The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vindicated pop star Ed Sheeran against copyright infringement claims directed to his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud.” A holding company called Structured Asset Sales, LLC (“SAS”) sued Sheeran in 2018, claiming that “Thinking Out Loud” infringed the copyright in Ed Townsend and Marvin Gaye’s 1973 song
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP Blogs
Latest from Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
Changes to USPTO Patent Fees for 2025
Effective January 19, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will implement significant changes to patent fees following the last review in fiscal year 2021. According to the final rule published on November 20, 2024, the USPTO will adjust 433 patent fees across different entity types, including the introduction of 52 new fees.…
USPTO Trademark Fees: Changes for 2025
Effective January 18, 2025, trademark applicants and registrants will face changes in USPTO trademark fees. The USPTO last increased existing fees and introduced some new fees in 2021. It published its final rule-making on trademark fees on November 18, 2024. The most significant changes are highlighted below.Read more
USPTO to Target Fake Trademark Specimens of Use With Expanded Audit Program
Hoping to crack down on the ever-increasing problem of overbroad trademark registrations and fake specimens of use, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has announced that it will expand its existing audit program, currently conducted on a random basis, to include directed audits for certain trademark filings. Read more
Prosecution Pointer 429
Librarian of Congress Adopts New Exemptions Under Section 1201 of the DMCA
Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) generally makes it unlawful to circumvent technological measures used to prevent unauthorized access to copyrighted works, including copyrighted books, movies, videos, video games, and computer software. Effective October 28, 2024, the Librarian of Congress adopted new exemptions to this statutory prohibition on circumvention. The Librarian issued…
Prosecution Pointer 428
Amendments to drawings filed after allowance are entered by the USPTO’s Office of Publications. If such an amendment is forwarded to the examiner, the examiner should forward or return the application to the Office of Publications. The examiner should not deny entry of any drawing submission that includes only formal changes.Read more
Prosecution Pointer 427
The USPTO’s e-Petitions cannot be granted for petitions to revive an abandoned application if:Read more
No More AFCP 2.0!
In a Notice by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office dated October 1, 2024, the USPTO announced that the After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0 (AFCP 2.0) will end on December 14, 2024.Read more
Prosecution Pointer 426
An International Application is not a prior application as to the National Stage (they are legally the same application), therefore amended 37 CFR 1.78(a)(2) (Claiming benefit of earlier filing date and cross-references to other applications) does not apply.Read more