How Effective Is the Federal Government's Campaign Against Internet Counterfeiters and Pirates?
August 29, 2011
Counterfeiting and piracy never go out of style. Fake handbags and illegal copies of first-run movies can be found on city street corners and throughout Internet websites. These illegal activities have been in the U.S. government's cross hairs of late. In addition to Congress introducing legislation designed to protect against intellectual property theft, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) principal investigative arm, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has applied pressure to Internet-era counterfeiters and pirates.
IP News
July 27, 2011
Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.
Copyright and Fair Use in Legal Proceedings
July 27, 2011
This article discusses recent decisions regarding the use of copyrighted material in legal proceedings and the applicability of the fair use defense to allegations of infringement.
Internet Counterfeiters and Pirates Beware! Your Domain Names Are Subject to Seizure
July 27, 2011
Approximately one year ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched "Operation In Our Sites" in an effort to hit counterfeiters and pirates where they live (at least, on the Internet), namely their domains. This article discusses the brief and still evolving history of OIOS, its statutory authorities, and its implications for brand and creative content owners.
IP News
June 29, 2011
Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.
TiVo v. EchoStar
June 29, 2011
On April 20, 2011, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in the <i>TiVo Inc. v. EchoStar Corp.</i> case. No. 2009-1374 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 20, 2011). The decision marks a sea change for evaluating contempt of an injunction in a patent case, significantly limiting an infringer's ability to challenge an injunction on the grounds that it is vague or overbroad.
Reining in the Inequitable Conduct Defense
June 29, 2011
Responding to views from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and elsewhere about the unintended consequences of the current inequitable conduct doctrine, a divided <i>en banc</i> Federal Circuit decision issued on May 25, 2011 adjusted the standard of the materiality element to make this defense harder to establish.
Retiring in a Down Economy
June 28, 2011
Each case addressing the issue of retirement and its impact on support is highly fact-sensitive. The down economy's impact on such a situation serves to add an intriguing, yet extremely critical, wrinkle to the equation.
