Landslide® September/October 2018

Trademarks

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: A New Reality for Brand Owners?

Tony Onorato, Guido Asshoff, and Jaime Castillo

With growing commercial acceptance of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, brand owners face trademark protection challenges that will test the flexibility of existing laws.

Trademarks

Doctored Trademark Specimens at the USPTO: Analysis of the Plague of Fake Specimens Threatening to Undermine the Principal Register

Eric J. Perrott

Fraudulent specimens undermine the integrity of the U.S. trademark application system. While the USPTO grapples with fighting these mostly foreign applications filed in bad faith, expect policy changes and increased scrutiny in filings.

Trademarks

Blockchain Can Change Everything: Even Trademark Transactions

Susan Kayser and Anna Raimer

Tracking trademark licenses, detecting counterfeit goods, documenting trademark usage, and verifying certifications are just some of the ways that the blockchain stands to impact trademark transactions.

Trademarks

Consequences of the Brexit Vote on European Trademarks

Robert Reading

Trademark complexity likely will increase as the United Kingdom approaches its departure date from the European Union. Organizations are proactively seeking to understand these changes and keep themselves protected across regions.

Copyright

The Good, the Bad, and the JPEG: Staying Safe in the Constant Showdown over Digital Content Use Online

Scott J. Sholder and Lindsay R. Edelstein

Just because an image is on the Internet does not mean it is free to use. Copyright practitioners offer best practices in responding to, evaluating, and defending against these types of copyright infringement claims.

Patents

Uncertain Patent Rights and a Weakening U.S. Innovation Economy: A Mixed Legacy on IP Policy

Adam Mossoff

The legislation and policies retiring Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Representative Darrell Issa have supported over the past decade ultimately have destabilized and weakened U.S. patent rights.

Patents

The End of Collaborative Innovation: Is the Erosion of Patent Rights Threatening Open Innovation?

Marc Ehrlich and Richard Ludwin

Innovation works best when the patent system addresses the needs of all constituents in the innovation ecosystem, whether they provide innovations to others, receive innovations from others, or create innovations with others.

Patents

Creativity in Enhancing the Quality and Size of Patent Portfolios

Nate Phares and Ken Hartmann

To increase portfolio size without sacrificing patent quality or ballooning the budget, patent practitioners may need to take creative steps to increase the number of ideas harvested from inventors and the efficiency with which patents can be drafted.

Patents

Reversal Rates of Ex Parte Appeals: High Variability Across PTAB Judges

Sameer Vadera and Kate S. Gaudry

The probability of a rejection being reversed in an ex parte appeal decision depends on the opinion judge assigned to the appeal.

Patents

Surviving Alice with Big Data

Mark S. Nowotarski

Creative use of prosecution data from the USPTO can often reveal what an examiner’s personal views and technology center’s policies are and how they have changed over time.

Patents

Apocalypse Soon: U.S. Patent 100 Million Is Coming

Christopher White

There are now over 10 million U.S. patents. Get your databases ready, because the 100 millionth patent is coming sooner than you might expect.

Professional Development

Fast—and Slow—Thinking

Mark K. Dickson

Perspective

Intellectual Property

Always Looking for the New, Always Changing for the Future

Adrienne R. Fields

A message from Landslide

Patents

An Interview with Louis Foreman, Founder and Chief Executive of Enventys

Eli Mazour

Profiles in IP Law

Intellectual Property

ABA-IPL Section Focus: Highlights of the 2017–18 Association Year

Profiles in IP Law

Intellectual Property

Decisions in Brief

John C. Gatz

Quick briefing on recent decisions