The super-powers of technology have decided to address the increasingly convoluted and confusing world of patents. %CUT% Google, Amazon, Intel, Dell, Cisco, Oracle, Salesforce and Adobe are all on the same virtual page. Members of this illustrious group of tech companies recognize that innovation in the form of new and better products is fundamental to economic growth and American jobs. But, there is a “patent quality crisis” of baseless patent assertions and active patent troll litigation. So these tech super-powers have banded together to form the “High Tech Inventors Alliance” ("HTIA"). The goal is to advocate for a balanced patent policy both in the application process and in the courts. They intend to speak up when tech issues are debated in the courts, the Patent and Trademark Office and the media. You can visit their website at https://www.hightechinventors.com/.

If you don’t use your trademark, someone else can claim priority over you. %CUT% SPV Coach Company, Inc. filed a trademark application for ARMBRUSTER STAGEWAY in connection with vehicles, namely, customized limousines. Executive Coach Builders, Inc. opposed registration claiming that it had started using the mark before SPV and so had priority of use. The TTAB denied the opposition holding that Executive Coach had abandoned the mark. Further, Executive Coach couldn’t prove that it had any intent to resume use of the mark once it was abandoned. The TTAB cited Executive Coach’s lack of any documentary evidence and the inconsistent and contradictory testimony of its president to support the abandonment ruling. Executive Coach’s alleged use of the abandoned mark was isolated and de minimus. Executive Coach took no orders for branded vehicles. Executive Coach’s domain name didn’t identify the goods or services. Displays at Executive Coach’s plant merely showed historical and not current use of the trademark. So, SPV had priority because of its constructive use of the mark after Executive Coach’s abandonment.

News and commentary about a dad’s big oops is fair use. %CUT% Proud dad, Kali Kanongataa, accidently live streamed a video of his partner giving birth to their son. The video went viral. As often happens in the world of viral videos, Kanongataa’s video gave rise to a commentary by the media. Much of the commentary involved showing short clips from the 45 minute video. Kanongataa sued ABC, NBC, Yahoo and COED Media for copyright infringement. The judge dismissed the case on the basis of fair use. But, it didn’t stop there. The judge ordered Kanongataa to pay the defendants’ attorney’s fees. The judge said, "no reasonable lawyer with any familiarity with the law of copyright" would have filed the cases.

Similar trademarks can co-exist with the blessing of the TTAB. %CUT% Bras for Cause, Iowa, Inc. tried to register BRAS FOR THE CAUSE for charitable fundraising services. Soroptimist International of Glendale California, CA opposed registration because it wanted to register BRAS FOR A CAUSE for the same types of services. In the end, the parties settled allowing each party to use their marks. The opposition proceeding became a concurrent use proceeding. At first, TTAB refused to accept the concurrent use agreement because of concerns that the parties would be offering similar services in potentially overlapping geographic territories. This would lead to marketplace confusion. The parties submitted a revised agreement that staked out their territories so there would be no overlap. TTAB accepted the revised agreement and both parties were allowed to proceed with restricted registrations.

No matter how right you are, you need to register a copyright before filing suit. %CUT%Section 411(a) of the Copyright Act requires registration of a copyright before bringing suit. Federal Circuits are split on how to interpret this. Some circuits say filing an application is enough. Other circuits say the plain language of the statute requires actual registration. In Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals went with registration means registration. Wall-Street licensed content from Fourth Estate. After the license expired, Wall-Street continued to post Fourth Estate’s content without permission. Fourth Estate applied for registration and then filed suit before the works were actually registered. In affirming the dismissal of the suit, the Eleventh Circuit focused on the fact that the Copyright Office had to examine the application before registration. So filing the application can never be enough.