LJN Newsletters

An analysis of recent news.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ("Board") of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") has routinely invalidated trademark registrations based on findings of fraud following its decision in 2003 in Medinol v. Neuro Vasx, Inc. The Board's fraud standard does not require proof of scienter or intent to defraud, but rather a mere showing that the applicant knew, or should have known, that certain statements made in trademark applications or renewal declarations were inaccurate.

In Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., the Supreme Court considered the overlap of copyright and trademark/unfair competition law, concluding that a company did not commit false advertising under '43(a) of the Trademark Act (15 U.S.C. '1125(a)) by representing that it was the author of a previously copyrighted work it had not actually created, as long as its identity as the source of the copied work was clear to the public.

In what should be a major wake-up call to all patent practitioners and patent applicants, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld three out of the four highly contentious rule proposals that were proffered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") in 2007.

Who's doing what; who's going where.

News items of importance to you and your practice.

In-depth analysis of recent cases of importance.

When pending a trial wherein a franchisor seeks to enjoin a franchisee from breaching a restrictive covenant or a franchisee seeks to enjoin a franchisor from terminating their relationship, Canadian courts have generally applied the following three-part test. This article explains.