Issues

Disney Withdraws Attempt to Trademark the Name of a Holiday

… Disney would probably have had to prove that the phrase “Día de los Muertos” had a specific Pixar-only meaning in order to be successful in applying for a trademark. “We don’t want to give terms too wide a protection if they don’t have any sort of significance for the consumer.” — Marshall Leaffer, Intellectual property law expert, Maurer School of Law

How the America Invents Act Will Change Patenting Forever

"It’s a big deal, and all the patent attorneys I know are busy right now, filing applications before that goes into effect, Saturday, which tells me that most of their clients are better off under the old system." — Robert Barr, Executive Director, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology

Samsung’s Patent Spat With Apple Spurs U.S. Lobbying Push

"Samsung is being sued left and right. A major component of their business is smartphones, and this is becoming a very litigious area." — R. Polk Wagner, Professor, University of Pennsylvania

As Pirates Run Rampant, TV Studios Dial Up Pursuit

"It has taken the arrival of high-speed broadband to make that [pirating TV shows] attractive." — James Grimmelmann, Professor, New York University

Six strikes, then what? A look into the new Copyright Alert System

The Copyright Alert System is a collaborative effort to curb online piracy and promote the lawful use of digital music, movies and TV shows. Professor Jonathan Zittrain, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University, explains aspects of the system.

Piracy Alert System Raises Concerns About Fair Use, Misidentification

This story discusses the new Copyright Alert System; it's a collaborative effort to curb online piracy and promote the lawful use of digital music, movies and TV shows. Professor James Grimmelmann, New York University, explains aspects of the system.

Aaron Swartz: Opening Access to Knowledge

"There was a time when access to knowledge was promoted through grants of copyrights to authors who typically transferred them to publishers. Now copyright has become the single most serious impediment to access to knowledge. Academic authors, among others, should use the Internet as a medium through which access to knowledge can be greatly expanded." — Pamela Samuelson, Professor, University of California Berkeley

“Aaron's law,” Congressional Investigation in Wake of Swartz Suicide

"This is a CRITICALLY important change that would do incredible good. The CFAA was the hook for the government's bullying of @aaronsw. This law would remove that hook." — Lawrence Lessig, Professor, Harvard University

Apple Bid for Samsung Sales Ban Faces Skeptical Court

"It will be hard to convince the Federal Circuit to revisit the injunction issue because the legal arguments involved are not among those that have caused the most recent controversy at the court." — R. Polk Wagner, Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Let’s Get Rid of Kludgy Patent Fixes and Define the Non-Obvious