By: Sean Detweiler The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) is falling behind in their review of trademark applications. Since the end of 2018, the average time between an application for trademark registration being filed and the Examining Attorney reviewing the application and issuing a first action indicating whether the mark is allowable has …
Continue reading File Your Trademark Applications Sooner Rather Than Later
By: Stacey Friends and Sean Detweiler For the first time in three years, The USPTO is setting and adjusting Trademark and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board fees through its Final Rule, effective January 2, 2021. The goals of the fee increases, as stated by the USPTO, are to: Enhance the quality of examinations Achieve optimal examination times Invest in modernizing USPTO systems and infrastructure …
By: Stanley F. Chalvire The Inventor Rights Act (H.R. 5478) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in late December 2019, and proposes significant new rights for United States patents that are “inventor-owned.” In particular, if passed, the Bill would create a new class of “inventor-owned patents,” in which the inventor of the claimed invention …
Continue reading Inventor Rights Act Proposes to Grant Certain Rights to “Inventor-Owned” Patents
By: Sean D. Detweiler When it comes to online marketplaces, there are numerous traps for the unwary, whether you are a startup or a multi-million dollar company. The “Better Business Bureau (BBB) has received thousands of complaints from people who have shopped for goods online and received counterfeit products instead of what they thought they ordered… …
Continue reading How to Prepare for Counterfeiters, Whether You Sell on Amazon.com or Not
On October 30th Corporate Attorney Michael Cavaretta of Morse gave a guest lecture to the Intro to Entrepreneurship class at Worcester State University on intellectual property and contract issues for startups. The class is geared toward entrepreneurs who are developing their own businesses, and is in line with Worcester State and its director of Entrepreneurship, …
To acquire and maintain trademark rights, it comes down to use of the mark. If the mark is no longer used, no longer used in association with all of the goods/services identified in registration for the mark, or if the mark is used incorrectly, rights in the mark will be lost. Therefore, it is crucial …
Continue reading Trademarks – Use Them (Properly) or Lose Them
On March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court unanimously held in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, et al., that the statute requiring copyright owners to register their works before suing means that no suit for infringement can be brought until the Copyright Office officially approves the copyright claimant’s application for registration (or officially …
Continue reading Supreme Court Rules Works Must Be Registered Before Copyright Owners May Sue
Unlike with patents, there are common law legal protections with trademarks whether or not a mark is registered with the Trademark Office. In the United States, common law trademark rights automatically take effect upon actual use of the trademark in association with particular goods or services in commerce. As such, the question often arises, “why …
Continue reading Federal Registration of Trademarks to Protect Intellectual Property
At the MCLE's 21st Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference 2018, three of our attorneys will participate in the session "Trends and developments IP counsel, business lawyers and litigators must know," which will be held on Thursday, June 14 at the MCLE Conference Center in Boston. Howard Zaharoff is Co-Chair, and Mike Cavaretta and Amanda …
2017 marked another active year for intellectual property law. Patent law took center stage at the Supreme Court, wherein established precedent on infringement suit jurisdiction and laches were overturned. As we move into another year that is sure to be full of cases that reshape the IP landscape, intellectual property attorney Bill Schmidt looks back …
Good Company: A Morse Blog 