U.S. Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement Announced; Press Release, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), 12/12/16

Press Release, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); U.S. Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement Announced

[Kip Currier: The following sections of this joint strategic plan caught my attention and should be of particular interest to researchers and universities:

p. 140: "BROADER RECOGNITION OF THE ESSENTIAL ROLE UNIVERSITIES PLAY IN INNOVATION

In addition to their essential role as centers of knowledge, learning, and scholarship, universities around the world are engines for innovation. Universities are often the first step in the innovation lifecycle, but too often the big idea does not make it to the marketplace. The promise of innovation that is first conceived by professors, researchers, and students in university laboratories frequently goes unrealized." 

The University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute has several initiatives to help university-based innovators get their ideas and inventions off the ground: 

• Startup Blitz

• Blast Furnace

• Randall Family Big Idea Competition

p. 143: "CALLS FOR RESEARCH.

Public policy is at its best when well-grounded in sound research and data. Given the profound technological and legal changes that have taken place over the past several years, it is critical that academics, researchers, the private sector, and others continue to rigorously study the IPR ecosystem to identify areas of concern, emerging trends, and opportunities for enhanced enforcement mechanisms."

From pages 143-147 the plan presents examples of research topics and questions, e.g. 

"Research into Commercial-Scale Piracy is Needed…

• To assess the economic scope and magnitude of digital piracy. Beyond any top-line numbers, what is the magnitude of the harm suffered by the copyright owner? What is the impact on employment in the creative sectors? Who are the entities that profit from, or may be unjustly enriched by, the unauthorized exploitation of copyrighted materials? 

[And]

•  To examine the range of attendant harms and risks to the public. What is the relationship between pirated content and incidents of malware, phishing, or other threats to the public?"]

[Press Release] "Today, the Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) released the 2017-2019 U.S. Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement, which offers a blueprint for coordinating resources and priorities to sustain a robust IP enforcement environment.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office partnered with the IPEC and agencies throughout the federal government in crafting a plan that both highlights the cultural and economic importance of intellectual property incentives, and also ensures certainty in the marketplace through enforcement mechanisms to encourage creative growth and minimize misappropriation of innovation. USPTO is proud to play a role in promoting clear, consistent, high quality and enforceable IP rights to enable market growth. The office also provides critical international leadership in protecting IP overseas and navigating international IP laws. From copyrights and trade secrets protection, to the examination and registration of patents and trademarks, the USPTO will continue to foster a balanced IP playing field for U.S. businesses to compete in foreign markets and export abroad.  

The report recognizes how IP-intensive industries continue to be an integral part of a growing economy, and identifies critical and strategic actions to safeguard that innovation and combat illicit infringement activities.

To read the plan, please visit:  https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/IPEC/spotlight/eop_ip... "

More New Ways to Explore Patent Data; Blog by Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Michelle K. Lee, Director's Forum Blog, 1/12/17

Michelle K. Lee, Blog by Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Michelle K. Lee, Director's Forum Blog; More New Ways to Explore Patent Data

"Making patent data accessible to the public has been a cornerstone of this agency’s policy since its inception. I’m pleased to announce yet another step we’ve taken at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to make such data even easier for the public to understand and use, namely the addition of new features to our patent data visualization and analysis tool, PatentsView. First launched in 2014, PatentsView provides the public a variety of ways to interactively engage, through a web-based platform, the highest-quality patent data available. The underlying database connects 40 years’ worth of information about inventors, their organizations, and their locations in unprecedented ways. PatentsView is a key component of our open data efforts to improve the accessibility, usability, and transparency of U.S. patent data...

You could argue that the innovations documented in our records may very well, collectively, constitute the world’s largest repository of scientific and technological knowledge. But the larger a data set, the more challenging it is to find useful information or trends or, put another way, to separate the signal from the noise. This collaborative tool, developed by the USPTO’s Office of the Chief Economist in conjunction with the American Institutes for Research, New York University, the University of California at Berkeley, Twin Arch Technologies, and Periscopic, aims to make that sorting and separation possible. The shared public and private effort in creating and improving the platform is symbolized in the “.org” domain of http://www.PatentsView.org.

By providing new tools and data to the public, PatentsView demonstrates this agency’s continuing commitment to open data, open government, and evidence-based policymaking."

