmark trade dress victories and AI-powered patent analysis, this intellectual property report examines how brands are adapting their protection strategies in an era of social media influence and technological transformation. The collection explores critical developments in trademark law, patent prosecution, and the evolving intersection of artificial intelligence with IP due diligence.

Universities drive innovation across medicine, AI, materials, and clean tech, but academic researchers face a critical challenge: the need to publish conflicts with patent protection requirements for confidentiality. Understanding how to navigate publication deadlines, filing strategies, and IP development can determine whether groundbreaking research becomes a valuable commercial asset or loses protection entirely.

Businesses often assume if customer names are publicly visible on LinkedIn or industry directories, those client relationships cannot be legally protected. However, a major ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington turns that assumption on its head.

Protecting trade secrets is harder than you might think. It is not enough to identify a trade secret and have employees sign acknowledgements of the company’s IP policy. Follow-through turns a policy into a program. If employees can leave with company laptops containing confidential information or continue to access project repositories after departure, that failure may become part of the merits in a trade secret case.

As a business and intellectual property attorney, I spend much of my practice helping corporate clients protect and enforce their intellectual property through patents. But patents are not the only game in town. Trade secrets offer an equally valid, and in many cases, a more practical and affordable means of protecting valuable proprietary information, provided a company implements and maintains reasonable protective measures.