Friday, April 24, 2020

OSU making intellectual property available to help fight COVID-19; KTVZ.com, April 22, 2020

KTVZ.com; OSU making intellectual property available to help fight COVID-19

"Oregon State University is joining universities and academic health centers nationally in making licensing agreements for its intellectual property quickly executable to speed up the development of technologies that can be used to diagnose, treat and prevent COVID-19.

The COVID-19 Technology Development Framework, spearheaded by Stanford, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was introduced earlier this month and includes 14 other research institutions across the United States as of April 20.

Researchers at Oregon State and throughout the U.S. will be able to build on concepts generated by other scientists, making the path easier for companies trying to develop new technologies to detect, monitor, prevent and treat the sickness caused by the novel coronavirus...

Below is the full text of the COVID-19 Technology Development Framework:"

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

A deep dive into the Tiger King trademark lawsuits (long read); World Trademark Review, April 22, 2020

World Trademark Review; A deep dive into the Tiger King trademark lawsuits (long read)

"True crime documentary miniseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness has become a global phenomenon, watched by more than 34 million viewers in the first 10 days of its release on Netflix. Happily for IP professionals, one of the subplots revolved around a trademark and copyright conflict. In this guest piece, Haynes and Boone associate Joe Lawlor expands on the IP disputes and how they played out.

There are some plot spoilers in the article, so if you have not yet watched the series (and intend to), it is worth hitting pause on this piece and doing so before reading."

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

The Difference Between Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents; The New York Times, April 16, 2020

The Difference Between Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents

Whether you’re an inventor, a writer or an artist, you need to know what these each mean — and which you need to protect your work.

"Intellectual property theft has always been a problem, but it has never affected as many people as it does today. If you’ve taken a photo, recorded a song or written a letter, you’ve likely created a copyright. If you operate a small business, you probably qualify for trademark protection, and if you invent something, you may be able to patent it. But the same tools that make it easy to distribute your work online make it easier than ever to steal.

Intellectual property, or I.P., is everywhere, but almost nobody who is not a lawyer understands how to protect their art, business or inventions. This article is no substitute for real legal advice, but it should give you an idea of what questions you need to ask next. I.P. law is vast, so this will focus on basic terms you’ve probably heard: copyrights, trademarks and patents. Let’s get started."

Friday, April 17, 2020

How the ‘Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World’ Got Its Logo; The New York Times, April 13, 2020

, The New York Times; How the ‘Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World’ Got Its Logo

"The logo has generated an enormous amount of money for the Stones. The British public relations veteran Alan Edwards, who handled the band’s publicity in the ’80s, said the Stones “must have grossed a good billion [pounds] in concerts, record and DVD sales, merchandising and exhibitions” and also used the logo “all over advertising.” Samuel O’Toole, an intellectual property lawyer at Briffa Legal in London, estimated the figure to be “hundreds of millions of pounds.”"

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Open COVID Pledge: Removing Obstacles to Sharing IP in the Fight Against COVID-19; Creative Commons, April 7, 2020

Diane Peters, Creative Commons; Open COVID Pledge: Removing Obstacles to Sharing IP in the Fight Against COVID-19

"Creative Commons has joined forces with other legal experts and leading scientists to offer a simple way for universities, companies, and other holders of intellectual property rights to support the development of medicines, test kits, vaccines, and other scientific discoveries related to COVID-19 for the duration of the pandemic. The Open COVID Pledge grants the public free, temporary access to IP rights in support of solving the COVID-19 crisis, removing unnecessary obstacles to dissemination of the knowledge and inventions that could save lives and limit suffering."

Court Rules Photographer Gave Up Exclusive Licensing Rights by Posting on Instagram; The Hollywood Reporter, April 14, 2020

Eriq Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter; Court Rules Photographer Gave Up Exclusive Licensing Rights by Posting on Instagram

"When it comes to appropriating images found online, the situation is understandably confusing. If an individual posts something on social media, does that give someone else the right to use it in a different forum? Most lawyers would likely answer, "Not so fast," and yet on Monday came a suggestive ruling perhaps otherwise from a New York federal court."

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Hospital Technicians Ignore Copyright Law to Fight COVID-19; Reason, April 13, 2020

Paul Detrick, Reason; Hospital Technicians Ignore Copyright Law to Fight COVID-19

"A right-to-repair movement has been fighting to change federal copyright law—or to pass state-level laws that let people fix their own devices. But medical device companies fought back with letters to lawmakers, saying right-to-repair laws could endanger the lives of patients if devices were fixed improperly by untrained personnel."