Plagiarism Today
JULY 27, 2021
On May 21, the popular K-pop band BTS released their latest single, Butter. However, despite the popularity of the track and solid reviews for it, the release itself has been anything but buttery smooth. The reason is that the track has faced not one, but two separate allegations of plagiarism, with many fans and critics alike wondering if the band may have run afoul of copyright law.
Hugh Stephens Blog
JULY 26, 2021
Last week I posted a blog on the American Music Fairness Act (AMFA), draft US legislation that seeks to end the exemption that US terrestrial broadcasters enjoy with respect to payment of broadcast royalties to performers and labels for playing recorded music.
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TorrentFreak
JULY 31, 2021
Attracting billions of eyeballs from all over the world, the Summer Olympics is the most watched sporting event. While sports achievements are the main focus, the opening ceremony attracts one of the biggest audiences. This was no different last Friday when the Tokyo 2020 officially opened. In the past, we also noticed a massive interest in the Olympics on various pirate sites.
The IPKat
JULY 14, 2021
Can the shape of a lipstick case function as an indicator of commercial origin? The answer is yes when such case is the iconic and immediately recognizable (at least to lipstick lovers!) one of Rouge G de Guerlain : Today, also the General Court did agree in its judgment in T-488/20 Guerlain [currently only available in French]. The judgment (correctly) reverses the earlier, contrary decision of the EUIPO First Board of Appeal ( 2292/2019-1 ).
Speaker: Blackberry, OSS Consultants, & Revenera
Software is complex, which makes threats to the software supply chain more real every day. 64% of organizations have been impacted by a software supply chain attack and 60% of data breaches are due to unpatched software vulnerabilities. In the U.S. alone, cyber losses totaled $10.3 billion in 2022. All of these stats beg the question, “Do you know what’s in your software?
Likelihood of Confusion
JULY 9, 2021
As it says in the tweet-within-a-tweet above, today the New York State Supreme Court dismissed all claims against our client, Logan Cook. He’s “Carpe Donktum,” and this is the infamous. The post Why can’t we all just meme along? appeared first on LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION™.
IP Watchdog
JULY 29, 2021
The Patent Infringer Lobby has ramped up banging the drum about “patent quality.” They dedicated a week-long campaign to questioning "patent quality,” which its constituents regard as a huge problem. Advocates have taken advantage of the vacuum left after U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Andrei Iancu left the building. Anti-patent advocates are exploiting the new dynamic of Senator Patrick Leahy, coauthor of the America Invents Act (AIA), who now chairs the Senate Intellectual P
Intellectual Property Pulse brings together the best content for IP professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Hugh Stephens Blog
JULY 19, 2021
From the title of this draft legislation, introduced into the US House of Representatives in late June, you can surmise that something is unfair about music in America.
TorrentFreak
JULY 30, 2021
Ever since the Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren fight was streamed illegally online, Triller has been filing copyright infringement lawsuits against the alleged culprits. The campaign began with a $100m complaint against multiple “business entities” but a judge dismissed all but one of the parties from the action, warning that by joining all of them as cooperating parties, the illegal conduct of one defendant could be wrongly attributed to another independent defendant.
The IPKat
JULY 3, 2021
In an unexpected mix of geopolitics and IP, Russian president Vladimir Putin has signed amendments to the Federal Law ‘On State Regulation of Production and Turnover of Alcoholic Products’. The amendments significantly affect the interests of Champagne and Cognac producers importing their products to Russia. The new Law addresses two categories of products: a broader ‘sparkling wine’ for imported drinks on one side, and ‘Russian champagne’ (that is, made in Russia only), on the other.
Patently-O
JULY 6, 2021
by Dennis Crouch. VoIP-Pal.com, Inc. v. Apple, Inc. , No. 20-1809 (Supreme Court 2021). VoIP-Pal sued Apple for infringing its U.S. Patent Nos. 9,537,762; 9,813,330; 9,826,002; and 9,948,549. Apple filed four petitions for for inter partes review, but all four were denied by the PTAB. Judge Koh then dismissed the infringement case in Apple’s favor–finding that all asserted claims were directed to ineligible subject matter.
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Technology & Marketing Law Blog
JULY 22, 2021
Domen posted videos advocating for sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE). Vimeo terminated his account. Domen sued Vimeo for the termination, alleging that it discriminated against him. The district court dismissed Domen’s complaint. The Second Circuit affirmed , in a precedent-setting opinion relying on Section 230(c)(2)(A). Domen sought a rehearing, and Vimeo didn’t file opposition papers.