There is no shortage of open data. The question is, is anyone using it?; Computer Weekly, 1/9/17

Jonathan Stoneman, Computer Weekly; There is no shortage of open data. The question is, is anyone using it?

"Why publishing data is not enough

So there is no shortage of open data – but is anyone using it? The UK government’s data portal, data.gov.uk, currently shows 36,552 published datasets available, and just over 30,000 of those have an open government licence. There are 6,444 more without a licence and, intriguingly, a further 3,664 are listed as “unpublished”.

Some 1,401 government departments, including local government and agencies, are listed as “publishers”. Two million datasets were downloaded in 2016, but 11,481 – 31% of the whole collection – were not, not even once.

The UK government sees publication as a measure in itself."

An overview of trade secrets; Lexology, 1/11/17

Liu, Shen & Associates, Lexology; An overview of trade secrets:

"An important form of intellectual property, trade secrets are increasingly attracting attention, particularly in regard to operational information such as customer lists and technical information in software. In China, trade secrets are mainly protected by the Law for Countering Unfair Competition and the Criminal Law."

USPTO Announces New Patent and Trademark Advisory Committee Members; Press Release, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), 1/9/17

Press Release, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); USPTO Announces New Patent and Trademark Advisory Committee Members:

"The U.S. Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced new Patent and Trademark Advisory Committee Members for the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) and the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC).

The Public Advisory Committees for the USPTO were created through the Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act statute in the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 to advise the Secretary of Commerce and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO on the management of patent and trademark operations. The Public Advisory Committees review the policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees of the patent and trademark operations, respectively, and advise the director on these matters.  Each committee has nine voting members who are appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the Secretary of Commerce. Each member serves a three-year term."

What the NHL’s trademark fiasco can teach you about brand preparedness; Financial Post, 1/12/17

Chad Finkelstein, Financial Post; What the NHL’s trademark fiasco can teach you about brand preparedness:

"Whether the USPTO’s position will hold up in the United States (and what the fate of the Canadian trademarks applications are) remains to be seen, but the situation should be viewed by trademark owners and prospective trademark owners as a warning about not taking proactive steps to get trademarks registered. The longer an unregistered trademark is in use, the more it will cost to go through a rebranding."

Why Unreleased Marvin Gaye, Supremes, Beach Boys Tracks Are Suddenly Appearing: EU Copyright Law; Billboard, 1/10/17

Robert Levine, Billboard; Why Unreleased Marvin Gaye, Supremes, Beach Boys Tracks Are Suddenly Appearing: EU Copyright Law:

"On Dec 30th, without much fanfare or marketing, Universal Music Group put out Motown Unreleased: 1966, a digital-only collection of 80 previously unavailable tracks by Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, and lesser-known performers like the Underdogs. It’s one of a few recent archival releases of music from 1966 that may appeal to hardcore fans – and they have the European Union to thank.

In 2011, the EU updated copyright law in a way that means officially unreleased material could fall into the public domain 50 years after it was recorded. That would mean any company would be free to release it. In order to keep the copyright to such recordings – the law applies to live as well as studio material – artists and labels have been releasing them in what some fans call “copyright collections.”"

Katy attorneys to focus on copyright basics; Houston Chronicle, 1/10/17

Houston Chronicle; 

Katy attorneys to focus on copyright basics:

"Area attorneys are invited to the Tuesday, Jan. 24, luncheon of the Katy Bar Association at 11:30 a.m. at Hasta la Pasta, 1450 W. Grand Parkway S.

Teresa Lechner-Fish, IP associate with Gardere Wynne Sewell, LLP, will present "Copyright Basics: What Are Copyrights? How Are Copyrights Created? Who Owns the Copyrights? And How Can They Be Protected."

She will identify examples of copyrights, provide guidance on how copyrights are created and who owns those copyrights, and offer suggestions on how copyrights can be protected in the marketplace.

Her law practice includes assisting growing companies as intellectual property counsel, handling copyright, due diligence, trademark, trade secret, licensing and patent matters. She has prepared and prosecuted hundreds of copyright, patent and trademark applications, and assisted patent litigation teams, involving complex technologies and litigation strategies."

