An initiative by the Chinese government to encourage its citizens to obtain United States trademark registrations and other intellectual property led to a substantial increase in filings in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

A recent decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the second highest appellate court for patent cases in the United States, demonstrates the difference between inventorship and ownership ... again.

Patent-infringement disputes are very expensive. Most patent litigants will not even consider going to court to resolve a dispute unless the potential damages are over $1 million.

In United States PTO v. Booking.com B.V., the Supreme Court considered whether the trademark BOOKING.COM was generic for an online reservation system. United States PTO v. Booking.com B.V., 140 S. Ct. 2298 (June 30, 2020).

The Supreme Court issued a very important ruling on generic trademarks earlier this summer. United States PTO v. Booking.com B.V., 140 S. Ct. 2298 (June 30, 2020).

The Supreme Court held in Thryv, Inc. v. Click-To-Call Techs, Docket No. 18–916 (April 20, 2020), that a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) to institute an inter partes review proceeding is not reviewable in court.

The Supreme Court made a very narrow ruling on the issue of “defense preclusion” in a trademark action in Lucky Brand Dungarees Inc. v. Marcel Fashions Group Inc., Docket No. 18-1086 (May 14, 2020).

The Supreme Court overturned a Second Circuit decision to find that a finding of willful infringement is not a prerequisite for an award of profits in a trademark action in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc., Docket No. 18–1233 (April 23, 2020).

The Supreme Court essentially ruled in Georgia v. Public Resource.Org, Inc., 590 U.S. ___ (April 27, 2020), that states cannot claim that they are entitled to copyright protection for their laws and related materials. More specifically, the Court held that “copyright does not vest in works that are (1) created by judges and legislators and (2) in the course of their judicial and legislative duties.”

Earlier this year, I put together a series of blog posts on three sets of trademark applications directed to the marks “The,” “Tom Terrific” and “Taco Tuesday.”