The meteoric rise of electronic sports has created a wave of new business opportunities and a host of new legal issues along with them. In e-sports, participants play online video games and broadcast their gameplay and verbal commentary real-time over the internet while interested fans watch, comment and even bet on outcomes. The more popular… Read more »
The “Internet of things” (IoT) is the extension of internet connectivity into physical devices and everyday objects, from baby monitors to pacemakers, from toasters to televisions, from DVRs to printers, from thermostats to lights.[1] Embedded with internet connectivity, software and sensors, IoT devices can communicate and interact with each other in real-time over the internet,… Read more »
What is it about human nature that we can’t get enough of a good thing? From nightly childhood readings of Goodnight Moon to binge watching West Wing for the second time, to wearing a college sweatshirt until it is threadbare, it seems we will watch something, wear something or eat something familiar and loved, over trying something new and different, given… Read more »
On June 28, 2018, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) was enacted, which represents a major shift in consumer protection and privacy.[1] While the CCPA will not go into effect until January 1, 2020, the CCPA empowers consumers with significant new rights concerning how their personal information is collected, used, stored, transmitted and sold, and… Read more »
The common understanding of a trademark or service mark is it’s a word, phrase, symbol, or design used to indicate a source of goods or services, and used to distinguish from the goods and services of others. What isn’t so common is a sound used to indicate a source of goods or services, and used to distinguish… Read more »
The United States Copyright Office is reimaging itself—literally. Called the Copyright Office Modernization, this initiative is a multi-year effort to transform the Office’s information technology, including registration, recordation, access to public records and information available to the public. The goals, according to the Office, are to 1) build a new enterprise copyright system featuring a user-centered… Read more »
On January 15, 2019, the Irish fast-food chain, Supermac’s, won a landmark decision against McDonald’s Corporation (McDonald’s) and convinced the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to cancel the McDonald’s “Big Mac” trademark in the EU. Supermac’s owner Pat McDonagh was a Gaelic football player in the 1960s and his coach and teammates gave him… Read more »
Anita Redd recently filed two complaints for copyright infringement with the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of her minor son, Russell Horning, that has captivated social media consumers and intellectual property attorneys alike—it made headlines in, among other rags, TMZ, the Variety, Newsweek and The Guardian. What makes Redd’s December 2018 filing so newsworthy… Read more »
It goes without saying that the world of patents in the United States is infused with discovery, from the creation of useful household gadgets to the invention of medical imaging technology. Such discoveries enrich our lives, help us and solve problems. But there is one discovery as it relates to patents that is, frankly, startling,… Read more »
San Diego IP Law Group LLP (“the Firm”) is committed to providing pro bono legal services and mentorship to non-profit organizations, student organizations, and fledgling innovators and entrepreneurs. We are especially pleased to announce our continued pro bono support to the Biomimicry Institute’s Biomimicry Global Design Challenge (GDC) and the Biomimicry Launchpad, the latter of which is an accelerator business program that… Read more »