Tech luminaries team up on $27M A.I. ethics fund; PC World, 1/10/17

Blair Hanley Frank, PC World; 

Tech luminaries team up on $27M A.I. ethics fund:

"Artificial intelligence technology is becoming an increasingly large part of our daily lives. While those developments have led to cool new features, they’ve also presented a host of potential problems, like automation displacing human jobs, and algorithms providing biased results.

Now, a team of philanthropists and tech luminaries have put together a fund that’s aimed at bringing more humanity into the AI development process. It’s called the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund, and it will focus on advancing AI in the public interest...

[Reid] Hoffman, a former executive at PayPal, has shown quite the interest in developing AI in the public interest and has also provided backing to OpenAI, a research organization aimed at helping create AI that is as safe as possible."

Roberts Recuses From Patent Case After Discovering Conflict; Associated Press via New York Times, 1/4/17

Associated Press via New York Times; 

Roberts Recuses From Patent Case After Discovering Conflict:

"Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts says he will no longer participate in deciding a patent infringement case because he discovered he owns shares in the parent company of one of the parties.

Roberts took part in arguments in the dispute between California-based Life Technologies Corp. and Wisconsin-based Promega Corp. on Dec. 6."

The Shrinking Mega-Journal; Inside Higher Ed, 1/5/17

Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed; 

The Shrinking Mega-Journal:

"The open-access mega-journal’s output, measured by how many articles it publishes a year, last year fell to 22,054 -- its lowest since 2012 and down about 30 percent since its peak in 2013. Last year brought the most precipitous drop yet. PLOS ONE published 6,052 fewer articles in 2016 than it did the year before -- a drop of about 22 percent.

The decline was first reported by Phil Davis, a consultant who specializes in scholarly publishing, in a blog post this morning.

Joerg Heber, who became PLOS ONE’s new editor in chief in September, addressed the decline in a blog post last month. Reflecting on the journal’s first 10 years, he noted that many other publishers are now using similar models for their own publications."

Open Access Trends 2017: Challenges and Opportunities; PR Newswire, Yahoo Finance, 1/10/17

PR Newswire, Yahoo Finance; 

Open Access Trends 2017: Challenges and Opportunities:

"Open access—the online digital delivery of scholarly research free of charge and without most copyright and licensing restrictions—has grown from a conceptual movement to transformational force in scientific, technical and medical (STM) publishing.

Media and publishing intelligence firm Simba Information has examined open access in two recent reports—Open Access Journal Publishing 2016-2020 and Open Access Book Publishing 2016-2020—and sees several trends developing in 2017."

After 15 Years In WTO, China Still Weak On Many IP Rights Rules, US Says; Intellectual Property Watch, 1/10/17

William New, Intellectual Property Watch; 

After 15 Years In WTO, China Still Weak On Many IP Rights Rules, US Says:

"Innovation and intellectual property rights have set the United States apart from competitors in recent history, and China seems intent on closing that gap any way it can. A US trade office report out this week on China’s compliance with World Trade Organization rules 15 years after accession show the magnitude of China’s continuing compliance problems related to intellectual property rights. 

“Serious concerns,” “problems,” “challenges,” “weakness,” “insufficient.” These and many other negative terms fill the 200-page report’s sections describing China’s treatment of intellectual property rights. There is plenty of progress cited too, but the report reads as an open to-do list with new issues arising all the time. One question is how much of this behaviour could be brought to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. Another might be what the new US administration is going to do differently about this list.

The Office of the US Trade Representative’s 2016 Report to Congress on China’s WTO Compliance is available here [pdf]."

What does 2017 hold for open data initiatives?; Guardian, 1/6/17

Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Guardian; What does 2017 hold for open data initiatives?

"In 2016, open data was central to a growing number of projects across the globe. Throughout the year, data initiatives attempted to change the banking industry, took strides towards getting London fit, and fought “superbugs” through a real-time record of antibiotic resistance.

How will we see the open data ecosystem continue to grow in 2017? We asked the experts to tell us what the coming year will hold."

Marijuana brands can trademark almost anything, except marijuana; Los Angeles Times, 1/7/17

James Rufus Koren, Los Angeles Times; Marijuana brands can trademark almost anything, except marijuana:

"Though cannabis is legal for recreational or medicinal use in 28 states, it remains illegal under federal law. As a result, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will not register trademarks for marijuana retailers or for products that contain cannabis...

