Obviousness Guidance at the PTO
An invention is patentable only if it is "nonobvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art." This obviousness determination is prone to two types of errors: type I…
A Troll’s Refuge
Everyone is familiar with the phenomenon that is trolling and the ubiquitous troll face. Equally as familiar in the public conscious is the concept of the “patent troll,” a term…
Comedian John Oliver Rides ‘Drumpf’ Wave to the USPTO
Donald Trump isn’t the only one filing trademarks in the hopes of capturing this election cycle’s headlines. Comedian and “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver recently amassed a great deal…
Fashion Copyright and the Muddling of the Useful Articles Doctrine
“The law in this area is a mess—and it has been for a long time.” Such was the dissent’s blunt assessment of the state of copyright law as applied to…
Summer opportunity for 1Ls at GitHub
An awesome opportunity, and it doesn’t even require sending in a transcript! For more, see https://jobs.lever.co/github/9c5aa0bc-0e7b-460d-9c54-996942f52ecf
Join JIPEL for our Annual Careers in IP Symposium!
The Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law’s Careers in Intellectual Property Symposium will provide students a first hand opportunity to meet practitioners who are respected in their field and to discuss…
Finding the Balance Between the Media Protection and the People’s Privacy
Invasion of privacy in United States is divided into three big categories; (1) Publicly disclosing private facts; (2) Depicting a person in a false light; and (3) commercial exploitation of…
The Companies Behind the #WTFU
If you follow vloggers like Nostalgia Critic or Honest Trailers, you might be familiar with the hashtag #WTFU. No, it’s not an acronym for a rude phrase—it stands for “Where…
U.S. v. Apple: National Security v. Individual Privacy
Are computer programs predominantly expressive conduct like a book, or just functional devices like machines? Do computer programs deserve the First Amendment protection of free speech? These are crucial issues…
Set-Top Boxing: The Proposed FCC Regulations That Could Shake Up TV Access
On February 18, the FCC voted 3-2 in favor of adopting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) in the matter of “Expanding Consumers’ Video Navigation Choices; Commercial Availability of Navigation…