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• The United States Patent and Trademark Office’s intellectual property attaché program offers valuable resources to guide U.S. businesses in navigating IP systems abroad By Bill Storey    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offers valuable IP-related business resources through an intellectual property (IP) attaché program. The program is structured to generally improve IP policies, laws and regulations abroad for the benefit of U.S. businesses and stakeholders, while providing country-specific IP-related materials and services to teach and inform. However, the program also makes representatives available who can act as points of contact for U.S. businesses to guide actions and to provide interactions with foreign... More
• Pilot program for PCT applications streamlines examination and search procedures By Bill Storey    On July 1, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) began a 3-year pilot program known as The PCT Collaborative Search and Examination Pilot (CS&E) Program, to streamline examination and search procedures for patent examiners in multiple countries. The program is a coordinated effort with patent offices from around the world, together known as the IP5 offices. Specifically, participating International Search Authority (ISA) members include the USPTO, European Patent Office (EPO), Japan Patent Office (JPO), Korean... More
• Ohio passes new law providing safe harbor to businesses suffering a data breach and amends Ohio law to allow records and contracts secured by blockchain technology By Ryan Graham    Implementing a cybersecurity framework may begin to pay off for companies doing business in Ohio. As anyone following data privacy litigation knows, litigation stemming from data breach incidents can prove to be extraordinarily burdensome and expensive. Ohio is the first state to pass a law that will limit a business’s exposure in data breach litigation if the businesses has voluntarily adopted an identified cybersecurity framework. In terms of the particulars, Ohio recently passed S.B. 220, which provides an affirmative... More
• Sixth Circuit finds insurance coverage for phishing losses By Donna Ruscitti    “The risk of loss due to some form of cyberattack should prompt employers to consider insuring against those losses. But, not all cyberinsurance policies are created equal.” Our colleague, Brian Hall, writes in the most recent Employer Law Report blog post which discusses the recent 6th Circuit case, American Tooling Center, Inc. v. Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. of America. “When shopping for insurance to cover potential losses due to cyber activity, businesses will need to make sure that they understand... More
• Big changes for internet shopping By Mark Snider    On June 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Wayfair v. South Dakota that internet and catalogue retailers can be required to collect sales taxes from customers in states where they have no physical presence. In plain English, in most situations, no more tax-free shopping on the internet. Buyers have always technically been required to pay a use tax to their state if no sales tax was collected by the seller. This decision overrules two older decisions that... More
• UPDATE: All fifty states now have data breach statutes By Ryan Graham    On July 1, 2018, all fifty states will have active data breach statutes that govern the notification process for companies that experience a data loss incident. Alabama and South Dakota both recently passed data breach laws, representing the last two states to enact data breach legislation. As with other data breach statutes, Alabama and South Dakota have imposed slightly different requirements on businesses that experience a breach event, contributing to the increasingly rich tapestry of state laws governing... More
• The federal landscape on self-driving cars By Jill Okun    Motivated by the unprecedented spike in automotive fatalities in 2015, mostly caused by human error, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has embraced self-driving cars as a means to significantly reduce motor vehicle crashes. In so doing, the DOT stands behind developing a regulatory framework which encourages the safe development, testing and deployment of automated vehicles. Because current legislation and policies have not caught up with technology, Congress and... More
• ADA Website filings show no sign of slowing down By Porter Wright    Regardless of industry, website accessibility has become an area of focus for ADA litigation. My colleague, Jamie LaPlante, was recently interviewed by the Bristol Herald Courier regarding a filing against Highlands Union Bank in the U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia, where the plaintiff is a blind man from Fairfax county. The case follows a similar fact pattern to the 2017 Florida case against Winn-Dixie where a federal judge ruled the supermarket chain failed to make its website... More
• DMCA agent requirements changing by end of year By Porter Wright    In December 2016, the United States Copyright Office introduced an online registration system and electronically generated directory to replace the office’s old paper-based system and directory for filing DMCA agent information. The office no longer accepts paper designations. To designate an agent, a service provider must register with and use the office’s online system. While the change to an electronic directory is noteworthy, those with existing DMCA agent registrations (filed to the old, paper-based registry) must submit new DMCA... More
• Rivalry in the Athleisure Industry – lululemon and Under Armour battle over criss-cross straps By Porter Wright    Patent infringement lawsuits are rather unusual in the fashion industry in part because design patents are difficult, expensive, and slow to obtain. In an industry that is constantly evolving to keep up with consumer trends, the year+ length of time from application filing to design patent registration is a lifetime. The latest development gaining momentum in the fashion industry is a niche known as “athleisure.” This trend, as suggested by the term, is defined by clothing designed not... More