On November 23, 2022, the US Patent and Trademark Office and the US Copyright Office issued a request for public comment on the subject of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and intellectual property rights. Comments are due by Monday, January 9, 2023.

Susan Ross (US)
Copyright Review Board – non-human authors not allowed
On February 14, 2022, the Review Board of the United States Copyright Office (the “Board”) refused copyright registration (for the second time) of a two-dimensional artwork entitled “A Recent Entrance to Paradise.” Although the work was an original work fixed in a tangible medium of expression, the Board found that it could not be registered due to a lack of human authorship.
Social media gaming celebrity and breach of contracts
On June 17, 2020, the Southern District of New York issued an opinion and order in a complex matter between a social media gaming celebrity and a contract he signed with an esports and entertainment company. (Faze Clan, Inc., v. Tenney, 19-cv-7200 (JSR) (S.D.N.Y. July 17, 2020) (2020 WL 3318209).)
Trademarks, Internet sales, and personal jurisdiction
On February 10, 2020, the Seventh Circuit federal appeals court ruled that an Illinois-based seller of dietary supplements could maintain a federal Lanham Act and Illinois state law claims against a California-based competitor that had only an online presence, and…
U.S. Copyright Office: New Fees and New Technologies
If your business discovered that its revenue covered only 70% of its costs, it would be time for a re-examination of operations, both in terms of revenues and costs. The Copyright Office has issued some rule changes affecting both.
New Fees
According to the U.S. Copyright Office’s notice in the February 19, 2020 Federal Register (85 Fed. Reg. 9374, 9375), historically, the fees collected by the Copyright Office covered only 60% of its costs, and, more recently, only 70% of its costs. It has announced a new fee schedule, which includes many higher fees, some lower or unchanged fees, and some new fees. The new fee schedule goes into effect on Friday, March 20, 2020.
Copyright, “fair use,” and educational institutions
On May 23, 2019, a federal jury unanimously found that the Houston Independent School District willfully infringed 36 of DynaStudy’s copyrighted study guides, and awarded $9.2 million dollars. (DynaStudy, Inc. v. Houston Independent School District, Case No. 4:16-cv-01442 (S.D. Tex. May 23, 2019) (verdict, document #316). As this case illustrates, “educational” use is a very narrow exception to the copyright laws. New technologies make copying easier than ever, but the jury verdict demonstrates the damages can be unlimited.
Supreme Court settles trademark Circuit split
On May 20, 2019, the US Supreme Court ruled that a licensor’s rejection of a trademark license in bankruptcy does not terminate the licensee’s right to continue using the licensed mark. Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology LLC, 587 US …
Venezuela and US trademark owners
US owners of patents and trademarks who have registered them in Venezuela find themselves in the unusual position of being prohibited by the US government from paying Venezuela any required fees in the Venezuelan cryptocurrency, the Petro. For more information,…
Cryptocurrency and trademarks – a lesson in jurisdiction
On October 22, 2018, a federal trial court in Manhattan granted web services conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Limited’s request for a preliminary injunction against several defendants that were offering cryptocurrency for sale, under the name “AlibabaCoin.” (Alibaba Group Holding…
USPTO warns of unauthorized changes to trademark files
On October 19, 2018, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) posted a general warning on its website that unauthorized changes have been made to “a number” of active trademark applications and registrations. The PTO indicated that the unauthorized changes…