New York Today: 104 Years Old, and Still Voting; New York Times, 11/8/16

Alexandra S. Levine, New York Times; New York Today: 104 Years Old, and Still Voting:

"On this Election Day, as the presidential campaigns of two New York residents come to an end, another New Yorker — Rose Orbach — plans to do her civic duty and vote — again.

The resident of Bayside, Queens, is 104. She’s voting in her 16th presidential election.

(Stevenson. Kennedy. Johnson. Humphrey. McGovern. Carter, twice. Mondale. Dukakis. Clinton, twice. Gore. Kerry. Obama, twice. You may spot a trend.)

Born in 1911, Mrs. Orbach emigrated from Poland shortly after World War II. She became an American citizen by 1955, and voted in her first presidential election here the following year.

The idea of having and using her voice, without facing persecution, was novel.

“In Poland, it was a whole different system,” she said. “Especially for Jewish people, who weren’t treated like everybody; they were always beneath.”

When she stepped behind the curtain to vote in the 1956 race, things felt different.

“I was one with the people: I was different, I was Jewish, but I pushed the button,” she said. “I had my idea, and I was treated nice no matter what. You had your privacy and you were allowed to think what you wanted to think.”

In her nearly 60 years of living in New York, she has not missed a single presidential election — that’s at a time when more than 100 million Americans who can vote don’t vote.

So exercise your right — it’s one that many people in this world do not have."

Want Your Marijuana Startup to Succeed? Study Patent Law; Wired, 11/5/16

Mason Marks, Wired; Want Your Marijuana Startup to Succeed? Study Patent Law:

"...[M]any players in the legal marijuana industry are skeptical of the patent system. Some view patents as an ugly instrument of big business linked to over-priced drugs and other abuses. At a recent event for cannabis entrepreneurs in San Francisco, marijuana growers, manufacturers, and retailers gathered to discuss the current state of their industry. At one point the conversation turned to patent law. Many participants expressed anger and disbelief at the notion of patenting cannabis technology. One attendee stood up and exclaimed, “At least you can’t patent plants! They are part of nature!” But her assertion was incorrect. There is no prohibition against patenting plants and other living organisms. In fact, nearly any invention can be patented as long as it meets a few basic requirements—and surprisingly, being legal under federal law is not one of them...

Whether you approve of cannabis patents or not, they are taking root in this multi-billion dollar industry. The upcoming votes and changing regulatory landscape will likely help them grow. To be fully prepared, anyone entering the cannabis industry should learn the fundamentals of patent law."

Harry Potter and the Abandoned Trademarks; Geek.com, 11/7/16

Jordan Minor, Geek.com; Harry Potter and the Abandoned Trademarks:

"Check out this list of abandoned Harry Potter trademarks.

Harry Potter and the Serpent Prince

Harry Potter and the Curse of the Dementor

Harry Potter and the Tower of Shadows

Harry Potter and the Death’s Head Plot

Harry Potter and the Shadow of the Serpent

Harry Potter and the Serpent’s Revenge

Harry Potter and the Realm of the Lion

Harry Potter and the Quest of the Centaur

Harry Potter and the Mudblood Revolt

Harry Potter and the Hogwarts Hallows

Harry Potter and the Battle for Hogwarts

Harry Potter and the Hogsmeade Tomb

Harry Potter and the Myriad Moors of Miitomo"

How To Protect Your Trade Mark From Becoming a Generic Term; Lexology, 11/3/16

Baker & McKenzie, Lexology; How To Protect Your Trade Mark From Becoming a Generic Term:

"The term “brand genericide” has been used to describe the process where a trade mark brand owner, sometimes unknowingly, participates in the destruction of the distinctiveness of its trade mark. Indeed, trade mark history is full of examples of marks - often for innovative products - that have become generic: Linoleum, Escalator, Shredded Wheat, to name but a few. The well-known phenomenon of "genericism" affects various industry sectors, including the food and beverages industry: NESTLE, M&M's, COCA-COLA, TABASCO all had to deal with the risk of genericism in one way or another. Read on for practical tips which will to prevent your trade marks from becoming a common descriptive name and potentially entering the public domain."

UK Copyright Infringement: ‘Fair Dealing’ in Digital World; National Law Review, 11/7/16

National Law Review; UK Copyright Infringement: ‘Fair Dealing’ in Digital World:

"Fair dealing is, in essence, a defence to copyright infringement. It allows you to copy part of a (usually already published) third party copyright work without having to get the copyright owner’s prior permission. For example, it would allow you to copy a short passage from a book, to reproduce a photograph or other image, or to use clips from television, film or online footage. You are not required to make any payment to the copyright owner in return for use of their material. You do not need to let the copyright owner know what you are doing and you can go ahead even if the copyright owner is aware of what you are doing and objects. It is irrelevant whether you are acting in a commercial or non-commercial context.

The fair dealing defence is set out in Chapter III of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). There are a number of specific fair dealing exceptions covering, for example, libraries and educational settings. However, some aspects of the fair dealing defence are of wider application."

Clinton v. Trump on copyrights and patents: Reading the platform and the tea leaves; Ars Technica, 11/6/16

Joe Mullin, Ars Technica; Clinton v. Trump on copyrights and patents: Reading the platform and the tea leaves:

"The hot-button issues this election can be counted on one's fingers—and for most voters, things like copyright and patent policy don't make the list. Assigned to a wonkish zone far from the Sunday morning talk shows, intellectual property issues aren't near the heart of our deeply polarized political discourse.

Of the two major party candidates in 2016, only the Democratic candidate has a platform that even addresses copyright and patent policies. So today, let's look at what we know about Hillary Clinton's plan, and make some informed speculation about what could happen to these areas under a Donald Trump presidency."

'Gone With the Wind' and 'Wizard of Oz' protected by copyright in merchandising suit; Los Angeles Times, 11/1/16

David Ng, Los Angeles Times; 'Gone With the Wind' and 'Wizard of Oz' protected by copyright in merchandising suit:

[Kip Currier: This week in my IP and "Open" Movements graduate course we looked at two high profile music infringement lawsuits, Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset and Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum. Good case studies (among others) for thinking about use of copyrighted works by individuals/institutions and copyright enforcement. Timely to see Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset damages assessment and rationale cited in the case discussed below.]

"The defense filed another appeal, but this week, a court upheld the ruling as well as damages amounting to $10,000 for 257 copyright infractions, resulting in an award of nearly $2.6 million.

The judgment “sends a strong message about the risk of engaging in copyright and trademark infringement,” said Frederick J. Sperling, a partner at the law firm Schiff Hardin LLP, who represented Warner Bros.

Valencia, the defendant, didn’t respond to a request for comment sent through a lawyer.

The case was filed in Missouri because some of the licensees selling the products in question were based in the state.

In upholding the damages amount, the appeals court cited a 2012 Capitol Records case in which the label sued an individual for putting copyrighted songs on the Kazaa file-sharing platform. In that case, a court awarded damages of $9,250 per infringed work.

Damages for copyright infringement range between $750 and $30,000 per instance, according to U.S. law.

In its 2011 decision, the 8th Circuit court ruled that characters such as Dorothy and the Scarecrow, as well as Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, are “sufficiently distinctive to merit character protection under the respective film copyrights.”"