Alt Legal IP News – Issue # 184
Bri Van Til | April 14, 2020
Do Your Homework!
– Here is some advice for operating a fully remote law firm. And some advice for being more productive while working at home.
– If you’re finding yourself with extra free time right now, here are some suggestions for what you can do now to help your business after this crisis ends.
– Toyota has patented a vehicle that can help you shop at home improvement stores and then deliver materials to your house. If you have the home improvement bug right now, you know how awesome this sounds.
– Protecting trade secrets is just as critical now as it was before shelter-in-place orders, but it’s trickier now. Here are some tips for protecting trade secrets. And some more.
Staying Healthy
– The UN would love creatives’ help crafting messaging to inform people about the symptoms of COVID-19 and encourage them to socially distance.
– A few countries have passed legislation to allow manufacturers to disregard patent protection for technology related to treating coronavirus.
– Senator Ben Sasse has introduced a bill that would extend for an additional ten years the patent protection for coronavirus treatments.
– Meanwhile, the PREP Act may protect manufacturers against patent infringement claims.
– Fake news about the coronavirus being patented and a vaccine developed has made a resurgence, but it’s still not true.
Kids Stuff
– Children’s emotional intelligence and development expert Denise Daniels is suing Disney for copyright infringement. She claims Inside Out is based on “The Moodsters,” characters she developed and pitched to Disney.
– Teen magazine Tiger Beat is being sued for copyright infringement for allegedly publishing someone else’s photos.
– An Eastern District of Pennsylvania judge dismissed artist Leo P’s claims that Epic Games infringed his dance moves, finding the use was sufficiently transformative.
– Judge George Daniels of New York has ruled that Activision’s use of Humvees is “art,” and therefore does not require a license from the vehicle manufacturer.
Professional Concerns
– The Department of Energy has an opening for a patent attorney, and DLA Piper is looking for an of counsel patent litigator.
– ProPharma Group is looking for a staff attorney, Amazon Studios is looking for corporate counsel, and Davenport Law is looking for both an associate and a partner.
– McCormick wants a legal analyst to spice things up, and Google needs a cloud compliance legal specialist.
– Happify Health is looking for an IP attorney to happify their legal department, and Lockheed Martin Space has space on their team for counsel.
– Have an open role on your team? Send a link to your job listing to community@altlegal.com, and we’ll publish it in our next newsletter.
Odds and Ends
– Now that Tiger King is trending, just a reminder of the IP infringement case at the heart of the conflict. And while we’re on the subject of Tiger King, here are some HR no-nos from the series.
– A New Jersey IP attorney has been charged with defying the state’s stay-at-home order when he had a gathering of around 30 people in his front yard listening to him play Pink Floyd covers. The accused’s attorney says that he couldn’t see that so many people had gathered because it was dark.
– Apparently states arrr immune from copyright infringement suits.
– A few weeks after withdrawing their trademark application for SUSSEX ROYAL, (former?) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have filed a trademark application for ARCHEWELL.
– When so many businesses are closed due to coronavirus, what excuses for nonuse of a trademark will be acceptable?
– Reminder: join us for our trademark practitioner virtual happy hour on Thursday at 5 EST.