Welcome to a new year! I wish you all prosperity, health and happiness for 2012!

Before we begin our discussions of new developments in copyright, trademark and privacy law, I’d like to close out last year. Below is a listing of the topics discussed in this Blog during the past year. During the tail end of 2011, we had a number of legislative developments that were interesting to consider, and I imagine that trend will continue into the new year. We will also be covering recent court decisions impacting the world of intellectual property.

Articles (in Reverse Chronological Order) – Topic Labels

12/30/11 PROTECT IP Act May Move Toward Vote in January 2012 – Counterfeiting, Online piracy, Proposed legislation

12/29/11 Manager’s Amendment to SOPA Makes Big Changes – counterfeiting, Online piracy, Proposed legislation

12/28/11 Alternative to PROTECT IP Act and SOPA Proposed by Bipartisan, Bicameral Group – counterfeiting, Online piracy, Proposed legislation

12/6/11 ‘Tis the Season for . . . Anti-Counterfeiting Legislation? – COICA, counterfeiting, IPEC, Online piracy, Proposed legislation, trademarks

11/27/11 Stop Online Piracy Act Introduced to Combat Online Piracy and Counterfeiting – Part 2 of the Online Counterfeiting Topic – COICA, copyright, counterfeiting, IPEC, Online piracy, Proposed legislation, trademarks

11/11/11 PROTECT IP Act Introduced to Combat Online Piracy and Counterfeiting – Part 1 of the Online Counterfeiting Topic – COICA, copyright, counterfeiting, Online piracy, Proposed legislation, trademarks

10/31/11 Common Questions: When Should I Enforce My Trademark Rights? – Common Questions, trademarks

10/26/11 New Bill Introduced in the House to Combat Online Piracy – COICA, copyright, counterfeiting, Online piracy, trademarks

10/25/11 PSB&N Trademark Practice Group Launches New Web Site and Blog – Firm News

10/24/11 Common Questions: Can I Copyright My Idea? – Common Questions, copyright

9/30/11 Facebook Sued for Trademark Infringement of “TIMELINES” Mark – trademarks

9/28/11 Update – Unauthorized Sequel to Catcher in the Rye Permanently Enjoined, by Agreement – fictional characters

9/22/11 US Trade Representative Seeks Comments on 2011 Notorious Markets List – copyright, counterfeiting, IPEC, trademarks

9/15/11 Upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Google
– Google Book Project

9/1/11 Removal of Photographer’s “Gutter Credit” is Potentially Actionable Under DMCA – copyright, DMCA

8/24/11 First Sale Doctrine Not Available as Defense to Copyright Infringement, Where the Works were Foreign-Made – copyright

8/18/11 IP Enforcement Coordinator Seeks Public Comments about Counterfeiting – counterfeiting, government oversight, IPEC

8/4/11 Senate Judiciary Committee Issues Report on PROTECT IP Act – COICA, counterfeiting, Online piracy, Proposed legislation, trademarks

6/21/11 Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing Tomorrow on IPEC Oversight – cybersecurity, Dept of Homeland Security, government oversight

6/6/11 Redaction Failures Continue in Electronic Court Filings, Study Shows – ECF System, privacy, redaction

5/26/11 Senate Judiciary Committee Marks Up S. 968 (PROTECT IP Act) – COICA, copyright, counterfeiting, Proposed legislation, trademarks

5/17/11 New Version of Online Counterfeiting and Infringement Bill Proposed – COICA, Online piracy, Proposed legislation, trademarks

5/6/11 Revised TTAB Manual of Procedure is Now Available – trademarks, TTAB

5/3/11 Department of Commerce Issued Report on Trademark Litigation Tactics – government oversight, trademark misuse, trademarks

4/25/11 Senate Hearing Scheduled on Mobile Privacy – cell phones, mobile devices, privacy

4/18/11 House Examines Online Infringement and Counterfeiting (2d Hearing) – COICA, copyright, counterfeiting, Proposed legislation, trademarks

3/25/11 District Court Rejects Proposed GoogleBooks Settlement – copyright, Google Book Project

3/22/11 House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Online Infringement – COICA, copyright, counterfeiting, Proposed legislation, trademarks

3/17/11 White House Releases Recommendations for IP Enforcement – copyright, counterfeiting, IPEC, Proposed legislation, trademarks

3/9/11 Senate Judiciary Committee Considering New COICA Bill – COICA, copyright, counterfeiting, IPEC, Proposed legislation, trademarks

2/15/11 ABA Intellectual Property Law Section Weighs in on USPTO’s Trademark Misuse Study – Enacted legislation, government oversight, trademark misuse, trademarks

1/27/11 New Bill Seeks to Eliminate Social Security Numbers as Uniform Identifiers – privacy, Proposed legislation, social security numbers

I look forward to more cases and legislation in this area, and welcome your comments on these posts.

