Concept to Commercialization course for Pitt faculty and grad students; University of Pittsburgh, 1/29/16

University of Pittsburgh; Concept to Commercialization course for Pitt faculty and grad students:

"Concept to Commercialization is a course for Pitt faculty and grad students. It will help you learn how to protect your intellectual property, learn about the realities of entrepreneurship, and recognize the commercial potential of a scientific discovery."

Supreme Court Takes Up Case That Could Affect Redskins Trademark; NPR, 9/29/16

Eyder Peralta, NPR; Supreme Court Takes Up Case That Could Affect Redskins Trademark:

"The Supreme Court has decided to hear a case that might decide whether the government can deny Washington's NFL team a trademark because it has deemed the team name is offensive.

The court granted certiorari on Lee V. Tam. If you remember, The Slants, an Asian-American rock band, sued the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because it refused to trademark their name saying it proved offensive.

In December of last year, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided that the band's name was private speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment."

Pitt Innovation Showcase; University of Pittsburgh, 9/28/16

[Press Release] University of Pittsburgh; Pitt Innovation Showcase:

"The Pitt Innovation Showcase is your opportunity to see firsthand the exciting technologies being developed and moved toward commercialization at Pitt. It is also the opening reception for Science 2016.

Please plan on stopping by Alumni Hall on Wednesday, October 19, from 4-7 p.m. to network with Pitt Innovators, investors, entrepreneurs and members of the regional startup community.

The event begins with the Michael G. Wells Entrepreneurial Scholars Lecture that features this year a panel of leading healthcare entrepreneurs and investors who will give a behind-the-scenes look at getting a healthcare innovation from the lab to the market.

This will be followed by the announcement of the winners of the Wells Students Healthcare Competition and the Kuzneski Innovation Cup.

The Opening Reception and Innovation Showcase begin at 5 p.m. in the J.W. Connolly Ballroom, First Floor.

Come and be inspired by the Pitt faculty, students and staff who are working to make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality and make an impact on the world.

Click here to register."

Can You Trademark a Cocktail Recipe?; Daily Beast, 9/27/16

Philip Greene, Daily Beast; Can You Trademark a Cocktail Recipe? :

"One of the most stressful drinks for a bar to put on its menu is one of the simplest: the Dark ‘n Stormy®. It’s certainly not the preparation that causes anxiety—just about anybody can make a serviceable version of this refreshing rum and ginger beer highball—but the brand of rum used can cause trouble.

It’s one of the few drinks (along with the Painkiller®) whose name is actually trademarked. In this case, Gosling’s Rum controls the moniker Dark ‘n Stormy, and if you put the drink on a menu it better be made with that brand of rum. If not, you might just get a cease and desist letter.

This, naturally, raises the question: Why aren’t more bartenders trademarking cocktail names? It’s a simple query with a long answer. Even as a trademark attorney and a cocktail geek, with one foot firmly in each field (well, maybe one is perched on the rail), I find it complicated to untangle."

U.S. man held for allegedly breaching trademark of Tokyo games logo; Japan Times, 9/28/16

Japan Times; U.S. man held for allegedly breaching trademark of Tokyo games logo:

"A U.S. citizen living in southwestern Japan has been arrested for trademark infringement through unauthorized use of a 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics logo, police said Wednesday.

David Roy Uhlstein, an assistant language teacher in Kumamoto Prefecture, is suspected of having sold five items such as mugs and smartphone cases bearing the logo for the Tokyo campaign to host the Games without the organizing committee’s permission, according to the police...

Uhlstein said he did not know that authorization by the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games was necessary to use the logo, the police said.

Uhlstein printed the logo by downloading it from the internet, attaching it to plain mugs and smartphone cases, and posting the items for sale through his own online store, according to the police."

The man who created the Hamdog is now selling his US patent; CNBC, 9/28/16

Matt Clinch, CNBC; The man who created the Hamdog is now selling his US patent:

"Following a week of intense media attention, the man who created a new food that merges a hot dog and a hamburger has decided to auction off his intellectual property rights.

The Hamdog was invented in 2004 by Mark Murray, who lives in Perth, Australia. He successfully applied for patents in the U.S., but after his story went viral last week, has decided to "pass it onto an entity that has the criteria required to roll it out in America.""

"Phonebooks"; Pearls Before Swine, GoComics, 9/28/16

Stephan Pastis, Pearls Before Swine, Go Comic; "Phone Books" :

[Kip Currier: Yesterday in my IP and "Open" Movements course, I was talking about the landmark U.S. Supreme Court copyright case, Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Co. (involving discussion of whether the White Pages and Yellow Pages phone books were "original" works subject to copyright protection), and checked with my students to make sure everyone knew what a "phone book" was. They did. Timely seeing this "Pearls Before Swine" comic strip today.]