Intellectual Property Law

Vacating Previous Judgment, Maryland Court Finds MENSA Trademark Famous After All

Posted on December 13, 2009
American Mensa, Ltd. v. Inpharmatica, Ltd. et al., No. 07-3283 (D. Md filed Dec. 6, 2007); assigned to J. Quarles      In American Mensa v. Inpharmatic, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, on a motion to vacate, issued an order (July 29, 2009) vacating its earlier final judgment that the MENSA trademark was not famous, finding good cause to do so...

Green Patent Applications To Get Accelerated Examination at USPTO

Posted on December 08, 2009
     Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced it will pilot a program to accelerate the examination of certain 'green' technology patent applications. Under the pilot program, patent applications meeting certain criteria will be accelerated in order to "further the development and deployment of green technology, create green jobs, and promote U...

Maryland IP Jobs, Seminar Announcement, Kanye West Lawsuit

Posted on August 25, 2009
Please visit the Maryland IP Jobs page for a list of Intellectual Property jobs in Maryland (if you would like to have an IP-related job in Maryland listed on this website--for free--please send me the information)   Invotex Group's Michele Riley will be co-presenting a WEBINAR to the MD Bar Association - IP Section titled "Removing the Mystery: Damages in Intellectual Property Disputes" on Thursday, September 10, 2009 from 8:30 to 9:30 a...

Number of Patents Issued to Marylanders Inches Up

Posted on July 10, 2009
     U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) records show that for the year ending June 30, 2008, the PTO granted 1,983 patents naming at least one Maryland resident as an inventor or joint inventor (based on residence addresses supplied by patent applicants to the PTO)...

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Looking for a Few Good Patent Attorneys?

Posted on June 10, 2009
     If you're looking for a registered patent attorney (or patent agent) in Maryland near you, visit this website, which provides a map showing the location of registered patent attorneys and agents in Maryland based on address information supplied to the U...

Law Article: Assertion of Military and State Secrets Privilege by Government in Patent Cases on the Rise

Posted on June 01, 2009
     In their forthcoming Berkeley Technology Law Journal article (alternative link), visiting University of Maryland Associate Professor of Law Davida Isaacs and University of Kentucky Assistant Professor of National Security Robert Farley discuss the Military and State Secret Privilege and its negative impact on innovation, the discovery process, and government procurement...

Judgment Against American Mensa in Trademark Dispute

Posted on May 22, 2009
UPDATE: American Mensa, Ltd. v. Inpharmatica, Ltd. et al., No. 07-3283 (D. Md filed Dec. 6, 2007); assigned to J. Quarles      As previously reported on this website, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted in part and denied in part Defendants' motion for summary judgment in the case of American Mensa v...

Fourth Circuit: Turnitin's Anti-Plagiarism Service a Fair Use

Posted on May 15, 2009
A.V. (Minors) v. iParadigms, LLC, No. 08-1424 and 08-1480 (4th Cir. Apr. 16, 2009)      Plaintiffs, four minors (who at the time of their complaint attended high schools in McLean, VA, and Tucson, AZ), brought a copyright infringement suit against iParadigms, LLC, based on the company's use of essays and other papers written by plaintiffs for submission to their high school teachers through an online service operated by iParadigms called "Turnitin Plagiarism Detection Service...

Cigarette Patent Case Resumes With Jury Trial

Posted on May 15, 2009
UPDATE: Star Scientific vs. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.      Next Monday, Petersburg, Virginia-based Star Scientific, Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. will resume their battle over allegations of RJR's infringement of Star's U...

Hanna-Barbera Productions Opposes Registration of Yogiberry Trademark

Posted on March 08, 2009
     Rockville, MD-based Yogiberry, Inc., filed an application for registration of the mark YOGIBERRY in the U.S. Trademark Office on March 11, 2008, which was approved for publication and subsequently published for opposition on September 2, 2008...

Settlement News and MD Bar Association Events

Posted on March 07, 2009
Many of you have inquired about the status of the Nacre v. Silynx Communications matter, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on October 2, 2007.  I am not surprised by the interest, since this case has garnered more attention by visitors to the Maryland Intellectual Property Law blog than any other reported case...

Number of Copyright Lawsuits in Maryland Increases

Posted on February 03, 2009
     Data available from Justia.com shows that the number of copyright lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (Greenbelt and Baltimore divisions combined) in 2008 (40; see table below comparing Districts) was higher than the number initiated in 2007 (30)...

Tech Council Urges IP Legislation for Clean Technology

Posted on January 21, 2009
     In its 2009 Policy Platform for Technology and Biotechnology published earlier this month, the Technology Council of Maryland (TCM) called for funding and targeted legislation for the state's technology and biotechnology industries, but also urged incentives, financing, tax credits and intellectual property legislation "that will spur the potential for making Maryland a leader in clean and green technology...

Number of Trademark Lawsuits Initiated in Maryland Increases

Posted on January 14, 2009
      Data available from Justia.com shows that the number of trademark lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (Greenbelt and Baltimore divisions combined) in 2008 (36; see table below comparing Districts) was slightly higher than the number initiated in 2007 (33)...

No Fame In Mensa's Trademark, Court Finds

Posted on January 13, 2009
American Mensa, Ltd. v. Inpharmatica, Ltd. et al., No. 07-3283 (D. Md filed Dec. 6, 2007); assigned to J. Quarles      In American Mensa v. Inpharmatic, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted in part and denied in part Defendants' motion for summary judgment...

