Patent / Trademark Law News

Professor Barton Beebe of New York University Law School reports on the results of an empirical study of all trademark applications filed at the USPTO from 1981 to 2010, in his article entitled "Is The Trademark Office A Rubber Stamp?: Trademark Registration Rates at the PTO, 1981-2010," 48 Houst.

In news that will shock all right-thinking people, and leave the Beckhams kicking themselves that they didn't think of it first, Beyonce and Jay-Z are attempting to trademark their baby's name, Blue Ivy.

The new parents filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to protect the name of their month-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter.

It's patent-troll time once again, folks. A one-person * company that adds zero economic value is suing a huge laundry list of companies who use the Web.

A $600 million patent infringement lawsuit launched by a tiny tech company against eight of the world's biggest corporations, including Google, Yahoo, Amazon and YouTube, ended after a three-day trial in sleepy Tyler, Texas.

The New York Times takes a look at the issue in a story published Wednesday. The paper interviewed several entrepreneurs and a few experts, including Minneapolis-based Fish & Richardson The most significant piece of the overhaul is the move toward a "first-to-file" model.

Samsung could be following in Polaroid's footsteps with an Android-powered camera, filing a trademark for the name Samsung Galaxy Camera in the US recently.

Today the USPTO announced the launch of an interesting voluntary pilot program called the Patents for Humanity Program.

An unusual technology entered the patent lawsuit theater on Monday when Honeywell International announced it was suing Nest Labs : Thermostat tech.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Invidi Technologies, a provider of addressable-advertising solutions for pay-TV operators, its sixth patent, which covers a method of delivering addressable ads in a bandwidth-efficient way.

In the first test of the fee-setting authority that was at the heart of the debate over the America Invents Act, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office proposed substantial increases in fees for its services this week.

Jay Z and Beyonce have responded swiftly to various attempts to trademark products using their daughter's name.

My report to Congress last week included a statement regarding the greatest change at the USPTO since the September 16, 2011: . After raising fees and receiving permission to spend fees collected, the USPTO began to quickly implement a plan to address the backlog of patent applications awaiting examination and to address particular bottlenecks in ... (more)

When a corporation stakes its reputation on the competitive value of its patent portfolio, it can't afford to watch that portfolio go down in flames.

Mark P. McKenna, Notre Dame Law School, is publishing A Consumer Decision-Making Theory of Trademark Law in volume 98 of the Virginia Law Review .

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum , where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Gehrke & Associates, SC is an intellectual property law firm that assists clients in realizing the value of their intellectual property through patent, trademark, and copyright protection, licensing and portfolio management.

The superstar couple lodged its petition at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on 26 January , just weeks after becoming mum and dad to their first child.

Five government contractors are competing for task orders under the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Systems Development and Integration Next-Generation contract that has a ceiling value of $532 million, Washington Technology reported.

With all the heat that publishers are starting to feel from the academic community, you might have thought that they'd avoid upsetting anyone else.