April 20, 2021

The Supreme Court has decided in favor of Google in a copyright case that pitted the software company against Oracle, the owner of the popular Java programming language.  When creating its Android platform for smartphones, Google copied about 11,500 of declaring…

February 25, 2021

Software is enormously valuable. Of the top 10 largest companies today, only Saudi Aramco and Berkshire Hathaway are not in the software business, but even they could not survive without it. The others – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Tencent, Facebook,…

November 9, 2020

Many companies use open source software to produce goods and services, and many also actively develop software using open source libraries and modules. Open source software is commonly used for online software services, smart phone apps, downloadable executables, or embedded…

October 12, 2020

The demand for improvements in autonomous technology is accelerating. Memory and processing power has continued to grow exponentially cheaper, but the volume of data to process has exploded making it nearly impossible for traditional data analysis techniques to provide timely…

June 18, 2020

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently published a study titled “Adjusting to Alice” that provides the results of an examination of patent examination outcomes after the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice. This study found that recent efforts…

June 11, 2020

Many times Businesses form and thrive because of a revolutionary product like the smart phone, or because of a new service model like ride sharing. These products and services often include novel processes for solving old problems, or new and…

June 9, 2020

Entrepreneurs and small businesses owners – Register to attend a free webinar about the basics of copyright and receive insights into copyright registration and enforcement. The 90-minute program is on Tuesday, June 16, from 1-2:30 p.m. ET. Specifically designed for…

April 22, 2020

Sunday, April 26 is World Intellectual Property Day, a day to celebrate and learn about the role that intellectual property rights play to encourage and facilitate innovation and creativity.  Originally created by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000,…

April 6, 2020

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has made several temporary rules changes in response to the coronavirus outbreak. These rule changes include: Extension of patent and trademark related deadlines. On March 31, the USPTO announced extensions to the time…

March 26, 2020

Companies routinely focus on development and marketing of new ideas, particularly in the early days as a startup. Protecting intellectual property is often set aside for later after the idea takes off and the marketplace has indicated “there is something…

March 19, 2020

Myth: If I write down my invention and mail it to myself through the USPS, I will receive some level of patent protection on my invention. (In some versions of the myth, I will receive protection only if I do…

April 18, 2019

When registering a trademark, the Patent and Trademark Office requires the submission of a specimen to show that a trademark is being used in interstate commerce.  It is often tempting to simply submit a screenshot of a webpage showing the…