By: Eric Caligiuri
In Amdocs (Israel) Ltd. v. Openet Telecom Inc. et al., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently upheld four software patents against a patent-eligibility challenge, finding that the patents do not claim an “abstract idea.” The patent challenge was under the frame work set out by the U.S.
If voters in California approve Proposition 64 which would legalize the possession and use of marijuana for recreational purposes, it is without question that the sunshine state will see a huge increase in the number of businesses within the cannabis industry. According to a November 7, 2016 Forbes article, the passage of Proposition 64 could
6/25/16- At the 7th Annual VidCon in Anaheim, CA , Weintraub Tobin Shareholder Scott M. Hervey and Rian Bosak, Head of Network Operations Full Screen, presented “Fair Use and Youtube- A Creator’s Take” to a standing room only audience of digital media creators and industry professionals. Check out their presentation below:
In Lexmark International, Inc. v. Impression Products,
Inc., No. 14-1617 (Fed. Cir. 2016), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided en banc that a U.S. patent owner’s “first sale” of items in a foreign country does not exhaust the patent owner’s right to sue for patent infringement when those items are later imported into the U.S. In contrast, the Supreme Court in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 133 S. Ct. 1351 (2013) came to a different conclusion under copyright law, finding that the “first sale,” or exhaustion, doctrine allows the owner of a copy of a copyrighted work, which was lawfully made in a foreign country, to import and sell that copy in the United States without further permission from the copyright owner. But, as the Federal Circuit recognized, patent law and copyright law are not always aligned.
The Lexmark dispute arose in conjunction with Lexmark’s toner cartridges for its printers. Lexmark offers its customers the choice of buying a “Regular Cartridge” at full price with no restrictions on its re-use/resale or a discounted cartridge, subject to a single-use/no-resale restriction. Lexmark sold some of the cartridges in the United States and some abroad. Some of the foreign-sold cartridges and all of the U.S.-sold cartridges at issue were sold subject to an express single-use/no-resale restriction.Continue Reading The Federal Circuit Finds Foreign Sales Do Not Exhaust Patent Rights
If you’ve ever applied for, or 
researched copyright law, you likely learned one thing above all else: it’s not a perpetual right. So, how, you might wonder, have companies like The Walt Disney Company managed to maintain copyrights on certain creations for almost 100 years? In the case of the Walt Disney Company, the answer is simple. It is powerful enough that it actually changed United States copyright law before its rights were going to expire.
When copyright law was first codified in the United States pursuant to the United States Copyright Act, the copyright duration was limited to 14 years. Today, copyrights can last over 100 years. That’s a huge change, and there are an overwhelming number of copyright experts that will tell you that it is all because of a mouse.
Now that may be a slight overstatement. The copyright duration changed some prior to the creation of Mickey Mouse. The Copyright Act of 1790 included a provision that provided for an additional 14-year term if the creator was alive. Of course, at that point, copyright protection only applied to select creations such as maps and books. But 41 years later, in 1831, the Act was amended to allow for an initial 28-year term, with eligibility for a 14-year extension. Thereafter, in 1909, the Act was changed again to allow for a 28-year renewal instead.Continue Reading Disney’s Influence on United States Copyright Law