Number of Patent Lawsuits Initiated in Maryland Increases

Posted on January 11, 2009
     The table below shows how Maryland ranked among other U.S. District Courts in terms of the number of lawsuits raising patent issues in 2008 (source Justia.com). Table values are based on the number of complaints filed in 2008...

Patent Secrecy Act Activity Drops in FY08

Posted on January 08, 2009
     Ever wonder what the "LR" or "L&R" code means in the electronic file history of a pending patent application?  It refers to the Patent Office's Licensing and Review function, which is an early screening function applicable to all provisional applications filed under 35 U...

Number of Patents Issued to Marylanders Continues Downward Trend

Posted on January 03, 2009
     U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) records show that for 2008, the PTO granted 1,942 patents naming at least one Maryland resident as an inventor or joint inventor (based on residence addresses supplied by patent applicants to the PTO)...

Maryland's Silynx and Norway's Nacre Forge Ahead on Patent Case

Posted on January 03, 2009
Nacre AS v. Silynx Communications, Inc., matter, No. 07-cv-02676, filed Oct. 2, 2007; assigned to J. Williams For those of you following the Nacre AS v. Silynx Communications, Inc., matter (and many of you are, based on traffic on this website), the parties jointly filed a stipulated schedule with the court, which was granted by U...

Federal Trademark Trends in Maryland: 2008 Summary

Posted on January 02, 2009
     U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) records show that in 2008, the PTO received 68 trademark applications from Maryland resident or entities (based on a search of "owner address" records using Trademark Electronic Search System, TESS, database)...

Upcoming Conference Targets Bio/Pharma Industry

Posted on December 19, 2008
pnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Hat tip to a href="http://www.infringementupdates.com/2008/12/intellectual-asset-management-strategies.html"Philip Brooks/a for noting the upcomingnbsp;a href="http://www.cbinet.com/show_conference.cfm?confCode=PC09009"Bio/Pharmaceutical Summit on Intellectual Asset Management Strategies/anbsp;to be held in Baltimore, MD, on January 20-21, 2009...

Upcoming Conference Targets Bio/Pharma Industry

Posted on December 19, 2008
     Hat tip to Philip Brooks for noting the upcoming Bio/Pharmaceutical Summit on Intellectual Asset Management Strategies to be held in Baltimore, MD, on January 20-21, 2009.  The Summit's organizer, The Center for Business Intelligence (CBI), plans a two-day, CLE-available conference that includes workshops covering the Hatch-Waxman Act, the MMA, the USPTO and expectations for patent reform, and conference presentations covering antitrust law and LCM, the expected implications of the EC Pharma Inquiry on Industry, tips for assessing your patent portfolio to assign value and identify risks and opportunities, and many others.

Copyright Reform?, House IP Committee Nixed, Patent Terms Extended

Posted on November 15, 2008
  Calling for Copyright Reform "Given where we are on the patent reform debate, is it time to move patent reform off the table and work on copyright reform?" That is the question posed by Kristie Prinz at the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog...

Patent Reform Act of 2008: News, Commentary, and Analysis

Posted on November 13, 2008
     Seven weeks after Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) introduced S.3600, the Patent Reform Act of 2008, on September 25, 2008 (source: GovTracks), the reaction has been predictable, with stakeholders on the pro- and anti-reform sides making their views known...

Court Clarifies Patent Eligibility Standard for Inventions Involving Process Steps

Posted on October 31, 2008
In Re Bilski (Fed. Cir.; October 30, 2008)      In In Re Bilski, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC, sitting en banc, considered the issue of whether certain so-called business methods and other “processes” are eligible for patent protection...

Copyright News: PRO-IP law, RIAA setback, DMCA rulemaking

Posted on October 22, 2008
Copyright On October 13, 2008, President Bush signed into law P.L. 110-403, the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008 (also known as the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act or PRO-IP Act). The law creates a cabinet-level position entitled “Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator”, a...

MD IP Law Blog Joins Top-Ranked Blawgs

Posted on September 28, 2008
     The top 20 law blogs focusing on intellectual property issues, based on “weekly” rankings compiled by Blawgsearch (Justia.com), are shown below. The Maryland Intellectual Property Law Blog is ranked 11th (out of a total 183 blogs in the IP category)...

Man & Machine, Inc. v. Apple, Inc.

Posted on September 21, 2008
Man & Machine, Inc. v. Apple, Inc., No. 8:2008cv02453 (D. Md filed Sep. 18, 2008); assigned to J. Williams      Man & Machine, Inc. (M&M), a Maryland company based in Landover, MD, owns the federally registered MIGHTY MOUSE trademark, which, according to Trademark Office records, was first used in commerce in 2004 (in connection with M&M's medical and industrial and hygienic waterproof computer mice products)...

Copyright Workshop Series Announced; Information Theft on the Rise

Posted on September 20, 2008
Univ. of Maryland University Center's Center for Intellectual Property announces its 2008-2009 asynchronous online workshop series. Courses include "Copyright Law and Integrated Access to Digital Course Materials," "Section 108," and "Fair Use and Balance in Copyright: The Best Practices Model," among others...

Cardin Adds Support to Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill

Posted on September 12, 2008
     On September 10, 2008, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) added his support to S. 3325, the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008, one day before the Senate Judiciary ordered the bill "to be reported with amendments favorably...

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