Plagiarism Today
JULY 27, 2021
Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Twitch Streamers Hit with DMCA Copyright Bans for Streaming Near Olympics. First off today, the Manchester Evening News is reporting that several Twitch streamers have expressed frustration over Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices that have shuttered their streams for simply livestreaming in public places near the Olympics.
IP Watchdog
JULY 29, 2021
South Africa’s patent office has granted the first patent for an invention conceived by an artificial intelligence (AI) inventor, DABUS. The country does not have a substantive patent examination system, and thus the significance of the grant may not be as great as it would be in other jurisdictions—but the DABUS team is celebrating. The patent is for “a food container based on fractal geometry,” and was accepted by South Africa’s Companies and Intellectual Property Commission on June 24.
TorrentFreak
JULY 27, 2021
Back in 2016, the European Commission announced plans to amend EU copyright law to better meet emerging challenges on the Internet. One of the most controversial elements of the new Copyright Directive was Article 13 (now Article 17). This would require many online services such as YouTube to either legally license content from copyright holders or put filtering mechanisms in place to ensure disputed content is taken down not re-uploaded by users.
The IPKat
JULY 18, 2021
Following the #BrokenRecord and #FixStreaming campaigns, the UK Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee launched into an inquiry into the impact of music streaming o n artists, record labels and the sustainability of the wider music industry. [Katposts here.] Over 200 pieces of written evidence were submitted, and further witnesses were called including a rtists, songwriters, producers, labels and streaming platforms.
Patently-O
JULY 30, 2021
by Dennis Crouch. A potentially important product design trademark case is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court involving those chocolate covered bready-sticks. Ezaki Glico Kabushiki Kaisha v. Lotte International America Corp. , Docket No. 20-1817 (Supreme Court 2021). . Glico’s Pocky product has been sold since 1966 and are apparently popular.
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
JULY 26, 2021
[The 2021 edition of my Internet Law casebook is coming soon. This excerpt is a new note on the CCB. TL;DR: I’m not a fan.]. Before mid-2022, the Copyright Office will deploy a new adjudicatory function called the Copyright Claims Board (CCB). The CCB will be dominated by claims over alleged online infringement, so it’s a major development for online copyright law.
Plagiarism Today
JULY 29, 2021
Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Cox Settles Dispute with BMG, Rightscorp Over Copyright Notices. First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that Cox Communications has settled its dispute with BMG and Rightscorp over allegedly false Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) filed by Rightscorp on BMG’s behalf.
SpicyIP
JULY 1, 2021
Image from here. Although education has the potential to be a significant leveller of inequalities, online education because of the pandemic, has brought into stark relief the digital divide and widening socio-economic inequalities in India. Of late, there have been multiple reported cases of suicides by students (see here and here ) on account of lack of access to the means of education.
TorrentFreak
JULY 28, 2021
Internet provider Cox Communications has been on the sharp end of several piracy lawsuits in recent years. In December 2015, a Virginia federal jury held Cox Communications responsible for pirating subscribers, ordering the company to pay music publisher BMG Rights Management $25 million in damages. This damages figure was reduced in a settlement agreement but, soon after, the Internet provider was hit with a $1 billion jury verdict in a similar case, which is still under appeal.
The IPKat
JULY 17, 2021
The EPO yesterday announced the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) decision in G1/21 (ViCo oral proceedings). The EPO press release can be read here. In what will be a disappointment to many, the EBA has limited its answer to the legality of mandatory oral proceedings during a period of general emergency. The question of whether new Article 15a of the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal is permitted under the EPC has therefore not been addressed.
IP Watchdog
JULY 30, 2021
In The Chemours Company FC, LLC v. Daikin Industries, Ltd., Nos. 2020-1289, 2020-1290 (Fed. Cir. July 22, 2021) (“Chemours v. Daikin”), the Federal Circuit clarified three doctrines involved in the determination of obviousness: teaching away, commercial success, and blocking patents. While all three panel judges agreed that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) misapplied the commercial success and blocking patents doctrines, they disagreed as to the Board’s application of the teaching awa
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
JULY 31, 2021
Instacart uses Stripe as a payment processor. Instacart purports to bind consumers to its privacy policy via this screen: (Sorry for the poor image resolution. This is what the court’s opinion had. The applicable disclosures are in the bottom right of the screenshot). The court says Instacart creates an enforceable sign-in-wrap (ugh): The Court finds Instacart’s privacy policy conspicuous and obvious for several reasons.