One popular strategy for cannabis companies that can’t trademark their core products is to seek protection for a host of ancillary products and services.

“I call it the ‘circle the wagons’ approach,” said Todd Winter, a Costa Mesa attorney who works with marijuana companies. “We get everything trademarked that we can, tangential to the actual cannabis product itself.”

The idea, one that is largely untested so far, is that if a cannabis company registers its trademark for other products it will scare off would-be copycats and allow the company to be first in line if the federal government eases its stance on pot."

Copyright in Klingon; Washington Post, 1/9/17

David Post, Washington Post; Copyright in Klingon:

"The court went awry, I believe, in holding additionally that the defendants “are not entitled to the fair use defense,” a holding that illustrates much that is wrong with copyright law these days.

To begin with, the fair use defense, involving a complicated balancing of defendant’s motives and purposes, the effect of the defendant’s use on the market for the original work and any number of other relevant factors, is hardly ever appropriate for disposition on summary judgment; there’s too much fact-finding required.

But more to the point, “Axanar” uses copyrighted material for a transformative purpose — creating a new and original work of art. It is not a substitute, in the market, for the original; if anything, it enhances the value of the original. This is precisely what our copyright law, through the fair use exception, should be encouraging — the production of new and original works of art that build on prior works to create something new and valuable."

Artificial Intelligence Keeps IBM Atop 2016 Patent List; CNet, 1/9/17

Stephen Shankland, CNET; Artificial Intelligence Keeps IBM Atop 2016 Patent List:

"Patents are an imperfect measure of prowess in research, development, innovation and ultimately business success. For one thing, it takes a mammoth staff and a lot of intellectual-property lawyers to rank high on the list, so startups won't make it up the list no matter how successful. For another, many patent ideas never see the light of day, or worse, emerge in a patent troll's sketchy legal action trying to extract licensing fees from big companies.

Nevertheless, patents remain an important reflection of how much a company is investing today into the technology of tomorrow. It's notable that IBM topped the list for the 24th year in a row."

Axanar isn’t fair use, judge finds, setting stage for Star Trek copyright trial; Ars Technica, 1/5/17

Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica; 

Axanar isn’t fair use, judge finds, setting stage for Star Trek copyright trial

"In additional court filings submitted on Wednesday, CBS, Paramount, and Axanar Productions all put forward their list of witnesses. CBS said it would put John Van Citters, an executive who has worked with Paramount and CBS on Star Trek for nearly 20 years, on the stand.

Van Citters, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, "knows the canon of Star Trek intimately as well as the history and personnel involved in the production of Star Trek in order to be able to efficiently assess whether or not material CBS is presenting to the public is accurate and fits with existing canon."

Axanar Productions, for its part, will counter with Christian Tregillis, a financial consultant who will "rebut Plaintiffs’ theory of lost profits that they claim resulted from Defendants’ alleged infringement, i.e., that funds donated to making of Defendants’ works have resulted in lost revenue or profits to Plaintiffs," according to its own filing.

The film company will also offer up Henry Jenkins, a professor of media studies at the University of Southern California, who is an expert on Star Trek’s historical relationship between its creators and its fans."

Bulgarians Listen to Classics Thanks to Copyright War; Balkan Insight, 1/5/17

Mariya Cheresheva, Balkan Insight; Bulgarians Listen to Classics Thanks to Copyright War

"At 00.01 am on January 1, 2017, instead of hearing the official Bulgarian anthem, as they do every year, listeners to Bulgarian National Radio, BNR, were surprised to hear an alternative version performed by BNR’s own choir and symphonic orchestra.

This was not an independent decision of the music editors of BNR. It turned out that they had been banned from playing the official national anthem owing to a decision of Musicautor, Bulgaria’s non-profit society of composers, lyricists and music publishers, which exists to collectively manage copyright issues.

Musicautor, which hold the copyright to over 14,000,000 songs of Bulgarian and worldwide artists, suspended its contract with BNR from the beginning of the new year, demanding higher fees.

It has banned BNR from playing much contemporary Bulgarian and foreign music until the fee issue is resolved."

