The USPTO recently granted Sony Interactive Entertainment a patent on methods for influencing a gaming world (US 11,192,027). The invention in the patent was conceived during the development of a game called “Death Stranding” which features online worlds filled with...
Kansas City Intellectual Property Blog
Sony Granted a Metaverse Patent
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Hovey Williams Excited to Be Early Adopter of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Action Plan
Our firm is proud to announce that it is one of fewer than 30 firms in the KC area to join the KCMBA's Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Action Plan as an early adopter https://online.fliphtml5.com/mdwhq/nrpw/#p=22. Early adoption of this Plan is one of many steps...
USPTO Seeks Trademark Registrations to Combat Scammers
The Department of Commerce recently filed several applications to register the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) trademarks in an ongoing effort to counter scam solicitations of Trademark owners. As anyone who has ever filed a federal Trademark...
Hovey Prevails in Copyright Infringement Case at the 8th Circuit
Hovey Williams LLP successfully defended its client Thomson Sailors Homes and its principals in a copyright infringement action in the Western District of Missouri. In 2019, Judge Steven R. Bough granted summary judgment of no copyright infringement in a case claiming...
Kansas City Women Magazine Features Partner Cheryl Burbach
Partner Cheryl Burbach is featured in the current Americas Women Magazine, Kansas City Edition. Don't miss her interview where she answers questions on many topics that span her professional journey, her philosophy regarding working with clients, as well as advice for...
Assignor Estoppel: Minerva Surgical v. Hologic
Assignor Estoppel is a patent law doctrine dating back to the 1870 Patent Act and first recognized by the Supreme Court in in the 1924 decision of Westinghouse Elec. & Mfg. Co. v. Formica Insulation. This doctrine prevents an inventor from assigning a patent to...
Review Power of Administrative Patent Judges: United States v. Arthrex
At the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. Arthrex, which concerned the constitutionality of the decision power of administrative patent judges (APJs). APJs are employees of the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) that, among...
Subject Matter Eligibility Update
For an applicant to be granted a patent, the patent claims defining the invention must be written so as to satisfy several criteria, including novelty, non-obviousness, clarity, and definiteness. Historically, satisfying these four criteria has been the primary...
U.S. TRADEMARK MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2020
By Michele Hufferd On December 27, 2020, Congress enacted the U.S. Trademark Modernization Act (H.R. 6196) as part of the most recent Covid relief bill. The Act amends the Trademark (Lanham) Act in three ways: The Act clarifies the evidentiary burden to obtain an...
Supreme Court Bonus: PTO v. Booking.com
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that generic domain names are eligible for trademark protection. A generic domain name includes a general word describing the business followed by ".com" or other top-level domains (such as ".org" or ".net). Previously, the U.S....
