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Currents
Currents is published three times a year as a service to inform business owners and professionals of current legal developments in intellectual property and e-commerce law. The material in Currents should not be construed as offering legal advice. Readers should consult their own professional advisors to discuss their specific circumstances. Please contact Susan Rector with suggestions for future topics and articles. Your input is appreciated.
2010
Fall
The Supreme Court’s doors remain open to business method patent claims. While the stakes were high, the Bilski court deferred for another day the precise standard for determining which business methods constitute patentable subject matter. In the meanwhile, attorneys will continue to interpret shades of gray to advise clients.
Spring
Regardless of whether it is easy to be green, business owners can exert control over claims they make about green products or how green their products really are. They also have control over how they mark patented products and products with patent pending. Recent legal developments in both areas can lead to liability if done incorrectly. This issue explains the developments and provides suggestions to avoid liability.
Winter
This issue contains several articles discussing pending patent cases that have the potential to create a lasting mark on what constitutes patentable subject matter. With a domestic economy rapidly being transformed to be based upon knowledge and know how, it is perhaps not surprising that the proper subject matter of patent protection is being called into question. Watch this space for continuing coverage of this evolving area of the law.
2009
FallThis issue of Currents reminds us of the truism: Technology changes before the law. The Rescuecom case from the Second Circuit brings us one step closer to definitively determining whether use of trademarks in keyword advertising constitutes use in commerce, a necessary prerequisite for finding trademark infringement liability. The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Bilski case and determine the appropriate legal standard for the patentability of business methods. Through this publication we aim to keep you current on these and all developing trends in intellectual property law.
Spring
What do head rest assemblies, collegiate school colors, fingernail buffers and an enormous digital book scanning project have in common? All are subjects of intellectual property disputes that through court decisions or settlement have created additional clarity and precedent as to emerging rights in our digital age. Please send us your suggestions for topics of interest for future Currents articles.
Winter
The courts have been busy deciding intellectual property cases of first and lasting impression - Bilski's definition of patent eligibility and Jacobsen's clarification of when open source software can infringe. The Second Circuit applied the statutory fair use copyright factors to the encyclopedic The Harry Potter Lexicon to establish what is permissible copying in companion or reference guides. Meanwhile the domain name system considers opening up the world for new Top-Level Domains to anyone willing to pay the fee and provide the service. There is no standing still in the world of intellectual property.
2008
Fall
If there was ever any fear after 9/11 that First Amendment rights of expression could be squelched by national securities interests when they intersect with trademark rights, that fear has been put to rest by the case of Smith v. Wal-Mart Stores. Also, discussed in this issue, courts continue to interpret basic principles of contract law and jurisdiction in light of ubiquitous forms of communication such as e-mail, upholding companies’ ability to do business at the speed of light.
Spring
Just when you think you have lived long enough to see everything, the world changes again in ways we could not have imagined even five years ago. In this age, the only constant is change.
This issue highlights the ways in which the Internet is again revolutionizing our daily life and how we obtain our information. The emergence of Web 2.0 and its user-generated content have transformed the manner in which content is delivered in the publishing and music industries. The evolution of virtual worlds combining user-generated content and social networking, stand to reinvent commerce across numerous industries. As the rate of technological change has become increasingly rapid, it may not be long before our notion of what is real and what is virtual become inextricably intertwined.
Winter
2008 may prove to be an important year for Internet law in two significant areas. First, Tiffany & Co. has taken on eBay and is arguing for a fundamental shift in trademark law by asserting that a market intermediary should have the duty to police counterfeit goods. The second case that is anxiously being followed by trademark owners and their attorneys is the action brought by American Airlines against Google, which asserts that the use of registered trademarks in keyword advertising constitutes trademark infringement. Courts in the U.S have not reached consensus on this point. It is hoped that this challenger with deeper pockets than its predecessors will have the ability and inclination to pursue appeals to reach a definitive conclusion. The American Airlines case, filed in fall 2007, is expected to proceed to a decision this year.
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