Head of USPTO announces plans to resign
David Kappos, the well-respected director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, announced he will be leaving the position in January 2013 after more than three years of service. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this post
DOJ announces new grants to defend intellectual property
United States Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice is granting more than $2.4 million to 13 jurisdictions to fight piracy and theft of intellectual property. The money will be used to enforce, investigate, prosecute and prevent IP crimes. The jurisdictions receiving the grants include: Austin, TX.; Baltimore County, MD.; [...]
Patent contingent fee litigation continues to grow
Fueled by highly lucrative wins by contingency fee lawyers, a substantial market is developing for contingent fee representation in patent litigation. According to David L. Schwartz, who wrote an article,The Rise of Contingent Fee Representation in Patent Litigation, there have been several high profile contingent fee successes for lawyers in the past 10 years. Bookmark [...]
China’s trademark system a quagmire for businesses both large and small
Entering China with a trademark is no easy business, full of “murky rules and opportunistic ‘trademark squatters’”, www.reuters.com recently reported. Take it from entrepreneur Bill Walters of New Jersey who tried to enter the Chinese market in 2010, after launching his OSPOP sneakers in 2007. He found pirated copies of his shoes already there and [...]
Early stage companies face more risk than most valuators conclude
Neither financial nor valuation literature takes into account the relatively short life expectancy of business enterprises. For example, fewer than 50% of new firms live longer than 10 years, says James R. Morris (University of Colorado at Denver), yet it is common for business appraisers to estimate firm value with a long-term horizon model such as a [...]
A music download is not a performance under the Copyright Act
Last week the Supreme Court made official what music buffs knew all along: a download of a sound recording is not the same as a public performance. (That consumers pay as low as 99 cents for a download and as high as $300 to attend a concert was not the issue.) Reportedly representing nearly [...]
Steve Jobs, our greatest multitech innovator
IPBlog would be remiss in not commenting on the death of Steve Jobs, and we asked Glenn Foster, Founder, Multitech Synergies, why Jobs was special. It appears every Founder/ CEO who really drives innovation in their organization has 1) the perfect multi-technology background for their company, and 2) the perfect ability to drive others [...]
ktMINE’s David R. Jarczyk Named to IAM Strategy 250 — The World’s Leading IP Strategists 2011
Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Magazine named ktMINE President David Jarczyk to the IAM Strategy 250, a unique publication identifying individuals whose key skill-set is working with intellectual property (IP) owners to help them maximise the value of their IP. Only those individuals considered and nominated by their peers to be outstanding IP strategists are listed in the [...]
Barbie vs. Bratz Dolls: IP and Intangible Assets In Play…Again!
Why is it important for companies to (proactively) unravel and monitor the origins, ownership, defensibility and audit-ability of their intellectual property and other intangible assets? Well… By Michael Moberly On April 21, 2011, an eight person federal jury returned a unanimous verdict supporting MGA Entertainment, indicating that Mattel had not proved its allegations of copyright [...]
USPTO Says Hold Everything on Fast Tracking
It appears the expected $40M in related fees is not going to be able to fund the proposed Fast Track (Track One) at USPTO; the plug has been pulled a week from its proposed start. The budget crisis at the agency appears to be severe, according to Director David Kappos. So not only will Track One not be implemented, the current [...]
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