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...
Kansas City Intellectual Property Blog
Assignor Estoppel: Minerva Surgical v. Hologic
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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....
Innovate. Adapt. Overcome.
By Chandler Schmidt In the strangeness and uncertainty of the pandemic and resulting global shutdown, the old familiar proverb rings true: necessity is the mother of invention. The COVID-19 outbreak has birthed innovation everywhere: from teleconference lectures,...
SCOTUS Rules Willfulness Not Required to Recover Trademark Infringer’s Profits
By Dianne Smith-Misemer The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified that a trademark infringement plaintiff need not show willfulness to recover defendant's profits, resolving a long circuit split on the issue. The plain language of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1117, makes no...
Copyright Slam Dunk?
By Kyle Mendenhall Lebron James is being sued for copyright infringement after posting a cropped photograph of himself on Facebook. The original photograph was taken by professional photographer Steve Mitchell, who has registered the photograph with the U.S. Copyright...
Patent and Trademark Deadline Extensions for COVID-19 Related Delays
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") announced that it is extending the time to file certain documents or fees if a person is unable to meet the deadline due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Certain deadlines related to Patent or Trademark prosecution falling between...
A message from Hovey Williams LLP
Information about COVID-19 (coronavirus) and its impact are now evolving on a daily basis. We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely and will follow recommendations from the WHO, CDC, and other health and governmental organizations.At [nap_names...
