Earlier this year, I wrote about the federal Defense of Trade Secrets Act passed by the senate. This month, President Obama signed the act into law. The law (“DTSA”) creates a federal cause of action for theft of trade secrets. This means...
Want to sell your patent? Several multinational firms including IBM, Facebook, and Ford are participating in a program called the Industry Patent Purchase Program (IP3). It is being run by a non-profit organization called Allied Security Trust. It is...
Hold off on scheduling that facelift. Researchers at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) have developed a compound that acts like a second, more youthful skin. The composition is known as XPL (cross-linked polymer layer). It is applied to the...
I wrote earlier this year in my blog about a pending trade secret bill approved by the judiciary committee in the senate. Recently the senate passed the Defend Trade Secrets Act. The act essentially provides for a federal cause of action for...
One of the most famous patents had part of its record lost for 36 years. Part of the patent file on the Wright Brothers’ first flying machine disappeared in 1980 when it was returned to the National Archives by the Smithsonian Museum where it had been on loan...
Apple recently was granted a patent that detects and deletes swear words from song lyrics on audio tracks. The system first finds the explicit language in a track and then removes it. In addition, the system can replace the profane language with milder...
Writing a patent application is always a challenge. In each case, it is a balance. On one side, you are trying to ensure that you have provided an accurate and complete description of the invention. On the other you worry about what the patent...
Paul McCartney is using a US Copyright provision to right a wrong he feels occurred many years ago. As you may recall, the bulk of the Beatles tunes were attributed to the duo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. However, in the 1960’s, Paul McCartney and...
Every once in awhile I come across a great inventorship story. This is the story of Jane ní Dhulchaointigh (pronounced “knee-gull-queen-tig”). A UK product designer, Jane developed a moldable glue which is sold today as Sugru. Jane started out wanting...
A European General Court recently denied the Coca-Cola Company European Community trademark protection for the shape of its new bottle design. European Community trademark protection provides trademark rights to the owner throughout all European Union...
In Transweb LLC v. 3M Innovative Properties Company & 3M Company, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s finding that 3M was liable for antitrust violations in that 3M was found to have obtained its patent through inequitable...
If you want to be a superhero, you’re going to have to create your own logo. In a recent California court case, DC Comics v. Mad Engine, Inc., the court refused to dismiss an action brought by DC Comics against Mad Engine for trademark infringement. Mad Engine was...
