Many cases have been heard before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dealing with substantive patent issues, like questions involving anticipation under 35 U.S.C. §102, obviousness under 35 U.S.C §103, or patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101. Constitutional issues have been rare, with the exception of Oil States which questioned the constitutionality …
Category: constitution
Constitution Day
Today is Constitution Day. On this day, September 17, 1787, the U.S. Constitution was signed thirty-nine Founding Fathers, ushering the birth of the United States. Several clauses in the Constitution have direct import to intellectual property. Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 is the Patent and Copyright Clause, which is the basis of U.S. patent …
SCOTUS Watch: Bar on Immoral and Scandalous Marks Violates First Amendment
On June 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Iancu v. Brunetti,[1] dealing with the Lanham Act’s Section 2(a) bars to trademark registration’s collision against the First Amendment brick wall; the Justices in a 6-3 vote struck down the immoral and scandalous clause of §2(a) in a somewhat mixed-up and divided Court. Brunetti is …
Fed Circuit Watch: Lanham Act Section 2(a) Scandalousness Clause Deemed Unconstitutional
On December 15, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit handed down its decision in In re Brunetti.[1] In Brunetti, the Federal Circuit panel, consisting of Judges Moore, Stoll, and Dyk, held that although the FUCT trademark contained immoral or scandalous matter, it remained federally registrable as a trademark because of …
The Slants’ Saga Ends: USPTO Registers Service Mark
On November 14, 2017, six years to the day after the application was first filed with the USPTO which precipitated the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Matal v. Tam[1] striking down the disparagement clause of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, the USPTO has registered THE SLANTS service mark in International Class 41 for …
USPTO Issues Exam Guidelines Consistent with Tam Decision
On June 26, 2017, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued an updated Examination Guideline 01-17, consistent with the recent Matal v. Tam, 582 U.S.___ (2017), ruling by the United States Supreme Court, and for which our analysis was the subject of a previous post. In that decision, the Supreme Court held that the …
SCOTUS Watch: Lanham Act’s §2(a) Disparagement Clause Struck Down
By Brent T. Yonehara On June 19, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court finally, and somewhat as expected, handed down its ruling in Matal v. Tam (formerly Lee v. Tam).[1] By a unanimous vote, the Supreme Court struck down the Lanham Act’s §2(a) prohibition on registration of disparaging trademarks as a violation of the First Amendment’s …
Washington Redskins Skinned: Effect of The TTAB’s Cancellation
By Brent T. Yonehara INTRODUCTION There has been recent controversy regarding the use of the Washington Redskins trade name.[1] Today, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) summarily cancelled six trademark registrations held by the Pro Football, Inc..[2] Many people, including President Obama, have objected to the continued use of the REDSKINS mark.[3] While there …
CITIZENS UNITED v. FEC: THE CORRUPTION OF THE AMERICAN POLITICAL PROCESS THROUGH INDEPENDENT CORPORATE EXPENDITURES
By Brent T. Yonehara Introduction There are myriad reasons on how corporate special interests have decimated the American political system. Jack Abramoff traded gifts for votes and tax breaks in a scandal that rocked Congress in 2005.[1] Big Tobacco contributed $46.7 million to defeat a recent California ballot measure to tax cigarettes to fund cancer …