Robert L. Hulseman, Inventor of the Solo Cup, Dies at 84; New York Times, 12/30/16

Richard Sandomir, New York Tines; Robert L. Hulseman, Inventor of the Solo Cup, Dies at 84:

"Robert L. Hulseman, a corporate executive who developed the sturdy red Solo cup that became indispensable at picnics, tailgate parties and barbecues and inspired a song by the country singer Toby Keith, died on Dec. 21 at his home in Northfield, Ill. He was 84...

Mr. Hulseman spent nearly all of his career at the Solo Cup Company in Lake Forest, Ill., a maker of disposable cups, plates and bowls. One of his other legacies was helping to create a coffee cup lid that may now be as prevalent as the Solo cup.

The company’s products might have been seen as unremarkable party essentials in a throwaway age if not for the creation of the Solo cup in the mid-1970s. It became a mainstay at beer keggers, where its size, typically 16 ounces, durability and opacity were prized attributes.

Mr. Hulseman preferred that his cups be used at family outings, not at rowdy, boozy blowouts.

“The cup’s design was for strength,” Paul Hulseman said in an interview. “Not for a shot, a wine and a beer.”"

How Ronda Rousey Clips Reveal Facebook’s Copyright Challenge; Fortune, 1/3/17

Jeff John Roberts, Fortune; 

How Ronda Rousey Clips Reveal Facebook’s Copyright Challenge:

"The copyright conundrum arose in early 2015 after Facebook (FB, +1.52%) faced a barrage of criticism over the phenomenon of "free-booting" in which people make copies of clips they see on YouTube (GOOG, +1.86%) and elsewhere, and then upload them as their own to Facebook, where the videos can be seen thousands or millions of times.

In response to the criticism—including an essay called "Theft, Lies, and Facebook Video"—the company in 2015 said it took the intellectual property issues seriously, and that it was expanding tools to help copyright owners protect their content.

Based on the latest proliferation of Rousey clips, though, it's hard to see how Facebook has made much progress. Unlike similar clips that appear on YouTube, the Facebook fight videos don't come with advertising, which means the copyright owner is not making any money from them. (YouTube has long had a system called Content ID that flags infringing clips and either remove them or place ads one them)."

Germany’s Latest Best Seller? A Critical Version of ‘Mein Kampf’; New York Times, 1/3/17

Melissa Eddy, New York Times; Germany’s Latest Best Seller? A Critical Version of ‘Mein Kampf’:

"The dual-volume doorstop of a meticulously historically annotated version of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” was one of Germany’s best-selling works of nonfiction last year, its publisher said on Tuesday, announcing that it would bring out a sixth run at the end of the month.

Originally published in the 1920s and banned for seven decades in Germany, the new version, “Hitler, Mein Kampf, A Critical Edition,” spent 35 weeks on Der Spiegel’s best-seller list and sold about 85,000 copies, according to the Institute of Contemporary History in Munich.

The success of the critical and annotated version, it said, was proof that the attempt by a team of historians to annotate, criticize and contextualize the original much-reviled work was worth it. The project had been planned to follow the expiration at the end of 2015 of a 70-year copyright held by the state of Bavaria and stirred controversy during the three years it took to complete."

Amazon's Multi-Billion Dollar Patent Expires In 2017; Forbes, 1/2/17

Ian Morris, Forbes; Amazon's Multi-Billion Dollar Patent Expires In 2017:

"Amazon's 1-Click is responsible for making the firm a decent amount of money over the years. Certainly, it's produced enough revenue for Amazon to defend its exclusivity of it in the courts, at great cost. But the bad news for Amazon is that its patent on this technology expires in 2017, and it's likely we'll see a lot of online stores adopting similar.

Amazon first applied for a patent on 1-Click in 1997, and it was granted in 1999. The core of the proposition is that by storing your payment and address details you only need to click a single button to order something. This means that there are fewer steps to ordering, which is less time-consuming and what is termed "frictionless".

10 Things to Know About MOOCs in Online Education; U.S. News, 12/20/16

Jordan Friedman, U.S. News; 

10 Things to Know About MOOCs in Online Education

Fighting for Fair Use and Safer Harbors: 2016 in Review; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), 12/29/16

Kerry Sheehan, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF); 

Fighting for Fair Use and Safer Harbors: 2016 in Review:

"In 2016 we witnessed the latest stretch in an ongoing struggle over the shape of copyright law and who it serves - between a law that respects and promotes innovation and free expression, and one that only serves the interests of large copyright holders. This year we welcomed a run of victories for fair use and Internet safe harbors, while looking toward some important battles yet to come."