Plagiarism Today
JULY 12, 2021
Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Oracle Sues NEC Over Alleged Software Contract, Copyright Violations. First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that Oracle American has filed a lawsuit against NEC Corp alleging that NEC is using Oracle software, namely its biometric identification system, in a way that exceeds the terms of their license.
SpicyIP
JULY 25, 2021
As some of our readers may have noted, a Parliamentary Standing Committee Report, titled ‘ Review of the Intellectual Property Rights Regime in India’ was released on July 23, 2021. Though the report gives some word space to ‘public interest’ and similar concepts, the overall approach seems to be a very pro-industry one, with academia and civil society stakeholders not even being consulted, even though corporate trade groups’ and law firms’ views were heard (
TorrentFreak
JULY 29, 2021
In the past, those operating unlicensed torrent sites or streaming services in the UK needed to be aware of breaching civil copyright law, action that could result in a damages award but not a custodial sentence. Times have changed. These days civil copyright actions have almost completely disappeared and it’s now exponentially more likely that offenders will be pursued in criminal cases, ones that have the potential to put them behind bars.
Patently-O
JULY 23, 2021
by Dennis Crouch. Today’s decision by the Federal Circuit includes an example of thinly sliced bologna, with the court rejecting a PTAB IPR decision because the precise obviousness argument regarding a functional limitation was not expressly stated. The court also does another go-round with the PTAB failing to consider commercial success. . Oren Tech v.
JD Supra Law
JULY 28, 2021
Seven Important Traits - Attempting to value NFTs is a speculative and challenging practice, in part because they are still relatively new and there are few comparable assets. The newsletter Bankless gives seven traits to consider when determining an NFT’s value: First is chain security. It is important to the buyer that the underlying blockchain stays secure.
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
JULY 19, 2021
A class of plaintiffs sued the credit bureau TransUnion, alleging that they were improperly placed on a “watch list” that TransUnion offered to supplement credit reports. TransUnion’s watch list was designed to help businesses avoid transacting with people who were on the restricted list run by Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC). TransUnion implemented this service in a clumsy way by not disambiguating people who shared the same name.
IP Watchdog
JULY 29, 2021
Woods Rogers PLC is seeking a USPTO Registered Patent Attorney to join our Intellectual Property Practice Group. Candidate must be willing to assist and take initiative with marketing opportunities in and around Virginia. Competitive salary and excellent benefits in an entrepreneurial environment for a rapidly growing patent practice in either Charlottesville, VA, or Richmond, VA.
SpicyIP
JULY 5, 2021
We’re pleased to bring you a guest post by Lokesh Vyas, on an RTI matter that brought up some interesting copyright related questions. Lokesh is a graduate from School of Law, Nirma University and an incoming LLM Candidate and InfoJustice Fellow at American University Washington College of Law, and has previously written posts for us here and here.
TorrentFreak
JULY 30, 2021
When it comes to civil anti-piracy enforcement, BREIN is without a doubt one of the best-known players in the industry. The group, which receives support from Hollywood and other content industries, has shuttered hundreds of smaller sites and services in recent history. It was also responsible for taking down Mininova, once one of the largest torrent sites online.
Patently-O
JULY 8, 2021
by Dennis Crouch. Timberland has been selling its iconic boots back in 1973 – almost 50 years ago. Actually, at the time the company name was Abington Shoes, but quickly changed its name to Timberland Boot because of the popularity. Timberland did not patent or register a copyright the design, and the market it rife with copycat boots. Over the past several years, Timberland has been attempting to register the shape of the boots as protectable trade dress.
The IPKat
JULY 27, 2021
Long time readers of the IPKat may remember a while back, when the Academy logo (featuring the Oscar statue silhouette) was denied copyright registration. The US Copyright Office concluded that the logo was a derivative work of the Oscar statuette and did not possess the requisite authorship to sustain a (self-standing) claim to copyright. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association faced the same problem last week, when its request to register its 2018 version of Golden Globe statuette was rejected
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
JULY 17, 2021
The plaintiff is deaf. He tried to watch videos on the USA Today website but couldn’t due to the lack of closed captioning. USA Today defended on the grounds that its website isn’t a place of public accommodation. The court treats this as a straightforward case: Neither a newspaper publisher nor a digital media content provider falls within any of the twelve enumerated places of public accommodation categories under the ADA… Plaintiff points to defendants’ offices, video and te
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