Hot Topics in Intellectual Property
Acquire a basic understanding of the hottest issues being debated by IP users, practitioners, and policy makers.Tap or rollover on any of the cards to learn more!
The Slants Case and the Trademark Protection Debate
Despite making music for more than a decade, the world’s first all Asian-American dance rock band had been unable to get its name registered as a federal trademark...
Do Infringers Pay for the Whole Product or the Infringing Component?
In 2011, Apple sued Samsung for, among other things, infringement of three U.S. patents...
Forum Shopping in Patent Cases
Does allowing patent lawsuits to be filed in any district in which a defendant has sales encourage abusive patent litigation?...
Do Patents Really Promote Innovation?
Economists have repeatedly demonstrated that inventors are driven primarily by the expectation of profiting from owning the rights to their inventions...
Do Non-Compete Clauses Unfairly Handcuff Employees?
Employers today increasingly require their employees to sign a contract promising not to compete for a period of time after they leave a firm...
Can Patent Pools Overcome Patent Roadblocks?
An arms race in patents. A surge in high-cost patent litigation. And the emergence of unscrupulous patent trolls...
How Can We Stop Chinese Theft of Intellectual Property?
The latest figures indicate that the total cost of patent infringement, pirated software, counterfeit goods, an theft of trade secrets costs...
Has the Government Made It Too Easy To Invalidate Patents?
In June of 2016, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in one of the most consequential cases affecting the patent system...
Is Patent Litigation Out of Control?
Critics of the patent system claim we are witnessing an "explosion of patent litigation" unlike any in history...
Is the Supreme Court Killing Life Science Innovation?
In 2012, the United States Supreme Court in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Labs invalidated a patent for an innovative diagnostic test...
Should Software Patents Be Outlawed?
In June of 2014, The U.S. Supreme Court issued its most consequential decision on the patentability of software...
Can an Artificial Intelligence Machine Get a Patent or be Sued?
Although the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around since the mid-1950s, more recently AI has emerged at the cutting edge of modern innovation...
Should Willful Infringers Pay Enhanced Damages?
Section 284 of the U.S. Patent Act provides that if a defendant has been found to have infringed a patent...