The Rum War; 60 Minutes, 1/1/17

Sharyn Alfonsi, 60 Minutes; The Rum War

"Who makes the real Havana Club rum? And who owns the rights to sell the liquor under that famous brand name?"

The 11 Stupidest Patents of 2016; Motherboard, 1/1/17

Daniel Oberhaus, Motherboard; 

The 11 Stupidest Patents of 2016:

[Kip Currier: Happy 2017! 1st post of the new year.]

"Last year, the US Patent and Trademark Office saw nearly 630,000 patent applications come through its doors, roughly half of which were granted a patent. Some of these patents were pretty incredible, such as Amazon’s patent for 3D printing products on demand or this “solar powered space weapon.” Unfortunately, for every patent filed for a game changing technology, several others are filed for utterly mundane inventions whose sole purpose is to be used as ‘Exhibit A’ in patent infringement lawsuits...

While Silicon Valley keeps waging its war against the patent trolls that are costing some companies millions of dollars a year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has taken a more humorous approach to the problem. In 2014, the EFF created its ‘Stupid Patent of the Month,’ a prestigious monthly award bestowed upon patent trolls who have the unique privilege of inventing really dumb stuff. While it seemed like it was going to be difficult to top last year’s bevy of stupid ideas, 2016 has not been a disappointment.

So without further ado, here are the dumbest inventions of 2016..."

How the Grinch Ended Up in Court!; New York Times, 12/29/16

Robin Pogrebin, New York Times; 

How the Grinch Ended Up in Court! :

"The Broadway playwright Matthew Lombardo has sued the owner of copyrights for Dr. Seuss’s works, arguing that his new play does not infringe on the classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in United States District Court in Manhattan, said Mr. Lombardo’s 75-minute one-woman play, “Who’s Holiday!,” is “highly transformative,” and therefore constitutes fair use. The play, Reuters reported, features a profane 45-year-old woman who recently served time in prison for murdering her husband, the Grinch, with whom she has a daughter."

Amazon’s Flying Warehouse Idea Isn’t Even Its Biggest Challenge; Huffington Post, 12/30/16

Kate Abbey-Lambertz, Huffington Post; 

Amazon’s Flying Warehouse Idea Isn’t Even Its Biggest Challenge:

"Delivering packages by drone at all seemed at first like “a loopy idea, far-fetched and the subject of instant mockery on Twitter,” as New York Times technology writer David Streitfeld wrote when Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos first mentioned it in 2013.

Now it’s considered all but a certainty, even if the timeline is hazy. Other companies are exploring or testing drone package delivery, including Google, Walmart and the United Parcel Service. 

Amazon holds a separate patent for a system of light poles that would serve as miniature drone docking stations. There’s no indication it’s any more viable than airships, but it seems to show a company rigorously exploring drone delivery from every angle.

Considering how the company’s other out-there ideas have worked out ― like entirely upending the publishing industry ― it’s safe to say it’s too early to write off flying warehouses."

Summit Brewing sues two former employees, alleging sharing of trade secrets; Star Tribune, 12/30/16

Brandon Stahl, Star Tribune; 

Summit Brewing sues two former employees, alleging sharing of trade secrets:

"When Summit Brewing Company hired Jeffrey Spaeth in the summer of 1986, the fledgling St. Paul business was just getting on its feet as one of fewer than 20 craft brewers in the country.

Spaeth rose up through Summit’s ranks to reach vice president of sales, along the way helping the company become one of the largest microbrewers in the United States amid explosive growth in the industry.

But now Summit is suing Spaeth and another longtime employee, Timothy Daly, accusing both of conspiring to sell the company’s confidential trade secrets to high-level executives for “a direct competitor.”"

Washington Redskins: Recent Developments In The Team’s Trademark Case; Fansided via FoxSports.com, 12/30/16

Desmond Lee/FanSided via Riggo's Rag Fansided via FoxSports.com; 

Washington Redskins: Recent Developments In The Team’s Trademark Case:

"The once high-profile Washington Redskins trademark case has, for the time being, taken a back seat to another matter being heard in the United States Supreme Court. What will happen next and when will the Redskins matter get back on track?

