IP & Technology Law Trends
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Supreme Court Finds “Scandalous” Trademark Rule Unconstitutional
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the U.S. Trademark Act’s section 2(a) provision precluding registration of “immoral” or “scandalous” trademarks violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling came in the case of Iancu v. Bru...
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Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Game-Changing Trademark Appeals
Continuing to feed its appetite for trademark rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court has recently granted petitions for certiorari of two Second Circuit decisions implicating trademark law. The first case could change the burden of proof for recovering an i...
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U.S. Supreme Court Makes Clear: Copyright Registration Required to Sue for Infringement
When it comes to protecting creative works, copyright law in theory offers the most instant form of protection. Under the Copyright Act of 1976, a copyright author gains exclusive rights in the work immediately upon its creation. 17 U.S.C. § 106. N...
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Supreme Court Holds that Trademark Licensee Retains Rights After Rejection of License by Licensor in Bankruptcy
In a long-awaited, nearly unanimous opinion written by Justice Kagan, resolving a circuit split described in our earlier blog post, the Supreme Court reversed the First Circuit and held that rejection by the licensor of a trademark license under Sect...
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Update: Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death? Supreme Court May Resolve Circuit Split on Effect of Rejection of Trademark Licenses in Bankruptcy
In my September 11 blog post, Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death?, I noted that the First Circuit’s decision in Tempnology—that rejection of a trademark license in bankruptcy divested the nondebtor licensee of its right to use the trademark—was subjec...
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Supreme Court Grants Cert in Brunetti Appeal
Jan 07, 2019
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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in the case of Iancu v. Brunetti. This, as you may recall, is an appeal regarding the constitutionality of the Lanham Trademark Act’s section 2(a) provision precluding registration of “immoral” or “...
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