Intellectual Property Law and Copyright Laws

A company trying to register a trademark sometimes encounters an unusual situation: the owner of the trademark cited against its application does not object to the registration, but the United States Patent and Trademark Office still does.

Paul Bain has completed the second edition of Art Law: Cases and Controversies, a comprehensive legal guide published by LexisNexis that examines the intricate legal frameworks governing art creation, transactions, collecting, and preservation. The publication features contributions from leading professionals and addresses how traditional art law principles intersect with modern challenges posed by the Internet and artificial intelligence technologies.

Is this AI-generated, or is it real? As generative AI tools have become increasingly capable of creating realistic images, videos, and audio, they have also made it easier to impersonate real people without their consent. In response, states are increasingly adopting laws that impose civil and criminal liability for certain AI-generated content that replicates an individual’s identity, likeness, voice, or other personal attributes.

As renewable energy companies race to innovate and scale, many are overlooking a critical vulnerability: inadequate intellectual property protection. Two experienced attorneys reveal the strategic steps technology-focused clean energy firms must take throughout product development to safeguard their competitive position, secure financing, and maximize value in future transactions.

As generative AI patent filings surge globally, companies developing autonomous systems, robotics, and physical AI face new strategic challenges from incumbent patent holders and international filers. Understanding which innovations to patent versus protect as trade secrets has become critical for navigating this rapidly evolving landscape.

The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Comet Technologies USA, Inc. v. XP Power, LLC overturned a $40 million trade secret verdict, exposing a critical distinction between federal and state trade secret law regarding burden of proof. The court found that jury instructions applicable under California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act improperly shifted the burden of proving information was "readily ascertainable" from the plaintiff to the defendant under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act.

As renewable energy companies race to innovate and scale, many are overlooking a critical vulnerability: inadequate intellectual property protection. Two experienced attorneys reveal the strategic steps technology-focused clean energy firms must take throughout product development to safeguard their competitive position, secure financing, and maximize value in future transactions.

Over the past several years, the biopharmaceutical industry has embraced artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) in near lockstep with the pace of AI/ML innovations. Today, industry leaders are using AI/ML to, among other things: discover and assess biological pathways, target chemical structures and sequences; design proteins; model pre-clinical and clinical trials; recruit and screen potential patient populations; evaluate clinical trial results and biomarker data; prepare regulatory filings; and manage supply chains. Deployment of new AI/ML models promises extraordinary advances in pharmaceutical development. However, as with any technological and scientific advances, the use of AI/ML also poses substantial legal risks that life sciences companies need to consider and proactively manage.

As generative AI patent filings surge globally, companies developing autonomous systems, robotics, and physical AI face new strategic challenges from incumbent patent holders and international filers. Understanding which innovations to patent versus protect as trade secrets has become critical for navigating this rapidly evolving landscape.

A company trying to register a trademark sometimes encounters an unusual situation: the owner of the trademark cited against its application does not object to the registration, but the United States Patent and Trademark Office still does.

The USPTO has released its latest economic impact report on IP-intensive industries, announced a new community engagement office in North Carolina, and issued several administrative updates including relief for Japanese applicants affected by a severe earthquake. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has also designated new precedential and informative decisions addressing obviousness-type double patenting and Markush groupings.

Intellectual property due diligence often gets relegated to a final checklist item in acquisitions, but this approach can lead to costly oversights. Jason Balich explores why IP assessment should receive the same early, strategic attention as financial analysis, and provides a framework for evaluating whether a target company's patents, trademarks, and trade secrets are properly secured and enforceable.