USPTO Designates Durango, Colorado Public Library a Patent and Trademark Resource Center; Press Release, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), May 15, 2018

Press Release, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); USPTO Designates Durango, Colorado Public Library a Patent and Trademark Resource Center

"The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced the grand opening of the newest Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) at the Durango Public Library in Durango, Colorado on Tuesday May 22, 2018. A free public program

(link is external), “Researching Patent and Trademark Information: Essential Information You Need to Protect Your Intellectual Property” will be presented.

The Durango Public Library will be the second PTRC in the State of Colorado. It will serve residents in southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico. The Durango Public Library is in the Four Corners region of Colorado, which includes the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Nations. The library will support entrepreneurs throughout the region seeking patent and trademark protection for their intellectual property. USPTO-trained librarians will assist patrons using the agency’s patent and trademark databases.

PTRCs are a nationwide network of public, state, and academic libraries that provide free services, including assistance in accessing patent and trademark documents, help in using USPTO databases, and aid in identifying resources on the USPTO website. They support inventors, intellectual property attorneys and agents, business people, researchers, entrepreneurs, students, historians, and members of the public unable to visit USPTO campuses. PTRCs also host public seminars on IP topics for novice and experienced innovators.

The PTRC Program began in 1871 when federal law first provided for the distribution of printed patents to public libraries. The addition of the Durango Public Library to the PTRC network makes a total of 86 resource centers located in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

A list of current PTRC libraries can be found on the USPTO's Web site at www.uspto.gov/ptrc."

The Blurred Lines of Copyright Law Are Limiting Musical Creativity; The Recorder, Law.com, May 14, 2018

Christopher J. Buccafusco, The Recorder, Law.com; The Blurred Lines of Copyright Law Are Limiting Musical Creativity

"The real issue, however, is that pop musicians simply may be running out of creative space. And this problem is being exacerbated by the behaviors of what we might call “legacy” interests—parties who own copyright interests in already-created songs but who won’t be making any new music.

I have argued, with my colleagues Stefan Bechold and Christopher Sprigman, that any field of creative production has a certain “innovation space.” This space represents the world of possible solutions to a given creative problem. At the beginning of a field, whether sonata form or smartphone design, the innovation space is wide open. Anyone is free to do almost anything. Over time, however, portions of the innovation space get filled by intellectual property rights. The earliest creators fill up the innovation space with their copyrights and patents, limiting the options for newcomers. Newer creators are faced with a dilemma in which they must either find a portion of the innovation space that hasn’t been claimed or pay a license fee to one of their predecessors."

Japan wants to teach kids how to patent their ideas; Nikkei Asian Review, May 14, 2018

Natsuko Segawa, Nikkei Asian Review; Japan wants to teach kids how to patent their ideas

"[The Japanese government] revised its curriculum guidelines in March 2017, calling on elementary and junior high schools to voluntarily begin intellectual property education in the 2018 academic year, which began in April.

Beginning with the 2020 school year, elementary school textbooks will devote more space to intellectual property matters. Junior high school textbooks will follow a year later.

One lesson could be on how to legally quote or sample copyrighted works. Another could be to let children think about how to improve everyday objects, say a bookend."

Copyright infringement lawsuits make Indy skyline photo worth a lot more than 1,000 words; IndyStar, May 8, 2018

Mark Alesia, IndyStar; Copyright infringement lawsuits make Indy skyline photo worth a lot more than 1,000 words

"There have been about 200 infringement cases, including two judgments of $150,000 apiece in Bell's favor. Usually, companies or their liability insurance settle the claim. Those who don't settle or don't respond will become part of his steady stream of copyright infringement lawsuits in federal court in Indianapolis. 

Just in higher education, Bell has gone after Indiana University, Purdue University, the University of Indianapolis and Marian University. Even the University of Washington.

"It happened to be a professor on the University of Washington staff that used it," Bell said. "He was promoting a conference he was having in Indianapolis.""

Romance writer ignites copyright war after securing ownership of the word ‘cocky’; New York Daily News, May 10, 2018

Leonard Greene, New York Daily News; Romance writer ignites copyright war after securing ownership of the word ‘cocky’

[Kip Currier: Another "teachable moment" about confusion between copyrights and trademarks...The article writer repeatedly talks about "copyright", though this is clearly a trademark issue.

A tip-off too is when the reporter says people are petitioning the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the copyright: the U.S. Copyright Office--as the eponymous name helpfully telegraphs--handles copyrights.]

"Faleena Hopkins, author of "Cocky Cowboy," "Cocky Soldier," "Cocky Biker" and "Cocky Brothers" insists she's not being full of herself by cornering the market on cocky.

She says she's just protecting her brand.

"I receive letters from readers who lost money thinking they bought my series," Hopkins tweeted after the cocky copyright clash. "I'm protecting them and that's what trademarks are meant for...

In the meantime, more than 20,000 people have signed a petition to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office asking it to cancel the "cocky" copyright."

How copyright law hides work like Zora Neale Hurston’s new book from the public; The Washington Post, May 7, 2018

Ted Genoways, The Washington Post; How copyright law hides work like Zora Neale Hurston’s new book from the public

"Now, according to the Vulture introduction, the Zora Neale Hurston Trust has new representation, interested in getting unpublished works into print and monetizing those archives. That’s great, from a reader’s perspective, but it also reveals a larger problem where scholarship of literature between World War I and II is concerned. It’s mostly due to the Walt Disney Co.’s efforts to protect ownership of a certain cartoon mouse. Over the years, the company has successfully worked to extend copyright restrictions far beyond the limits ever intended by the original authors of America’s intellectual property laws. Under the original Copyright Act of 1790, a work could be protected for 14 years, renewable for another 14-year term if the work’s author was still alive. In time, the maximum copyright grew from 28 years to 56 years and then to 75 years. In 1998, Sonny Bono championed an extension that would protect works created after 1978 for 70 years after the death of the author and the copyright of works created after 1922 to as long as 120 years.


This worked out great for Disney — which, not coincidentally, was founded in 1923 — but less so for the reputations of authors who produced important work between the 1920s and 1950s. Because copyright law became such a tangle, many of these works have truly languished. Here, Hurston is the rule rather than the exception. I have a file that I’ve kept over the years of significant unpublished works by well-known writers from the era: William Faulkner, Langston Hughes, William Carlos Williams, Hart Crane, Sherwood Anderson and Weldon Kees, among others. The works aren’t really “lost,” of course, but they are tied up in a legal limbo. Because of the literary reputations of those writers, their unpublished works will eventually see the light of day — whenever their heirs decide that the royalties are spreading a little too thin and there’s money to be made from new works. But other important writers who are little-known or unknown will remain so because they don’t have easily identifiable heirs — or, worse, because self-interested, or even uninterested executors, control their estates."

10 intellectual property tips for startup companies; Pittsburgh Business Times, April 30, 2018

John Thomas and Jeremy Harrison  – Vorys, Pittsburgh Business Times; 10 intellectual property tips for startup companies

"Obtaining and securing intellectual property (IP) rights is often not a high priority with startup companies. Rather, startups commonly focus most efforts on obtaining financing, building a brand, and effective marketing strategies. 

Securing company IP, however, such as patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights, is vital since doing so creates a legal barrier to competition. Company IP can be a revenue generator through strategic licensing or IP transfer, and is often crucial in valuation for venture funding purposes. 

The following are some tips and strategies for startups to manage company IP."