Copyright Law Alert: New York District Court Dismisses Claims Of Copyright Infringement Involving A Photograph That Depicts Graffiti And Also Finds Alleged Infringement De Minimis

On January 13, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion to dismiss of trademark and copyright claims of a pro se plaintiff’s amended complaint in its entirety in Gayle v. Allee, No. 18 Civ. 3774 (JPC), 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6756 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 13, 2021).    Specifically, […]

Charley Macedo to Introduce 2021 AUTM Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker

On March 15, partner Charley Macedo will introduce the 2021 AUTM Annual Meeting opening plenary session and keynote speaker, astronaut Ellen Ochoa.   Ellen Ochoa is the first Hispanic woman to go in space. She’s also an inventor and only the second female director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Ochoa will discuss the resonant issues […]

ARE PTAB Alert: The PTAB Newly Designates Two Precedential Decisions

On December 17, 2020, the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) designated two decisions as precedential where, after the evaluation of the Fintiv factors, inter partes review (“IPR”) of a patent was instituted while there were pending litigations in district courts. In determining whether to exercise discretion to deny institution under 35 U.S.C. § […]

Brief of New York Intellectual Property Law Association as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner in American Axle & Manufacturing Co. Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC, No. 20-891

ARE Law is proud have had a part in submitting an amicus brief on behalf of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association in American Axle & Manufacturing Co. Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC, No. 20-891, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari to clarify the law of patent eligibility as there are conflicting […]

Trademark Law Alert: Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Finds SMART KEYBOARD to Be Generic

In a nonprecedential opinion issued on January 12, 2021, the US Patent & Trademark Office’s (“PTO”) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) found the proposed trademark SMART KEYBOARD to be generic. See In re Apple Inc., US Trademark App. Ser. No. 86/857,587 (TTAB decision issued on Jan. 12, 2021). Unless this decision is appealed, as […]

Trademark Law Alert: Big Changes Coming to U.S. Federal Trademark Practice

The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (TMA) was signed into law on December 27, 2020 as part of the recently approved second coronavirus relief bill, a/k/a Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, H.R. 133, 116th Cong., Div. Q , Title II, Subtitle B (2020), available here.    Perhaps because the TMA was passed as part of the […]