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Alt Legal Blog

Your source for news, updates and guidance on all things trademarks and intellectual property.

Alt Legal IP News – Issue #76

Hannah Samendinger | February 22, 2018
2 min read

Check out our latest episode of Alt Trademarks. This episode features Josh Jarvis of Foley Hoag. We discuss his role at the firm and his appearance in the recent “Don’t Say Velcro” video.

High-Level Changes

– Canada is getting closer, slowly but surely, to implementing new trademark laws.

– The USPTO is unveiling a new patent design at SXSW. This release coincides with their preparations for the first eight-digit patent.

– The Library of Congress is taking steps to improve the visibility of public domain and rights-cleared content.

– This is an interesting look back at the first year of the MET’s Open-Access Initiative and the impact the program had on engagement online.

Case Updates

– In a surprising ruling, a New York federal judge held that news publishers violated copyright by embedding tweets that included a photo of Tom Brady.

– A judge dismissed a lawsuit against Taylor Swift, citing the lyrics in question as “too brief, unoriginal, and uncreative to warrant protection under the Copyright Act.

– Playboy’s lawsuit against BoingBoing over linking to centerfold images was also dismissed.

Drink It Up

– Following the Super Bowl, at least 7 trademark applications have been filed for “Philly Special,” including one by Yuengling.

– Coca-Cola won a patent battle, invalidating 4 patents related to inventory tracking.

– Mott’s is going after a Mexican food company who is selling a beverage similar to Clamato called Almato.

 Odds and Ends

– Here is an interesting roundup of changes coming to copyright law around the world in 2018.

– The 2018 Olympic Winter Games are the first to allow skaters to use music with lyrics, but who pays for the rights?

– Are we running out of trademarks?

– The arrest of several senior officials in the Indian patent office raises questions about the integrity of their systems.

– Our CEO, Nehal Madhani, wrote a great article on the democratization of trademark data. Check it out here.

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