Welcome to a new year, and a new Congress. As of January 5, 2011, the 112th Congress began. According to the U.S. Congress’s web site, here’s how Congressional schedules work: “A new Congress begins at noon January 3 of each odd-numbered year following a general election, unless it designates a different day by law. A Congress lasts for two years, with each year constituting a separate session.” The 111th Congress ended on December 29, and according to the Congressional Record, the 112th Congress actually started on January 5, 2011.

Before we begin discussing new IP legislation, I thought it proper to close out 2010 and provide a list of articles that were published in this blog last year:

Articles (in Reverse Chronological Order)

11/28/10 Copyright Cleanup Bill Clears Congress for Signature by Pres. Obama – Enacted legislation, Trademarks

10/18/10 USPTO Seeks Comments on Potential Trademark Misuse – Enacted legislation, Trademarks

10/13/10 Have We Lawyers Genericized “Bates” Numbers? – Trademarks

8/21/10 Awards of Attorney Fees in Copyright Infringement Cases Are Justified for “Vexatious Conduct” by Attorney – Copyright, Sanctions

7/28/10 ISPs Are Not Required to Search Independently for Potential Infringement – Copyright

7/2/10 Supreme Court Issues Opinion in Bilski v. Kappos Case – Patents

7/1/10 IPEC Releases Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement – Cabinet Positions, Counterfeiting, Enacted legislation, Government oversight

7/1/10 New Design

6/1/10 Summary of IPEC’s Responsibilities – Cabinet Positions, Counterfeiting, Enacted legislation, Government oversight

5/7/10 Reassignment of Judge for Google Book Settlement? – Google Book Project, Judiciary

4/27/10 New Law in Utah Prohibits Certain Internet Crimes – Consumer fraud, Cybersecurity, Identity theft, Privacy

4/20/10 Top 10 Ways to Preserve Your Trademarks – Speeches, Trademarks

4/13/10 Fraud on the PTO – A Trademark Perspective – Cancellation, Fraud on the PTO, Medinol, Opposition, Speeches, Trademarks, TTAB

3/18/10 SDNY Orders TAVERN ON THE GREEN Service Mark Cancelled for Fraud – Cancellation, Common law marks, Fraud on the PTO, Trademarks

3/17/10 Welcome Back

1/27/10 Temporary Hiatus

1/14/10 Netflix Sued for Alleged Privacy Violations, Part 2 of the “Two New Privacy Lawsuits Filed” Topic – Privacy

1/7/10 Two New Privacy Lawsuits Filed — Part One, Facebook – Consumer fraud, FTC, Privacy, Privacy policies, Social networking

1/7/10 FTC Releases its Staff Report on its 2/09 Fraud Forum – Consumer fraud, Cybersecurity, FTC, Identity theft, Privacy

Stay tuned for more articles on the three major topics for this blog: Copyright, trademark and privacy law.

As you can see, the design of this blog has changed, mostly so that more of the screen is useable. If you have comments or concerns about the new layout, or find that any part of it is not user-friendly, please comment below so that I can try to address it.

Thanks!

As reported in my prior blog entry, I have been involved in writing two fairly comprehensive articles on recent developments in trademark law. Both articles have now been submitted and I am getting back on schedule with posting new articles on Privacy and IP Law.

The articles will ultimately be published as part of course materials in connection with the following conferences: 1) the American Bar Association’s 25th Annual Intellectual Property Law Section Meeting in Washington, D.C. (detailed schedule of events is here); and 2) the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Fourth Annual Intellectual Property Institute in Philadelphia (faculty list is here). The links provided here will access to the registration forms for the meetings, as well as brief summaries/listings of the expected presentations.

If you plan to attend these events, please submit a comment below so that I can know to look for you.

Dear Readers:

Over the next few weeks, I will be limited in what I can publish to this blog, but the interruption will only be temporary. I am in the process of writing two articles relating to trademark practice, which are both due at the end of February.

The first (with a working title of “Intent to Defraud: The New Standard for Finding Fraud on the PTO in a Trademark Prosecution Practice”) will be presented during the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law Section Meeting in April, within a larger presentation about ethics in trademark and patent prosecution practices. My co-presenter will focus on the patent prosecution aspects of this analysis. The papers are due, however, in four weeks.

The second (with a working title of “Top 10 Ways to Preserve Your Trademark”) will be prepared jointly with my co-presenter during the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s 4th Annual IP Institute, also in April. Again, the papers are due at the end of February.

As much as possible, I will try to post about relevant developments in these areas during the coming weeks. If I am silent, however, be sure to check back at least at the end of February, when I should be back to a more active posting schedule.

Best,
Christina Frangiosa
Privacy and IP Law Blog