MONTHLY INSIGHTS

USPTO to accept new applications to the IP5 Offices Patent Cooperation Treaty Collaborative Search and Examination pilot
Beginning July 1, the USPTO will again accept new international applications to the IP5 Offices Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Collaboration Search and Examination (CS&E) pilot. 

The five largest intellectual property offices in the world  (IP5)  launched this pilot on July 1, 2018. It allows examiners from all five offices, with different working languages, to collaborate on the search and examination of a single international application.  READ MORE
Major Updates to Canadian Trademark Law: Canada Joins the Madrid Protocol and More

The Canadian trademark system underwent major changes on June 17, 2019. The revisions to established trademark law bring the Canadian system closer to most other jurisdictions internationally by eliminating the use requirement for registration. Furthermore, Canada joined three key WIPO treaties: the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks, the Nice Agreement, and the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks. This article will cover most, but not all, of the changes to Canadian trademark law.
Supreme Court Update: Government Agencies Is Not a "Person" That May Initiate Post-Grant Proceedings

In Return Mail, Inc. v. United States Postal Service, No. 17-1594 (June 10, 2019), the Supreme Court of the United States issued a 6-3 decision holding that a government agency is not a "person" eligible to challenge patents under the USPTO's various post-grant trial proceedings.
Copyright before Contract: The Role of Copyright Preemption in Software Licensing
  
In Universal Instruments Corp. v. Micro Systems Engineering, Inc., No. 17-2748 (2d Cir. May 8, 2019), an opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit illustrates the fine line where contract terms may conflict with the U.S. Copyright Act. Unlike with patents and trademarks, the Copyright Act provides an explicit preemption clause governing when a legal claim under state law is eliminated by copyright law. In Universal Instruments, the court found that the Copyright Act's authorization to modify a computer program under 17 U.S.C. § 117(a) preempted a breach of contract claim in a software licensing agreement.
New Intellectual Property Cases Pending at the Supreme Court

In June, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in the following intellectual property cases:
  • Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org Inc. 
  • Dex Media Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies
  • Romag Fasteners Inc. v. Fossil Inc
  • Lucky Brand Dungarees Inc. v. Marcel Fashion Group Inc. 
IP5 UPDATES

Pictured: Attendees of the IP5 Meeting in Incheon, Korea
NEWS @ OSHA LIANG

Congratulations to these nine Osha Liang attorneys who were nominated as 
2019  Top Lawyers of Houston
 -  H Texas Magazine  

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