For those of you waiting for a decision in the Redskins trademark case, you’ll need to wait somewhat longer. Last month, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided to stay the team’s case pending the United States Supreme Court’s (“SCOTUS”) resolution of a matter brought by an Asian rock band."

The most dramatic patent and copyright cases of 2016; Ars Technica, 12/30/16

Joe Mullin, Ars Technica; 

The most dramatic patent and copyright cases of 2016:

"Many of the biggest legal disputes in technology relate to "intellectual property," a broad term used for laws relating to everything from copyrights to patents, trademarks to trade secrets. This year saw significant changes in the copyright and patent landscapes. "Patent trolls" who sue technologists for fun and profit got smacked down by courts more often—and harder—than ever before. At the same time, universities were filing patent lawsuits at an increased rate, and often winning.

In the copyright realm, the Oracle v. Google trial dominated the spring. A jury was left to decide the murky rules about when using an API could be "fair use." That legal uncertainty led to the two tech giants clashing over the ethics of each others' business practices and the history of the smartphone industry.

In two very different cases in 2016, copyright issues led to criminal charges being filed. US authorities are seeking to extradite and put on trial a man named Artem Vaulin, who they say made $16 million annually by running a massive online storehouse of pirated films and songs. And more than three years after they were condemned by a federal judge, lawyers behind a vast array of copyright lawsuits, a firm known as Prenda Law, were arrested and accused of fraud. Here's a look back at 2016's most dramatic IP cases."

Disney Wins ‘Cars’ Copyright Case in China; Variety, 12/30/16

Patrick Frater, Variety; 

Disney Wins ‘Cars’ Copyright Case in China:

"A Shanghai court has awarded damages to Disney and Pixar Animation in a copyright case over a Chinese-made film called “The Autobots.” The court ruled that the film was an illegal copy of Disney’s “Cars.”

The court said that the Chinese producer Bluemtv and distributor G-Point had been fined some $190,000 (RMB1.35 million) and ordered to cease their copyright infringement. “The Autobots” film was released in July 2015, and grossed some $863,000 (RMB6 million.)"

Like these beans? Don’t copy the photo, or you might get a hefty bil; Miami Herald, 12/30/16

David Ovalle, Miami Herald; Like these beans? Don’t copy the photo, or you might get a hefty bill:

"Porn. Poems. Pictures. The internet is awash in them. But more and more, people who download them, or use them on another website, are finding themselves targets of companies demanding money for illegally accessed copyrighted material.

Black bean soup — an innocuous snapshot of a tasty bowl, published on a South Florida health blog —has sparked the latest friction point between a media company and critics who believe these companies are “copyright trolls” unfairly shaking down online users...

Both cases, as well as several recent South Florida lawsuits over digital images, highlight the sometimes fuzzy line between outright trolls and companies genuinely needing to protect intellectual work.

“What makes these companies ‘trolls’ is they don’t seek fair value for the images,” said Oscar Michelen, a New York lawyer who specializes in helping people who receive letters demanding payments for photos. “They demand an excessive amount, threaten a lawsuit and scare you into settling for some lower amount.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article123838369.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article123838369.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article123838369.html#storylink=cpy

DEADPOOL IS THE MOST-PIRATED FILM OF 2016; Comic Book Resources, 12/30/16

Kevin Melrose, Comic Book Resources; DEADPOOL IS THE MOST-PIRATED FILM OF 2016:

"In its rundown of the most-pirated films of 2016, TorrentFreak reports the Ryan Reynolds action-comedy was the clear winner, outpacing the likes of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Suicide Squad” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” for the dubious honor."

Run-DMC Files $50 Million Trademark Infringement Suit Against Amazon, Walmart, and Other Retailers; Slate, 12/30/16

David Canfield, Slate; 

Run-DMC Files $50 Million Trademark Infringement Suit Against Amazon, Walmart, and Other Retailers:

"Billboard reports that Run-DMC has filed a lawsuit for more than $50 million against such entities as Walmart, Amazon, and Jet for trademark infringement. The hip-hop group is alleging that that these and other companies—in addition to about 20 unnamed individuals—continue to “trade on the goodwill of RUN-DMC,” using their name, their logo, and misleading products made in their “style” (such as fedora hats and square-frame sunglasses) without permission."