Blog: Protecting Businesses and Their Owners

The USPTO’s Fraudulent Trademark Problem is Receiving Attention
On December 3, 2019, Senator Thom Tillis, R-NC, chaired the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Intellectual Property Subcommittee hearing entitled “Fraudulent Trademarks: How They Undermine the Trademark System and Harm American Consumers and Businesses.” The hearing...

Central Valley Regional Water Board investigating Manure Pond Depth to Groundwater for Certain Dairies
This blog is re-posted from the Milk Producers Council Newsletter. If you have any questions please contact Kevin Abernathy at the Milk Producers Council or Lee N. Smith or Craig Tristao of our office.. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control...

If A Patent Is expired, Can It Be Used Freely By Everybody?
It is important to remember that a patent does not give anybody the right to do what the patent covers. For example, if I had a patent on a more effective delivery system for MDMA or LSD, having a patent doesn't change the fact that those drugs are considered Schedule...

U.S. Supreme Court Holds That A Copyright Claimant May Not File Infringement Suit Until The Copyright Office Registers A Copyright
Although an author automatically gains copyright protection for her work immediately upon the work’s creation, an author may not file an infringement action in court until “registration of the copyright has been made” in accordance with the Copyright Act....

SCOTUS Finds An Inventor’s Sale of Product to Third Party can Qualify as Prior Art 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)
In Helsinn Healthcare v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, the Court affirmed a Federal Circuit decision invalidating the patent for Helsinn=s nausea drug Aloxi, based on patent law=s Aon sale@ bar. In short, the Court found that the sale of an invention to a...