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Debunking Myths About the Proposed Federal Trade Secrets Act

By Mark Schultz

Today, CPIP is proud to release a paper authored by the nation’s preeminent expert on trade secret law, James Pooley. Mr. Pooley’s paper explains the arguments in favor of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015 (“DTSA”), which is currently being considered by Congress. Read more

Protecting Authors and Artists by Closing the Streaming Loophole

U.S. Capitol buildingWe’ve released a new policy brief, Protecting Authors and Artists by Closing the Streaming Loophole, by Devlin Hartline & Matthew Barblan.

They argue that in order to protect authors and artists from having their works repeatedly stolen on the internet, it is long past time to harmonize the remedies for criminal copyright infringement to reflect the ways that copyrighted works are commonly misappropriated these days. Read more

Overview of Comments on the USPTO's July 2015 Update to the Interim Examination Guidance

The following guest post from Robert R. Sachs, Partner at Fenwick & West LLP, first appeared on the Bilski Blog, and it is reposted here with permission.

By Robert R. Sachs

In late July, the USPTO issued its July 2015 Update to the 2014 Interim Section 101 Patent Eligibility Guidance (IEG). Read more

Strong IP Protection Provides Inventors and Creators the Economic Freedom to Create

Here’s a brief excerpt of a post by Terrica Carrington that was published on IPWatchdog.

CPIP went against the grain with this conference, and showed us, bit by bit, what our world might look like today without intellectual property rights. Music wouldn’t sound the same. Read more

Busting Smartphone Patent Licensing Myths

closeup of a circuit boardCPIP has released a new policy brief, Busting Smartphone Patent Licensing Myths, by Keith Mallinson, Founder of WiseHarbor. Mr. Mallinson is an expert with 25 years of experience in the wired and wireless telecommunications, media, and entertainment markets.

Mr. Mallinson discusses several common myths concerning smartphone patent licensing and argues that antitrust interventions and SSO policy changes based on these myths may have the unintended consequence of pushing patent owners away from open and collaborative patent licensing. Read more

Let’s Get Real About Kim Dotcom: The Indictment Clearly Alleges Felony Copyright Infringement

By Devlin Hartline & Terrica Carrington

After countless delays, the extradition hearing against Kim Dotcom began yesterday in New Zealand. Dotcom has been indicted on several charges, including criminal copyright infringement, racketeering, money laundering, and wire fraud, in connection with his notorious Megaupload website. Read more

Ninth Circuit Gets Fair Use Wrong to the Detriment of Creators

The Ninth Circuit’s opinion in Lenz v. Universal is out, and it’s a doozy. The main issue in the case is whether a rightholder has to consider fair use before sending a DMCA takedown notice. Section 512 requires the sender to state that she “has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.” Read more

Google’s Patent Starter Program: What it Really Means for Startups

The following guest post comes from Brad Sheafe, Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Dominion Harbor Group, LLC.

By Brad Sheafe

Recalling its rags-to-riches story of two guys with nothing but a great idea, a garage, and a hope of making the world a better place, Google recently announced its new Patent Starter Program. Read more

The MovieTube Litigation: Who Needs SOPA?

Cross-posted from the Law Theories blog.

On July 24th, six major studios sued MovieTube for direct and indirect copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition in the Southern District of New York. MovieTube is alleged to have operated twenty-nine foreign-based websites that streamed, displayed, and uploaded infringing copies of the studios’ copyrighted works. Read more

Federal Circuit Should Reconsider Ariosa v. Sequenom: The Panel Decision Threatens Modern Innovation

Here’s a brief excerpt of a post by Devlin Hartline that was published on IPWatchdog.

In an amicus brief co-authored by Kevin Noonan of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP and Professor Adam Mossoff of George Mason University School of Law, twenty-three law professors urge the Federal Circuit to take a second look at the innovation-threatening panel decision in Ariosa v. Read more